[citation needed] The principal industry is tourism, and the country also earns foreign income from being a tax haven.

[4] The site of Andorra la Vella has been settled since prior to the Christian era—notably by the Andosin tribe from the late Neolithic.

The state is one of the Marca Hispanica created and protected by Charlemagne in the eighth century as a buffer from the Moorish settlers in the Iberian Peninsula.

Its most notable building is the Casa de la Vall—constructed in the early sixteenth century—which has been the state's parliamentary house since 1702.

Andorra la Vella was, during this period, the capital of a largely isolated and feudal state, which retained its independence due to this principle of co-sovereignty.

In 1993, the country's first constitution formalised this parliamentary democracy with executive, legislative, and judicial branches located in Andorra la Vella.

[10] Native Andorrans account for only a third (33%) of the population, with the plurality being Spanish (43%), and notable minorities of Portuguese (11%) and French (7%).

The city is the country's cultural centre, with the Government Exhibition Hall acting as a main theatre and museum.

The piazza outside the parliament building is also the location of a number of events, and the town hosts a music festival every winter.

[16] The Spanish primary school is Escuela Española de Andorra la Vella.