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Spain,
officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: España,
Reino de España), is a country located in Southern Europe, with two small
exclaves in North Africa (both bordering Morocco). The mainland of Spain
is bounded on the south and east by Mediterranean Sea (containing the
Balearic Islands), on the north by the Cantabrian Sea and on the west by
the Atlantic Ocean (containing the Canary Islands off the African coast).
Spain shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra, Gibraltar and
Morocco. It is the largest of three sovereign states that make up the
Iberian Peninsula — the others being Portugal and Andorra.
Different
cultures have settled in the area of modern Spain, such as the Celts,
Iberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Moors. For just over five centuries,
during the Middle Ages, large areas were under the control of Islamic
rulers, a fragment of which survived as late as 1492, when the Christian
kingdoms of Castile and Aragón completed the 770 years long process of
driving the Moors out. That same year, Christopher Columbus reached the
New World, leading to the creation of the world-wide Spanish Empire. Spain
became the most powerful country in Europe, but continued wars and other
problems gradually reduced Spain to a diminished status. The 20th century
was dominated in the middle years by the Franco dictatorship; with the
dawn of a stable democracy in 1978, and having joined what is now known as
the European Union in 1986, Spain has enjoyed an economic and cultural
renaissance.
There
are a number of hypotheses as to the origin of the Roman name
"Hispania", the root of the Spanish name España and the
English name Spain.
Spain
is a democracy which is organized as a parliamentary monarchy. It is a
developed country with the eighth-largest economy in the world.
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General:
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Area:
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504,750 sq km;
194,884 sq miles
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Population:
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39.5 million
(growth rate 0.2%)
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Languages:
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Castilian
Spanish (official language)
Catalonian, Galician, Valenciano, Vasco (are also official
languages in the autonomous communities of Catalonia, Galicia,
Valencia and Basque Country, respectively)
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Religion:
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99% Roman Catholic
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Capital:
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Madrid
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Form of
Government:
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Constitutional
Monarchy
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Head of State:
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King Juan Carlos
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President:
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José Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero
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Of Interest for
Visitors:
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Tourism:
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45 million visitors
per year
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Currency:
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Euro (Exchange
Rate)
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Credit Cards:
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Visa, Eurocard,
American Express, MasterCard, Diners Club and Access are widely
accepted.
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Visas:
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No visa required
for EU passport holders and for U.S. and Canadian citizens staying
up to 90 days.
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Time:
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GMT/UTC plus 1 hour
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Electricity:
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220V
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Weights and
Measures:
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metric
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Capital
(and largest city) |
Madrid
40°26′N,
3°42′W
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Official lan-
guages
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Spanish 2
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Government
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Constitutional
monarchy
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| - |
Head
of State |
King Juan Carlos
I
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| - |
President
of the
Government
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José
L.
Rodríguez
Zapatero
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| Formation |
15th century
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| - |
Dynastic
union |
1516
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Unification |
1469
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| - |
de
facto |
1716
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de
jure |
1812
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Accession
to EU
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January 1, 1986
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| Area |
| - |
Total |
506,030 km² (51st)
195,364 sq mi
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Water (%) |
1.04
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| Population |
| - |
2006 census |
44,708,964
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Density |
88.39 /km²
(106th)
220 /sq mi
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| GDP (PPP) |
2005 estimate
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Total |
$1.133 trillion (12th)
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Per
capita |
$26,320 (25th)
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| GDP
(nominal) |
2005 estimate
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Total |
$1.124 trillion (9th)
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Per
capita |
$27,226 (22nd)
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| Gini? (2000) |
34.7 (medium)
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| HDI (2004) |
0.938 (high) (19th)
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Currency
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Euro (€)3
(EUR)
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Time
zone
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CET4 (UTC+1)
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Summer
(DST) |
CEST
(UTC+2)
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Internet
TLD
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.es5
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Calling
code
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+34
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1
Also serves as the Royal anthem.
2 In some autonomous communities, Aranese
(Occitan), Basque, Catalan and Galician are co-official
languages.
3 Prior to 1999 (by law, 2002): Spanish Peseta.
4 Except in the Canary Islands, which are in the
GMT time zone (UTC, UTC+1 in summer).
5 The .eu domain is also used, as it is shared with
other European Union member states. |
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Properties in Spain 
airports:
