It takes around 45 minutes to cross Andorra, the landlocked mountainous country surrounded by France and Spain. The principality is so small that the older generation can almost always tell where members of the extended family come from. Younger people who leave Andorra for work fantasize about retiring back home. The region is quiet and relaxed, and rarely makes the news.
But when it does, it’s for the best of reasons.
Andorra often ranks highest in life expectancy, at an average of 81.2 years, according to data by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, a research organization in Seattle. The World Health Organization says Andorrans live to an average of 83 years, while children below 5 years of age face only a 2.8 percent probability of death. Life expectancy at birth increased by three years between 2000 and 2012, WHO added, with adult risk factors mainly relating to raised blood pressure and obesity.
Many reasons for the country’s flattering profile have been listed in the past — from advanced health care to a healthy diet — yet numbers alone don’t seem to be enough to describe life in the region. So we found an Andorran, Nil Molné Ballesté, a 29-year old data scientist in Berlin, to best explain what makes his country special.
Q: Have you ever heard about Andorrans living the longest?
A: I can’t recall where, but I read a few articles about this. I recall one where we were first and Japan second. I think it’s cool. You already expect your life to be long.
Q: But you live in Berlin now.
A: Yes, that’s true, but I have Andorran blood.
Q: Maybe the country itself has a major contribution to that high life expectancy.
A: You’re ruining it for me now.
Q: Tell me about your relatives. Are most of them still alive?
A: My granddad lived 96 years and his dad lasted for a very long while, which is extraordinary for a generation that didn’t even have any medicine or access to the public health system we have now. My granddad had three sisters and they are all alive and above 80.
Q: Do you see many old people in Andorra?
A: I think it’s a very friendly country to retire in, so you get to see a lot of old people. It’s super calm and quiet, and we have a super nice health system. We have very little stress, little traffic jams. People don’t get crazy easily. You’d rarely hear people using their car horns.
Q: Maybe that’s the secret to longevity? To not honk too much in traffic?
A: That’s not very scientific, right?
Q: So what makes you live longer?
A: We live surrounded by mountains and I guess we have little pollution. The first town you get to visit when you enter the country from Spain is at 3,000 feet, and the last one on your way to France is at around 6,500 feet. We breathe fresh air, we feel safe and secure, we have good food and high purchasing power. We are known to be very friendly and not take part in any conflict. The country is neutral because it doesn’t have any power to do anything. This might be something too: stay away from power.
Q: If Andorra is so good why aren’t you working there?
A: To young people it’s not as friendly. I have an education that does not fit the current Andorran economy because that’s an economy based on tourism and banking, which means that, for instance, if you want to do some cool tech stuff in a startup you can’t because we don’t have any startups. It’s something that’s beginning, but it hasn’t really grown.
Q: How often do you run into an Andorran when you travel abroad?
A: It’s very, very rare to run into one. It’s definitely not something that happens.
Q: What do people do to relax in Andorra?
A: We go shopping because we have huge shopping malls and low taxes. It’s very easy to keep seeing your friends on a weekly basis because it’s very easy to meet. In bigger cities [in other parts of the world] friends can live in one part of town and you can live in some other part and it might take you an hour to commute there, making social life more difficult. Also, [in Andorra] you get to see grandpas playing cards in the streets and we really like to travel and spend weekends abroad. We are a small country so you’ve already seen everything.
Q: And what do tourists do?
A: They come in to ski and they start drinking because alcohol is super cheap as we have lower taxes. Because of the altitude they pass out; it’s quite a party scene.
Q: Are you rich?
A: We are not rich but in terms of GDP (gross domestic product) per capita we are richer than Spain and France.
Q: Do you work out?
A: We are mountain people so we hike. We ski very much in winter. Every week in school, they used to take us skiing one day. It’s a national sport.
Q: What about food?
A: We have quite a Mediterranean diet that’s been proven to be the healthiest one. I would say it’s Catalan cuisine, but since we are not on the coast we don’t get to eat fish as much. We eat more meat, but we use olive oil all the time and all those Mediterranean things.
Q: Is the health system good?
The public system is very good. When you go to the hospital you don’t even share a room. You are treated like in a hotel. It’s very nice.
Q: What’s annoying about the country?
A: Sometimes we take two hours to do something that can be done in half an hour.
Q: Do you want to retire in Andorra?
A: Yes. And if I ever decide to have a family, it is a very nice place to raise your children. It’s super safe, which means that people are not concerned about their safety at any point. This is also a contributor to the high life expectancy. If you feel safe and you are calm then you enjoy your life better.
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Andorrans Live The Longest. Here’s How. originally appeared on usnews.com
