Andorra

Wedged in between France and Spain in the Pyrenees is the feudal principality of Andorra. With an area of 181 square miles, it is one of the smallest states in Europe. The capital is Andorra la Vella.

Andorra is giant tax haven. Because of the lack of customs duties and low or nonexistent takes, Andorra in the late 20th century also became an important international centre of retail trade that attracted millions of shoppers from all over Europe with its duty-free imported consumer goods.

Andorra’s official language is Catalan; a large proportion of the Spanish immigrants (or their descendants) in Andorra are Catalan.

Most Andorrans are Roman Catholic. Nearly two-thirds of the population is urban.

Andorra consists of a cluster of mountain valleys whose streams unite to form the Valira River. With only about 2 percent of the land cultivable, the traditional economy centered on the pasturing of sheep and the harvesting of modest quantities of tobacco, rye, wheat, olives, grapes and potatoes.

Industry was limited to processing these products and to handicrafts. From the 1950s tourism became one of Andorra’s chief industries, exploiting the scenic attractions of the mountains and the area’s excellent opportunities for winter sports.

Monaco

The independent principality of Monaco is located along the Mediterranean Sea in the midst of the resort area of the Cote d’Azur (French Riviera). The city of Nice lies 9 miles to the west, the Italian border 5 miles to the east. There is an open frontier with France, without customs or passport inspections.

The principality has an area of only about 0,73 square miles and includes Monte Carlo.

Monaco is tax haven, with no personal income tax and low corporate tax rates, although French citizens and French-owned corporations pay French taxes. Foreigners (who are 85 percent of the residents) pay no income tax at all. But those who live here are usually well off. Real estate prices are also above the average and the cost of living is high if you live like a tourist.

A substantial portion of the government’s revenues comes from taxes on commercial transactions; additional revenue is drawn from franchises on radio, television, and the casino, from state-operated monopolies on tobacco and postage stamps, from sales taxes.

Banking and finance and real estate are other important components of the services sector. A majority of Monaco’s population is composed of French citizens; a smaller but significant number are Italian. Most of the people are Roman Catholics. The official language is French.

The four sections, or quartiers, of Monaco are the town of Monaco, or "the Rock", a headland jutting into the sea on which the old town is located; La Condamine, the business district on the west of the bay, with its natural harbour; Monte-Carlo, including the gambling casino; and the newer zone of Fontvieille, in which various light industries have developed.

Monaco’s chief industry is tourism, and its facilities make it one of Europe’s most luxurious resorts.

The country has a mild Mediterranean climate with annual temperatures averaging and with only about 60 days of rainfall.

The main attractions are the casinos, where there are private rooms where solitary gamblers win or lose their fortunes in privacy. Somerset Maugham called Monaco ‘the sunny sport for shady people’.

The casino itself contains a theatre designed by the 19^th-century French architect Charles Garnier, which is the home of the Opera de Monte Carlo. During the 1920s many of the works of the famous Ballets Russes of Sergey Diaghilev were given their premiers there.

Another attraction is a swimming pool and health club complex, called the California Terrace, cut into the side of the rock overlooking the port. Visitors can swim year round, submit themselves to saunas and massages, and work out on exercise machines. But there are timeless Mediterranean pleasures; sipping a glass of wine in a harbour café; mooching around the nooks and crannies of the medieval Old Town.