Countries: Andorra

Andorra is a landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Western Europe, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south.

The Iberians were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC.

The inhabitants of the valleys were traditionally associated with the Iberian tribe Andosins or Andosini.

Early writings and documents relating to this group of people goes back to the second century BC by the Greek writer Polybius in his Histories during the Punic Wars.

In the second millennium BC, The Iberian, Italian, and Greek peninsulas were infiltrated in successive waves.

The Roman Republic conquered and occupied territories in the Iberian Peninsula that were previously under the control of native Celtic, Iberian, Celtiberian and Aquitanian tribes and the Carthaginian Empire.

General Hannibal's (c. 247-183 BC) father, Hamilcar Barca, was a leading Carthaginian general during the First Punic War. Hannibal lived during a period of great tension in the Mediterranean Basin, triggered by the emergence of the Roman Republic as a great power with its defeat of Carthage in the First Punic War.

Rome, fearing the growing strength of Hannibal in Iberia, made an alliance with the city of Saguntum, and claimed the city as its protectorate. General Hannibal not only perceived this as a breach of the treaty signed with his brother and general, Hasdrubal, but as he was already planning an attack on Rome, this was his way to start the siege of Saguntum, the city fell after eight months.

The Siege of Saguntum is remembered because it triggered the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), one of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome.

The Iberian Peninsula was under Roman control until the Moors, identified by Leo Africanus as Berbers (Amazigh), attack from North Africa in the latter part of the second century.

Emperor Gaius Augustus annexed the whole of the peninsula to the Roman Empire in 19 BC.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, which had been divided into six Roman provinces by Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-312), Andorra was under the influence of the Visigoths (c. 409), and the Diocese of Urgell.

Charlemagne is credited with uniting most of Western and Central Europe, and was the first recognised emperor to rule from the west after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. His reign was marked by political and social changes that had lasting influence on Europe throughout the Middle Ages.

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian Empire from 800 (crowned by Pope Leo III), holding these titles until his death in 814. 

Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is currently headed by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and the president of France. Its capital and largest city is Andorra la Vella.

What is now France made up the bulk of the region known to the Romans as Gaul, largely a Celtic people.

In 600 BC, Ionians from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (present-day Marseille) on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, making it one of the oldest cities in France.

The Ionians were one of the four major tribes that the Greeks considered themselves to be divided into during the ancient period; the other three being the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans.

La Balma de la Margineda, found by archaeologists at Sant Julià de Lòria, was settled in 9,500 BC as a passing place between the two sides of the Pyrenees.

The Gaul people were the inhabitants of the land area from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rhine River and extending from the English Channel to the Pyrenees and extended west of the Alps. They were subdivided by Julius Caesar and others into Belgae, Celtae and Aquitani as early as 100 BC.

The Iberian, Italian, and Greek peninsulas were infiltrated in successive waves during the second millennium BC.

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About the Author: Lawrence Jean-Louis is the founder of eBrand Me, a digital marketing agency offering marketing & consultative services to CPAs and tax professionals. She aspires to start a money management firm by 2030.