| 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,
it has played a catch-up role in the western international
community. Continuing concerns are large-scale unemployment
and the Basque separatist movement. |
| 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 |
| Area: |
total:
504,782 sq km
land: 499,542 sq km
water: 5,240 sq km
note: includes Balearic Islands, Canary
Islands, and five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania)
on and off the coast of Morocco - Ceuta, Melilla, Islas
Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la
Gomera |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly more
than twice the size of Oregon |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
1,917.8 km
border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623
km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3
km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km |
| Maritime
claims: |
contiguous
zone: 24 NM
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM (applies only
to the Atlantic Ocean)
territorial sea: 12 NM |
| 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:
Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on
Canary Islands 3,718 m |
| Natural
resources: |
coal, lignite,
iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum,
zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower,
arable land |
| Land
use: |
arable land:
30%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 8% (1993 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: |
34,530 sq km
(1993 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:
Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur
94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living
Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous
Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands,
Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air
Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification |
| Geography
- note: |
strategic
location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar |
| Population: |
40,037,995 (July
2001 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years:
14.62% (male 3,015,851; female 2,835,763)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 13,701,065; female
13,605,314)
65 years and over: 17.18% (male 2,881,334;
female 3,998,668) (2001 est.) |
| Population
growth rate: |
0.1% (2001 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
9.26 births/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
9.13 deaths/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
0.87 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2001 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2001
est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
4.92 deaths/1,000
live births (2001 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 78.93 years
male: 75.47 years
female: 82.62 years (2001 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
1.15 children
born/woman (2001 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- adult prevalence rate: |
0.58% (1999 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- people living with HIV/AIDS: |
120,000 (1999
est.) |
| HIV/AIDS
- deaths: |
2,000 (1999 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun:
Spaniard(s)
adjective: Spanish |
| Ethnic
groups: |
composite of
Mediterranean and Nordic types |
| Religions: |
Roman Catholic
99%, other 1% |
| Languages: |
Castilian Spanish
(official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2% |
| Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: NA%
female: NA% |
| Country
name: |
conventional
long form: Kingdom of Spain
conventional short form: Spain
local short form: Espana |
| Government
type: |
parliamentary
monarchy |
| Administrative
divisions: |
17 autonomous
communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad
autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Baleares (Balearic
Islands), Canarias (Canary Islands), Cantabria, Castilla-La
Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian,
Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra,
Pais Vasco (Basque Country)
note: there are five places of sovereignty on
and off the coast of Morocco: Ceuta and Melilla are
administered as autonomous communities; Islas Chafarinas,
Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera are
under direct Spanish administration |
| Independence: |
1492 (expulsion
of the Moors and unification) |
| National
holiday: |
Hispanic 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: King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November
1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born
30 January 1968
head of government: President of the Government
Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996); First Vice
President Juan Jose LUCAS (since 28 February 2000) and
Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy) Rodrigo RATO
Figaredo (since 5 May 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers designated by the
president
note: there is also a Council of State that is
the supreme consultative organ of the government
elections: the monarch is hereditary; president
proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly
following legislative elections; election last held 12 March
2000 (next to be held NA March 2004); vice presidents
appointed by the monarch on proposal of the president
election results: Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (PP)
elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 44% |
| 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: Senate - last held 12 March 2000
(next to be held NA March 2004); Congress of Deputies - last
held 12 March 2000 (next to be held NA March 2004)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by
party - NA%; seats by party - PP 127, PSOE 61, CiU 8, PNV 6,
CC 5, PIL 1; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party
- PP 44.5%, PSOE 34%, CiU 4.2%, IU 5.4%, PNV 1.5%, CC 1%,
BNG 1.3%; seats by party - PP 183, PSOE 125, CiU 15, IU 8,
PNV 7, CC 4, BNG 3, other 5 |
| Judicial
branch: |
Supreme Court or
Tribunal Supremo |
| Political
parties and leaders: |
Basque
Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia]; Canarian
Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Paulino
RIVERO]; Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley,
secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic
Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and
the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN
y LLEIDA]); Galician Nationalist Bloc or BNG [Xose Manuel
BEIRAS]; Party of Independents from Lanzarote or PIL [Dimas
MARTIN Martin]; Popular Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR
Lopez]; 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; Euskal Herritarok or
EH [Herri BATASUNA]; free labor unions (authorized in April
1977); on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and
Liberty or ETA and the First of October Antifascist
Resistance Group or GRAPO use terrorism to oppose the
government; Opus Dei; Socialist General Union of Workers or
UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or
USO; university students; Workers Confederation or CC.OO |
| International
organization participation: |
AfDB, AsDB,
Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC,
EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU,
LAIA (observer), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW,
OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIBH,
UNMIK, UNTAET, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO, ZC |
| Diplomatic
representation in the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Francisco Javier RUPEREZ
chancery: 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
Washington, DC 20037
telephone: [1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340
FAX: [1] (202) 833-5670
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, Houston,
Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco,
and San Juan (Puerto Rico) |
| Diplomatic
representation from the US: |
chief of
mission: Ambassador Edward L. ROMERO
embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid
mailing address: APO AE 09642
telephone: [34] (91) 587-2200
FAX: [34] (91) 587-2303
consulate(s) general: Barcelona |
| 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
- overview: |
Spain's mixed
capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis
is 80% that of the four leading West European economies. Its
center-right government successfully worked to gain
admission to the first group of countries launching the
European single currency on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR
administration has continued to advocate liberalization,
privatization, and deregulation of the economy and has
introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment has
been steadily falling under the AZNAR administration but
remains the highest in the EU at 14%. The government intends
to make further progress in changing labor laws and
reforming pension schemes, which are key to the
sustainability of both Spain's internal economic advances
and its competitiveness in a single currency area. Adjusting
to the monetary and other economic policies of an integrated
Europe - and further reducing unemployment - will pose
challenges to Spain in the next few years. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $720.8 billion (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
4% (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $18,000 (2000 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture:
4%
industry: 31%
services: 65% (1999) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
NA% |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
2.8%
highest 10%: 25.2% (1990) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
3.4% (2000 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
17 million (2000) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 64%,
manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8%
(1997 est.) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
14% (2000 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues:
$105 billion
expenditures: $109 billion, including capital
expenditures of $12.8 billion (2000 est.) |
| Industries: |
textiles and
apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and
metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles,
machine tools, tourism |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4.5% (2000 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
197.694 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel:
57.71%
hydro: 12.1%
nuclear: 28.28%
other: 1.91% (1999) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
189.57 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
6.23 billion kWh
(1999) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
11.945 billion
kWh (1999) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
grain,
vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef,
pork, poultry, dairy products; fish |
| Exports: |
$120.5 billion
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
machinery, motor
vehicles; foodstuffs, other consumer goods |
| Exports
- partners: |
EU 71% (France
20%, Germany 12%, Italy 9%, Portugal 9%, UK 8%), Latin
America 6%, US 5% (2000) |
| Imports: |
$153.9 billion
(f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and
equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods; foodstuffs,
consumer goods (1997) |
| Imports
- partners: |
EU 68% (France
18%, Germany 16%, Italy 9%, UK 7%, Benelux 8%), US 8%, OPEC
5%, Latin America 4%, Japan 3% (1999) |
| Debt
- external: |
$90 billion (1993
est.) |
| Economic
aid - donor: |
ODA, $1.3 billion
(1995) |
| Currency: |
Spanish peseta
(ESP); euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the EU introduced the
euro as a common currency that is now being used by
financial institutions in Spain at a fixed rate of 166.386
Spanish pesetas per euro and will replace the local currency
for all transactions in 2002 |
| Exchange
rates: |
euros per US
dollar - 1.0659 (January 2001), 1.0854 (2000), 0.9386
(1999); pesetas per US dollar - 149.40 (1998), 146.41
(1997), 126.66 (1996) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| Telephones
- main lines in use: |
17.336 million
(1999) |
| Telephones
- mobile cellular: |
8.394 million
(1999) |
| Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: generally adequate, modern facilities;
teledensity is 44 main lines for each 100 persons
domestic: NA
international: 22 coaxial submarine cables;
satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and
1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to
adjacent countries |
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM 208, FM 715,
shortwave 1 (1998) |
| Radios: |
13.1 million
(1997) |
| Television
broadcast stations: |
224 (plus 2,105
repeaters)
note: these figures include 11 television
broadcast stations and 88 repeaters in the Canary Islands
(1995) |
| Televisions: |
16.2 million
(1997) |
| Internet
country code: |
.es |
| Internet
Service Providers (ISPs): |
56 (2000) |
| Internet
users: |
4.6 million
(2000) |
| Railways: |
total:
13,950 km
broad gauge: 12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,358 km
electrified; 2,295 km double track)
standard gauge: 525 km 1.435-m gauge (525 km
electrified)
narrow gauge: 644 km 1.000-m gauge (438 km
electrified) (1998) |
| Highways: |
total:
346,858 km
paved: 343,389 km (including 9,063 km of
expressways)
unpaved: 3,469 km (1997) |
| Waterways: |
1,045 km (of
minor economic importance) |
| Pipelines: |
crude oil 265 km;
petroleum products 1,794 km; natural gas 1,666 km |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Aviles,
Barcelona, Bilbao, Cadiz, Cartagena, Castellon de la Plana,
Ceuta, Huelva, La Coruna, Las Palmas (Canary Islands),
Malaga, Melilla, Pasajes, Gijon, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
(Canary Islands), Santander, Tarragona, Valencia, Vigo |
| Merchant
marine: |
total:
135 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 1,208,730 GRT/1,773,378
DWT
ships by type: bulk 10, cargo 26, chemical
tanker 10, container 9, liquefied gas 2, livestock carrier
1, passenger 1, petroleum tanker 24, refrigerated cargo 5,
roll on/roll off 35, short-sea passenger 8, specialized
tanker 1, vehicle carrier 3 (2000 est.) |
| Airports: |
110 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total:
75
over 3,047 m: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 10
1,524 to 2,437 m: 18
914 to 1,523 m: 19
under 914 m: 13 (2000 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
35
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 9
under 914 m: 25 (2000 est.) |
| Military
branches: |
Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marines, Civil Guard, National Police, Coastal Civil
Guard |
| Military
manpower - military age: |
20 years of age |
| Military
manpower - availability: |
males age
15-49: 10,551,945 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age
15-49: 8,448,150 (2001 est.) |
| Military
manpower - reaching military age annually: |
males:
281,043 (2001 est.) |
| Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$6 billion (FY97) |
| Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.1% (FY97) |
| Disputes
- international: |
Gibraltar issue
with UK; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas
de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal
enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as
well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de
la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas |
| Illicit
drugs: |
key European
gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African
hashish entering the European market; transshipment point
for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin |
|
