Here’s a fun little bit of trivia.

Question:
Which sovereign nation has an elected monarch  as head of state, even though he is elected to this position by people of a different country to that which he reigns over?

Answer:
Andorra. This tiny European country, located in the Pyrenees between France and Spain, has two joint heads of state, both with the title co-Prince. One of these co-Princes happens to be whoever the current President of France is. This peculiar situation has persisted since the year 1278. So it clearly works, even though it sounds like it was dreamt up as a prank.

This makes Andorra the only sovereign nation with a monarch who is elected… by people of a completely different nation, for a completely different role(!) To further put this into perspective: the President of France is the only person who, at the same time, is the head of state both of a Republic and of a Monarchy.

Ah, the joyful peculiarity of Europe’s last few remaining microstates!

featured image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4e/Coat_of_arms_of_Andorra.svg/2000px-Coat_of_arms_of_Andorra.svg.png

© 2015 Bryan A. J. Parry