Guide to Spain Introduction Background: Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through a devastating civil war (1936-39). In the second half of the 20th century, Spain has played a catch-up role in the western international community; it joined the EU in 1986. Continuing challenges include Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorism and further reductions in unemployment.
Geography Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France
Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 4 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Oregon
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 4,964 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
Terrain: large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 36,400 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: periodic droughts
Environment - current issues: pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas; water quality and quantity nationwide; air pollution; deforestation; desertification
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar
People Population: 40,341,462 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 0.15% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 10.1 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 9.63 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: 0.7% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 140,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 1,000 (2003 est.)
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types
Religions: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%
Languages: Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%; note - Castilian is the official language nationwide; the other languages are official regionally
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: parliamentary monarchy
Capital: Madrid
Administrative divisions: 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma)and 2 autonomous cities* (ciudades autonomas, singular - ciudad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic Islands), Ceuta*, Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Comunidad Valenciana, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla*, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country) note
Independence: the Iberian peninsula was characterized by a variety of independent kingdoms prior to the Moslem occupation that began in the early 8th century A. D. and lasted nearly seven centuries; the small Christian redoubts of the north began the reconquest almost immediately, culminating in the seizure of Granada in 1492; this event completed the unification of several kingdoms and is traditionally considered the forging of present-day Spain
National holiday: National Day, 12 October
Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: bicameral; General Courts or National Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (259 seats - 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 51 appointed by the regional legislatures to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo
Political parties and leaders: Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Josu Jon IMAZ]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino RIVERO Baute]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Artur MAS i Gavarro] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Artur MAS i Gavarro] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]); Entesa Catalonia de Progress (a Senate coalition grouping four Catalan parties - PSC, ERC, ICV, EUA) [leader NA]; Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Anxo Manuel QUINTANA]; Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas MARTIN Martin]; Popular Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY]; Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC [Josep-Lluis CAROD-ROVIRA]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO]; United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Gaspar LLAMAZARES]
Political pressure groups and leaders: business and landowning interests; Catholic Church; free labor unions (authorized in April 1977); Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; university students; Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions or CC.OO.; Nunca Mas (Galician for "Never Again"; formed in response to the oil tanker Prestige oil spill)
International organization participation: AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, ONUB, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band; the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar
Economy Economy - overview: The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990, averaging five percent annual growth. After a European-wide recession in the early 1990s, the Spanish economy resumed moderate growth starting in 1994. Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 80% that of the four leading West European economies. The center-right government of former President AZNAR successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency (the euro) on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily under the AZNAR administration but remains high at 10.4%. Growth of 2.5% in 2003 and 2.6% in 2004 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. The socialist president, RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, has initiated economic and social reforms that are generally popular among the masses of people but that are anathema to religious and other conservative elements. Adjusting to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated Europe, reducing unemployment, and absorbing widespread social changes will pose challenges to Spain over the next few years.
GDP (purchasing power parity): $937.6 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.6% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $23,300 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 19.33 million (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 5.3%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 30.1%, services 64.6% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate: 10.4% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 32.5 (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.2% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 25.4% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 53.2% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish
Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment
Industrial production growth rate: 3% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 229 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 218.4 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 4.4 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 9.8 billion kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 7,099 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 1.497 million bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: 135,100 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports: 1.582 million bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves: 10.5 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 516 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 17.96 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 17.26 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 254.9 million cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $-30.89 billion (2004 est.)
Exports: $172.5 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods
Exports - partners: France 19.3%, Germany 11.7%, Portugal 9.6%, UK 9%, Italy 9%, US 4% (2004)
Imports: $222 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs, consumer goods; measuring and medical control instruments
Imports - partners: Germany 16.6%, France 15.8%, Italy 8.9%, UK 6.3%, Netherlands 4.8% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $19.7 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $771.1 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - donor: ODA, $1.33 billion (1999)
Currency (code): euro (EUR) note
Currency code: EUR
Exchange rates: euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 17,567,500 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 37,506,700 (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 208, FM 715, shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios: 13.1 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 224 (plus 2,105 repeaters) note
Televisions: 16.2 million (1997)
Internet country code: .es
Internet hosts: 1,056,950 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 56 (2000)
Internet users: 9.789 million (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 1,045 km (2003)
Pipelines: gas 7,306 km; oil 730 km; refined products 3,512 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Algeciras, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gijon, Huelva, La Coruna, Tarragona, Valencia
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 156 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Heliports: 8 (2004 est.)
Military Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force (Ejercito del Aire, EdA), Naval Infantry
Military service age and obligation: 20 years of age (2004)
Manpower available for military service: males age 20-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 20-49
Manpower reaching military service age annually: males
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $9,906.5 million (2003)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.2% (2003)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: in 2003, Gibraltar residents voted overwhelmingly by referendum to remain a British colony and against a "total shared sovereignty" arrangement while demanding participation in talks between the UK and Spain; Spain disapproves of UK plans to grant Gibraltar greater autonomy; Morocco protests Spain's control over the coastal enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas and Islas Chafarinas, and surrounding waters; Morocco serves as the primary launching site of illegal migration into Spain from North Africa
Illicit drugs: key European gateway country and consumer for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market; destination and minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering site for European earnings of Colombian narcotics trafficking organizations
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
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