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). A peaceful transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco FRANCO in 1975, and rapid economic modernization (Spain joined the EU in 1986) gave Spain a dynamic and rapidly growing economy and made it a global champion of freedom and human rights. The government continues to battle the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist organization, but its major focus for the immediate future will be on measures to reverse the severe economic recession that started in mid-2008.

Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France

40 00 N, 4 00 W

Europe

slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

4,964 km

temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north

coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land

37,800 sq km (2003)

111.1 cu km (2005)

periodic droughts, occasional flooding

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

strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar; Spain controls a number of territories in northern Morocco including the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas, and Islas Chafarinas

40,548,753 (July 2010 est.)

0.045% (2010 est.)

9.54 births/1,000 population (2010 est.)

10.08 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.)

0.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.)

1.32 children born/woman (2010 est.)

0.5% (2007 est.)

140,000 (2007 est.)

2,300 (2007 est.)

composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types

Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%

Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally

4.2% of GDP (2005)

parliamentary monarchy

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 (Catalonia), Comunidad Valenciana (Valencian Community), Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Melilla*, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)

1492; the Iberian peninsula was characterized by a variety of independent kingdoms prior to the Muslim 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 Day, 12 October (1492); year when Columbus first set foot in the Americas

approved by legislature 31 October 1978; passed by referendum 6 December 1978; signed by the king 27 December 1978

civil law system with regional applications; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations

18 years of age; universal

bicameral; General Courts or Las Cortes Generales (National Assembly) consists of the Senate or Senado (264 seats as of 2008; 208 members directly elected by popular vote and the other 56 - as of 2008 - appointed by the regional legislatures; members to serve four-year terms) and the Congress of Deputies or Congreso de los Diputados (350 seats; each of the 50 electoral provinces fills a minimum of two seats and the North African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla fill one seat each with members serving a four-year term; the other 248 members are determined by proportional representation based on popular vote on block lists who serve four-year terms)

Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo

Basque Nationalist Party or PNV or EAJ [Inigo URKULLU Renteria]; Canarian Coalition or CC [Claudina MORALES Rodriquez] (a coalition of five parties); 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 i LLEIDA]); Entesa Catalonia de Progress (a Senate coalition grouping four Catalan parties - PSC, ERC, ICV, EUA); Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Guillerme VAZQUEZ Vazquez]; Initiative for Catalonia Greens or ICV [Joan SAURA i Laporta]; Navarra Yes or NaBai [collective leadership] (a coalition of four Navarran parties); Popular Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY Brey]; Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC [Joan PUIGCERCOS i Boixassa]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO]; Union of People of Navarra or UPN [Yolanda BARCINA Angulo]; Union, Progress and Democracy or UPyD [Rosa DIEZ Gonzalez]; United Left or IU [Cayo LARA Moya] (a coalition of parties including the Communist Party of Spain or PCE and other small parties)

Association for Victims of Terrorism or AVT (grassroots organization devoted primarily to opposing ETA terrorist attacks and supporting its victims); Basta Ya (Spanish for "Enough is Enough"); grassroots organization devoted primarily to opposing ETA terrorist attacks and supporting its victims); Nunca Mais (Galician for "Never Again"; formed in response to the oil Tanker Prestige oil spill); Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO; Trade Union Confederation of Workers' Commissions or CC.OO.

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SECI (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

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 is quartered to display the emblems of the traditional kingdoms of Spain (clockwise from upper left, Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon) while Granada is represented by the stylized pomegranate at the bottom of the shield; the arms are framed by two columns representing the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar; the red scroll across the two columns bears the imperial motto of "Plus Ultra" (further beyond) referring to Spanish lands beyond Europe; the triband arrangement with the center stripe twice the width of the outer dates to the 18th century

Spain's mixed capitalist economy is the 12th largest in the world, and its per capita income roughly matches that of Germany and France. However, after almost 15 years of above average GDP growth, the Spanish economy began to slow in late 2007 and entered into a recession in the second quarter of 2008. Spain's unemployment rate rose from a low of about 8% in 2007 to more than 19% in December 2009 and continues to rise. Its fiscal deficit worsened from 3.8% of GDP in 2008 to about 7.9% of GDP in 2009, more than double the EMU limit. GDP contracted by 3.6% from 2008, ending a 16-year growth trend. The economy is projected to resume modest growth sometime in 2010, making Spain the last major economy to emerge from the global recession. The reversal in Spain's economic growth reflects a significant decline in the construction sector, an oversupply of housing, falling consumer spending, and slumping exports. Government efforts to boost the economy through stimulus spending, extended unemployment benefits, and loan guarantees have not prevented a sharp rise in the unemployment rate, which was the highest in the EU in 2009. Spain's banking sector has been relatively insulated from the global financial crisis, due in part to conservative oversight by the Bank of Spain. Government intervention to rescue banks on the scale seen elsewhere in Europe in 2008 and 2009 was not necessary in Spain, although Spanish banks' high exposure to the collapsed domestic construction and real estate market poses continued risks for the sector. The government intervened in one regional savings bank in 2009, and others have merged out of necessity.

$1.368 trillion (2009 est.)

$1.419 trillion (2008 est.)

$1.406 trillion (2007 est.)

$1.466 trillion (2009 est.)

-3.6% (2009 est.)

0.9% (2008 est.)

3.6% (2007 est.)

$33,700 (2009 est.)

$35,000 (2008 est.)

$34,800 (2007 est.)

22.97 million (2009 est.)

18.1% (2009 est.)

11.4% (2008 est.)

19.8% (2005)

32 (2005)

32.5 (1990)

26.6% of GDP (2009 est.)

50% of GDP (2009 est.)

40.7% of GDP (2008 est.)

-0.8% (2009 est.)

4.1% (2008 est.)

1.75% (May 2009)

5% (31 December 2007)

11.02% (31 December 2008)

$NA

$NA

$3.45 trillion (31 December 2008)

$2.976 trillion (31 December 2007)

$1.132 trillion (31 December 2008)

$1.8 trillion (31 December 2007)

$1.323 trillion (31 December 2006)

grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish

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

-15.8% (2009 est.)

300.5 billion kWh (2008 est.)

276.1 billion kWh (2008 est.)

16.92 billion kWh (2008 est.)

5.88 billion kWh (2008 est.)

28,130 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1.562 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

226,900 bbl/day (2008 est.)

1.813 million bbl/day (2008 est.)

150 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)

17 million cu m (2008 est.)

38.18 billion cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

38.59 billion cu m (2008 est.)

2.548 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)

-$69.46 billion (2009 est.)

-$154.1 billion (2008 est.)

$215.7 billion (2009 est.)

$285.9 billion (2008 est.)

machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods

France 18.3%, Germany 10.6%, Portugal 8.7%, Italy 8%, UK 6.7%, US 4.2% (2008)

$293.2 billion (2009 est.)

$415.5 billion (2008 est.)

machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, measuring and medical control instruments

Germany 14.5%, France 11.1%, Italy 7.4%, China 6.2%, UK 4.5%, Netherlands 4.4% (2008)

$NA (31 December 2009 est.)

$20.25 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$2.41 trillion (30 June 2009)

$2.317 trillion (31 December 2008)

$649.9 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$636.5 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

$633.3 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$605.3 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7338 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005)

20.2 million (2008)

49.682 million (2008)

AM 18, FM 250, shortwave 2 (2008)

379 (2008)

.es

3.537 million (2009)

25.24 million (2008)

153 (2009)

9 (2009)

gas 7,738 km; oil 560 km; refined products 3,445 km (2009)

1,000 km (2008)

Algeciras, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cartagena, Huelva, Tarragona, Valencia

Spanish Armed Forces: Army (Ejercito de Tierra), Spanish Navy (Armada Espanola, AE; includes Marine Corps), Spanish Air Force (Ejercito del Aire Espanola, EdA) (2010)

20 years of age (2004)

1.2% of GDP (2005 est.)

in 2002, 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; both countries claim Isla Perejil (Leila Island); Morocco serves as the primary launching site of illegal migration into Spain from North Africa; Portugal does not recognize Spanish sovereignty over the territory of Olivenza based on a difference of interpretation of the 1815 Congress of Vienna and the 1801 Treaty of Badajoz

despite rigorous law enforcement efforts, North African, Latin American, Galician, and other European traffickers take advantage of Spain's long coastline to land large shipments of cocaine and hashish for distribution to the European market; consumer for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish; destination and minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering site for Colombian narcotics trafficking organizations and organized crime