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A small country
Andorra has a population of 76,875 (Source: Study Service of the Ministry of Finance. Data from 2004).
The population is concentrated in the two big towns of Andorra la Vella and Escaldes?Engordany, which are, with Pas de la Casa, the main centres of trade and business in the country. Other centres of secondary importance in numbers of inhabitants are Encamp and Sant Julià de Lòria, which are centres of population but much less commercial than the capital and its surroundings.
A young and varied population
The average age of the population is 36 years and the high rate of immigration since the second half of the 20th century is the cause of the varied origin of Andorran society, in which only 35.7% have Andorran nationality. In Andorra, then, we find a very unusual situation in matters of nationality: the largest population group in Andorra is of foreign nationality, Spanish, representing 37.4% of the total population. People with Portuguese nationality come in third place (13%), overtaking those of French origin (6.6%) some years ago, and finally there is a varied group of over 17 different nationalities.
Since the approval in 1995 of a law less restrictive over access to Andorran nationality, the percentage of Andorran nationals is showing a tendency to recovery.
Catalan is the official language and the only one used in administrative and official affairs. In the street, however, Spanish is widely spoken, followed by French and Portuguese.
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