Is it any wonder that the natives of Andorra have the longest life expectancy in the world? Clean Air. Take your breath away with mountain views. Welfare, with almost non-existent levels of crime (a prison with 50 inmates for the entire country), more than 700 years of peace and a temperate climate of cold, snowy winters and hot, dry summers; this small nation may hold the secret to staying young, living longer and better.
Just 2.5 times the size of Washington, DC, the country is nestled between France and Spain, a landlocked nation of narrow valleys surrounded by the awe-inspiring Pyrenees mountains.
With just over 82,000 inhabitants, Andorra has been a democracy since March 1993. Tourism accounts for 80% of the income of this prosperous country, the banking sector; with its “tax haven” status it also contributes to the country’s prosperity.
And if all of this makes you want to up the ante and move on… the next piece of news is sure to tip the scales. Andorrans live longer than anyone in the world according to the World Health Organization. The average life expectancy for natives in this small, almost hidden country is 83.5 years, compared to the US life expectancy of 78.14 and the UK life expectancy of 78.85. Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from these people.
Recently BBC reporter Paul Henley paid a short visit to this mountainous country to try to find out what sets it apart from the rest of the world. And what he found were many reasons for the long and healthy life of the population of Andorra.
For starters, there is a huge emphasis on staying physically active. These people do hard, active work long after we would retire. Each of the seven parishes in the country has state-of-the-art public entertainment centers (free to use).
It’s not uncommon to see people in their 80s and 90s very active, whether it’s taking fitness classes at the centers, herding cattle on rough terrain, or some other active occupation.
Another important difference is the diet…
In Andorra, people tend to eat the classic Mediterranean diet: lean meats, fresh vegetables, fruits, olive oil is used for cooking.
People know what is healthy and look for it. The restaurants also offer delicious healthy meals. Interestingly, Andorrans drink a lot of red wine (even in hospital) and continue to smoke cigarettes, something completely unexpected considering their longevity figures.
Another key to living here longer is the quality of medical care that citizens receive. The World Health Organization estimates that Andorra has the third best public health system in the world. The same report ranks the UK 24th, Canada 35th and the US 72nd.
The hospital seemed to reporter Henley more like a private clinic, and the doctors there are now used to perform surgeries on people in their eighties and nineties.
“They go back to their normal life. And a very frequent question, before the operation, is ‘when will I be able to walk in the mountains again, tend my garden, go to the forest and pick mushrooms?'” says Luis Pallares, an Andorran consultant surgeon.
Centuries of peace and a lack of violent crime complete the picture, giving Andorran citizens a peace of mind and a capacity for commitment that may well be part of the secret that allows them to stay young and live much longer.