🇦🇩 Andorra

Wedged between France and Spain in the Pyrenees, Andorra packs 80,000 residents into just 468 square kilometers. It's a tax haven that's slowly reforming — the country only introduced income tax in 2015, and the rate tops out at 10%. Tourism and retail drive the economy: about 8 million visitors per year come for duty-free shopping and ski resorts, making it one of the highest tourist-to-resident ratios on earth. Andorra has no airport, no railway, and no military. Co-princes — the French president and a Spanish bishop — serve as joint heads of state, making it the only country led by two foreign nationals.

GDP sits around $3.4 billion, with tourism contributing roughly 80% of output. Banking was historically the other pillar, but international pressure on tax secrecy has forced the sector to shrink. The country imports nearly everything — it produces almost no food or manufactured goods. Andorra's been negotiating an association agreement with the EU to secure market access.

Andorra has the highest life expectancy in Europe at around 83.7 years. It's also the only country in the world where Catalan is the sole official language. The country didn't formally become a democracy until 1993.

Stable but facing an identity crisis. As tax transparency rules tighten globally, Andorra needs to find a new economic model beyond shopping bags and ski passes.