Czech Republic , Discover the
nature of Spain, Hotels in Spain, , Appartments, Studios, Travel Agents,
Spain, , skiing, Czech Republic, mountains, sport, Enterntainment,
Spain
Information:
Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean
Sea, and North Atlantic Ocean, southwest of France
Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 4 00 W
Map references: Europe
Area:
total: 504,750 sq km
land: 499,400 sq km
water: 5,350 sq km
note: includes Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and five places
of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco -
Ceuta, Mellila, 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: 1,919.1 km
border countries: Andorra 65 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2
km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km
Coastline: 4,964 km
Maritime claims:
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 on Canary Islands 3,718 m
Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury,
pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash,
hydropower
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-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, 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-Sulphur 94, Desertification,
Law of the Sea
Geography - note: strategic location along approaches to Strait
of Gibraltar
Population: 39,107,912 (July 1997 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (male 3,121,625; female 2,942,492)
15-64 years: 69% (male 13,396,398; female 13,400,728)
65 years and over: 16% (male 2,592,692; female 3,653,977) (July
1997 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.06% (1997 est.)
Birth rate: 9.94 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Death rate: 9.54 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over : 0.71 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (1997 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 6.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population : 77.39 years
male: 73.59 years
female: 81.46 years (1997 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.18 children born/woman (1997 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Spaniard(s)
adjective: Spanish
Ethnic groups: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types
Religions: Roman Catholic 99%, other 1%
Languages: Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%,
Basque 2%
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 96%
male: 98%
female: 94% (1986 est.)
Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Spain
conventional short form: Spain
local short form: Espana
Data code: SP
Government type: parliamentary monarchy
National capital: Madrid
Administrative divisions: 17 autonomous communities (comunidades
autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma); Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias,
Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad
Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia,
Navarra, Pais Vasco
note: there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast
of Morocco (Ceuta, Mellila, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon
de Velez de la Gomera) with administrative status unknown
Independence: 1492 (expulsion of the Moors and unification)
National holiday: National Day, 12 October
Constitution: 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Legal system: civil law system, with regional applications;
does not accept compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975)
head of government : President of the Government Jose Maria
AZNAR (since 5 May 1996); First Vice President Francisco ALVAREZ-CASCOS
FERNANDEZ (since 5 May 1996) and Second Vice President (and Minister of
Economy and Finance) 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 king is a hereditary monarch; president proposed
by the king and elected by the National Assembly following legislative
elections; election last held 3 March 1996 (next to be held by NA 2000)
election results: Jose Maria AZNAR elected president; percent
of National Assembly vote - NA
Legislative branch: bicameral The General Courts or National
Assembly or Las Cortes Generales consists of the Senate or Senado (256
seats; 208 members are directly elected by popular vote and the other 48
were 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 3 March 1996 (next to be held
by March 2000); Congress of Deputies - last held 3 March 1996 (next to
be held by March 2000)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats
by party - PP 132, PSOE 96, CiU 11, PNV 6, IU 2, others 9; Congress of
Deputies - percent of vote by party - PP 38.9%, PSOE 37.5%, IU 10.7%, CiU
4.6%; seats by party - PP 156, PSOE 141, IU 21, CiU 16, other 16
Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo
Political parties and leaders:
principal national parties, from right to left: Popular Party
or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE
[Felipe GONZALEZ Marquez, secretary general]; Spanish Communist Party or
PCE [Julio ANGUITA Gonzalez]; United Left or IU (a coalition of parties
including the PCE and other small parties) [Julio ANGUITA Gonzalez]
chief regional parties: Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi
PUJOL, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of
Catalonia or CDC [Pere ESTEVE] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or
UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN LLEIDA]); Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier
ARZALLUS Antia and Jose Antonio ARDANZA]; Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition
of five parties)
Political pressure groups and leaders: 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; free
labor unions (authorized in April 1977); Workers Confederation or CC.OO;
the Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent
Workers Syndical Union or USO; business and landowning interests; the Catholic
Church; Opus Dei; university students
International organization participation: AfDB, AG (observer),
AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA,
EU, FAO, G- 8, 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), MTCR, NACC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA,
NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO,
UNMIBH, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Antonio de OYARZABAL MARCHESI
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 Richard N. GARDNER
embassy: Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid
mailing address : APO AE 09642
telephone: [34] (1) 587-2200
FAX: [34] (1) 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 three-fourths that of the four leading West European economies. Its
center-right government has staked much on gaining admission to the first
group of countries to implement the European single currency by developing
an austere 1997 budget - including a wage freeze for public-sector employees
- in hopes of meeting the Maastricht monetary convergence criteria. The
government slashed spending by $1.6 billion in mid-1996 to ensure that
Spain's deficit did not exceed its target of 4.4% of GDP for the year;
the government forecasts a deficit of 3% for 1997. The AZNAR administration
advocates liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy,
and has introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment, nevertheless,
remains the highest in the EU at about 22%, but the government, for political
reasons, has made only limited progress in changing labor laws or reforming
pension schemes, which are key to the sustainability of Spain's economic
advances.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $593 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 2.4% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $15,300 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 3.6%
industry: 33.6%
services: 62.8% (1995 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 3.7% (1996 est.)
Labor force:
total: 12.475 million
by occupation: services 62%, manufacturing, mining, and construction
29%, agriculture 9% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 22% (1996 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $113 billion
expenditures : $139 billion, including capital expenditures
of $15 billion (1995)
Industries: textiles and apparel (including footwear), food
and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding,
automobiles, machine tools, tourism
Industrial production growth rate: 5% (1996 est.)
Elecricity - capacity: 39.58 million kW (1994)
Electricity - production: 163.7 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity - consumption per capita: 3,752 kWh (1995 est.)
Agriculture - products: grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes,
sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products; fish catch of
866,831 metric tons in 1993
Exports:
total value: $94.5 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: cars and trucks, semifinished manufactured goods,
foodstuffs, machinery (1994)
partners : EU 72.1%, US 4.2%, other developed countries 7.9%
(1996)
Imports:
total value : $118.3 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: machinery, transport equipment, fuels, semifinished
goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals (1994)
partners: EU 65.6%, US 6.6%, other developed countries 11.5%,
Middle East 6.2% (1996)
Debt - external: $90 billion (1993 est.)
Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $1.213 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 peseta (Pta) = 100 centimos
Exchange rates: pesetas (Ptas) per US$1 - 134.77 (January 1997),
126.66 (1996), 124.69 (1995), 133.96 (1994), 127.26 (1993), 102.38 (1992)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Telephones: 12.6 million (1990 est.)
Telephone system: generally adequate, modern facilities
domestic: NA
international: 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth
stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat,
NA Inmarsat, and NA Marecs; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries
Radio broadcast stations: AM 190, FM 406 (repeaters 134), shortwave
0
Radios: 12 million (1992 est.)
Television broadcast stations: 100 (repeaters 1,297)
Televisions: 15.7 million (1992 est.)
Railways:
total: 14,343 km
broad gauge: 12,139 km 1.668-m gauge (6,510 km electrified;
2,295 km double track)
standard gauge: 488 km 1.435-m gauge (488 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 1,716 km (privately owned: 1,669 km 1.000-m gauge,
489 km electrified; 28 km 0.914-m gauge, 28 km electrified; government
owned: 19 km 1.000-m gauge, all electrified)
Highways:
total: 343,197 km
paved: 339,765 km (including 7,747 km of expressways)
unpaved : 3,432 km (1995 est.)
Waterways: 1,045 km, but 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: 141 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 888,815 GRT/1,396,541
DWT
ships by type : bulk 9, cargo 33, chemical tanker 10, combination
ore/oil 1, container 9, liquefied gas tanker 4, oil tanker 26, passenger
2, refrigerated cargo 9, roll-on/roll-off cargo 31, short-sea passenger
6, specialized tanker 1 (1996 est.)
Airports: 96 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 82
over 3,047 m: 15
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m : 15
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 28 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 14
1,524 to 2,437 m : 2
914 to 1,523 m: 12 (1996 est.)
Heliports: 2 (1996 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: 10,387,353 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males: 8,381,141 (1997 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 333,758 (1997 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $6.3 billion (1995)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.4% (1995)
Disputes - international: Gibraltar question 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
_
Travelling
to Spain-Helpful Spanish links
Spain
at your fingertips-Everything you need to know about Spain
Tourist Office of
Spain -U.S.A--Official Spanish Tourist office in the U.S.
Spain
by City.Net
Spanish
recipies of the week
LA
PAELLA-Classic Spanish dish (In Spanish)
Study
Abroad Program - Autonoma Madrid, Spain.
Spanish
Language Courses in Spain.
Spanish
Courses and Language Studies in Salamanca.
Learn Spanish:
FREE Online Tutorial.
Welcome to Language
Connect.
Spanish
Language for Travellers.
Si,
Spain
Spanish
Resources
Spanish
Culture
Spanish
Recipes
Language
and Culture
History
Spanish
Language
Spanish
Language and Hispanic Cultures
Welcome to The Tourist
Office of Spain -U.S.A.-
Andalucia
Typical
Spanish Dishes
BarcelonaBusiness
Directory
A
Message From Your Cyber Guide To Spain.
Spanish Connect
- All Things Spanish On The Net.
Spain
and Spanish on the Net.
"CYBERSPAIN"-Cyber
Magazine
TUSPAIN-Spanish
Web Magazine
ATT HOLA-Search
over 10,000 Spanish sites
Spain Online
SpainUncovered-(In
Spanish)
ClickableSpain-(In
Spanish)
TheWebfoot's
Guide to Spain-More Spain links
Yahoo index of
regional WWW
TURISNET.
BCN
Turistic: Welcome to YOUR Tourism Services company in Barcelona.
Yahoo's
page about Spain.A complete source of information about Spain.
MadridMan.
An excellent webpage dedicated to Madrid and Spain.
Uji
Spain Internet Resources. A great map to Spain's Internet resources.Top
5 % site.
Si
, Spain. Information about Spain provided by the Spanish Embassy in
Ottawa.
Discover
Spain.Information about Spain provided by the Tourist Office of Spain
in Tokyo.
Hotelsearch.
The best place to find accomodations in Madrid and in other cities.
