Andor is a country deeply defined by its geography and historical traditions. The birthplace of the Renaissance, it is strongly married with research and technological development, boasting the Academy of the Rose, the premier university of the continent. For centuries, this school has been at the forefront of academia, credited with the invention of the steam engine (and later the internal combustion engine), the formulation of Seldon's Laws of Electromagnetism, and tutoring numerous world leaders, philosophers and other great minds. Andor's technological excellence continues to this day; Ng Computing's main factory is located in Caemlyn, and Wang Miao's R&D center in Whitebridge supplies the world with the majority of its bleeding-edge nanotech devices.

Andor is also inordinately influential in world events despite its small size. A millenia ago Andor's empire briefly covered half of the continent, however, with his death Artur Hawkwing's empire quickly dissolved back into the squabbling states they had just been. Andor's reign lasted but a short time, but the reforged states were alloyed with the cultural and political ideologies of Hawkwing's empire. Most of the countries of northern continent use a similar tax code as the one developed by Andor, for example, and libraries and administrative buildings built by the Empire remain in use to this day.

Andor's relatively benevolent legacy in world events and prestigious, world-famous academy have given it a boost in world affairs, but, ironically, the stress and scars provided by the outside world are what motivated the nation to become so involved in world events. The severe psychological damage provided by Narryland on a daily basis in Andor's past forced it to either become completely isolationist and uninvolved in world events or influential enough to demand that its neighbor cease its shitposting. The choice between the two has been a great debate in the past 200 years of Andoran politics, with much waffling between either solution generally weakening the country. Its solution was conclusively decided 50 years ago with the foundation of the UN. Historically, Andor has bordered Amerique and Garfisland, two rich and powerful nations. King Elend Venture, the reigning monarch at the time, ceded all of Andor's territory bordering these two countries, as well as land adjacent to the Republic of Toaster Strudels, to the United Nations in exchange for petty favors and influence. The population of Andor was furious at the time, but now, near the UN's semicentennial, the true brilliance of Elend has been revealed.

By retreating Andor's territory to only border Narryland, he perversely provided no alternative to becoming a diplomatic powerhouse. Pure isolation would be untenable for Andor, as it does not produce enough food and basic necessities to sustain the country, but nor would the population stand trade exclusively with its only neighbor Narryland. Trapped, Andor now has no choice but to become involved in world affairs. It's now accepted that, had Andor not ceded the land and eventually become isolationist, it would not be nearly as prosperous as it is today.

Elend's outstanding foresight and brilliant yet ruthless maneuvers are the hallmarks of Andor's wily Constitutional Monarchy. Though flawed in many ways, Andor has maintained this archaic form of government for centuries while the rest of the world largely converted to democracy as it allowed bold, extremely unpopular moves to be made without leading to extreme instability in the government. The monarchs rule with the consent of the governed, but the people have learned to accept some degree of undemocratic autonomy in Andor's executive branch. With exceptional rulers, such as Dalinar Kholin, Elend Venture, and Elayne and Morgase Trakand, Andor's government is highly fluid and decisive. Of course, with ineffective or even cruel leaders, the people have little recourse, and the Parliament can only do so much. Lord Gaebril, for example, almost brought the country to ruin, and it was only the subtlety of Andor's current queen Elayne that was the country's way of life and international standing preserved.

Andor has done very well for itself considering its small size and landlocked nature, but there's only so much a nation can do with few natural resources and awkward access to trading routes. Elayne hopes that, with the establishment of the Seanchan colony on the southern continent, Andor will be able to continue growing in wealth and power for years to come.