]! ^! 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) have given Spain one of the most dynamic economies in Europe and made it a global champion of freedom. Continuing challenges include Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorism and relatively high unemployment. 
]" ^" 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 ^% `! 504,782 sq km `" 499,542 sq km `# 5,240 sq km `* there are two autonomous cities - Ceuta and Melilla - and 17 autonomous communities including Balearic Islands and Canary Islands, and three small Spanish possessions off the coast of Morocco - Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera ^& slightly more than twice the size of Oregon ^' `! 1,917.8 km `Y 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 ^( 4,964 km ^) `$ 12 nm `M 24 nm `N 200 nm (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean) ^* 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 ^, `% Atlantic Ocean 0 m `& Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m ^- coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land ^. `' 27.18% `( 9.85% `) 62.97% (2005) ^/ 37,800 sq km (2003) ^0 periodic droughts ^1 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 _P `P Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling `Q Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants ^2 strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar 
]# ^3 40,448,191 (July 2007 est.) ^4 `+ 14.4% (male 3,005,818/female 2,826,805) `, 67.8% (male 13,758,869/female 13,661,295) `- 17.8% (male 3,002,585/female 4,192,819) (2007 est.) ^5 `! 40.3 years `. 39 years `/ 41.7 years (2007 est.) ^6 0.116% (2007 est.) ^7 9.98 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^8 9.81 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^9 0.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) ^: `0 1.07 male(s)/female `1 1.063 male(s)/female `, 1.007 male(s)/female `- 0.716 male(s)/female `2 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.) ^; `! 4.31 deaths/1,000 live births `. 4.7 deaths/1,000 live births `/ 3.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) ^< `2 79.78 years `. 76.46 years `/ 83.32 years (2007 est.) ^= 1.29 children born/woman (2007 est.) ^> 0.7% (2001 est.) ^? 140,000 (2001 est.) ^@ less than 1,000 (2003 est.) ^A `3 Spaniard(s) `4 Spanish ^B composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types ^C Roman Catholic 94%, other 6% ^D Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally ^E `5 age 15 and over can read and write `2 97.9% `. 98.7% `/ 97.2% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `6 Kingdom of Spain `7 Spain `Z Reino de Espana `[ Espana ^H parliamentary monarchy ^I `8 Madrid `9 40 24 N, 3 41 W `: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) `p +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October `* Spain is divided into two time zones including the Canary Islands ^J 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) `* the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla plus three small islands of Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera, administered directly by the Spanish central government, are all along the coast of Morocco and are collectively referred to as Places of Sovereignty (Plazas de Soberania) ^K 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 ^L National Day, 12 October (1492); year when Columbus first set foot in the Americas ^M approved by legislature 31 October 1978; passed by referendum 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978 ^N civil law system, with regional applications; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `; King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the monarch, born 30 January 1968 `< President of the Government (Prime Minister equivalent) Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO (since 17 April 2004); First Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister (and Minister of the Presidency) Maria Teresa FERNANDEZ DE LA VEGA (since 18 April 2004) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy and Finance) Pedro SOLBES (since 18 April 2004) `= Council of Ministers designated by the president `* there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government, but its recommendations are non-binding `> the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or the leader of the majority coalition is usually proposed president by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly; election last held on 14 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008); vice presidents appointed by the monarch on the proposal of the president `? Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - 52.29% ^Q 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) `> Senate - last held on 14 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008); Congress of Deputies - last held on 14 March 2004 (next to be held in March 2008) `? Senate - percent of vote by party - PP 49%, PSOE 38%, Entesa Catalona de Progress 5.7%, PNV 2.8%, CC 2.4%, CiU 2%; seats by party - PP 102, PSOE 81, Entesa Catalona de Progress 12, PNV 6, CiU 4, CC 3; Congress of Deputies - percent of vote by party - PSOE 43.3%, PP 37.8%, CiU 3.2%, IU 3.2%, ERC 2.5%, PNV 1.6%, CC 0.9%, other 7.5%; seats by party - PSOE 164, PP 148, CiU 10, ERC 8, PNV 7, IU 5, CC 3, other 5 ^R Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo ^S Aragonese Party or CHA [Bizen FUSTER]; Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Josu Jon IMAZ]; Basque Solidarity or EA [Begona ERRAZTI]; Canarian Coalition or CC [Paulino RIVERO Baute] (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 [Anxo Manuel QUINTANA Gonzalez]; Initiative for Catalonia Greens or ICV [Joan SAURA i Laporta]; Navarra yes or Na Bai [Uxue BARKOS Berruezo] (a coalition of four Navarran parties); Popular Party or PP [Mariano RAJOY Brey]; Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC [Josep-Lluis CAROD-ROVIRA]; Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Jose Luis RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO]; United Left or IU [Gaspar LLAMAZARES Trigo] (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) ^T 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. ^U AfDB, AsDB, Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, ITUC, LAIA (observer), MIGA, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, SECI (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC ^V `R Ambassador Carlos WESTENDORP `S 2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037 `T [1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340 `U [1] (202) 833-5670 `V Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico) ^W `R Ambassador Eduardo AGUIRRE, Jr. `_ Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid `` PSC 61, APO AE 09642 `T [34] (91) 587-2200 `U [34] (91) 587-2303 `V Barcelona ^X 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 
]% ^Y The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990 averaging 5% 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 8.1%. Growth averaging 3% annually during 2003-06 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. The Socialist president, RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO, has made mixed progress in carrying out key structural reforms, which need to be accelerated and deepened to sustain Spain's strong economic growth. Despite the economy's relative solid footing significant downside risks remain including Spain's continued loss of competitiveness, the potential for a housing market collapse, the country's changing demographic profile, and a decline in EU structural funds. ^Z $1.07 trillion (2006 est.) ^[ $1.081 trillion (2006 est.) ^\ 3.6% (2006 est.) ^] $27,000 (2006 est.) ^^ `@ 3.9% `A 29.4% `B 66.7% (2006 est.) ^_ 21.77 million (2006 est.) ^` `@ 5.3% `A 30.1% `B 64.6% (2004 est.) ^a 8.1% (October 2006 est.) _! 19.8% (2005) _" `C 2.8% `D 25.2% (1990) _d 32.5 (1990) _# 3.5% (2006 est.) _V 29.4% of GDP (2006 est.) _$ `E $488.2 billion `F $475.3 billion; including capital expenditures of $12.8 billion (2006 est.) _% 39.9% of GDP (2006 est.) _& 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 _( 0.6% (2006 est.) _) 263.3 billion kWh (2004) _* 241.8 billion kWh (2004) _+ 11.4 billion kWh (2004) _, 8.3 billion kWh (2004) _- 31,250 bbl/day (2004 est.) _. 1.573 million bbl/day (2004 est.) _/ 135,100 bbl/day (2001) _0 1.582 million bbl/day (2001) _W 10.5 million bbl (1 January 2002) _1 339 million cu m (2004 est.) _2 27.01 billion cu m (2004 est.) _X 0 cu m (2004 est.) _Y 26.95 billion cu m (2004 est.) _Z 2.549 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.) _Q $-98.6 billion (2006 est.) _3 $222.1 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _4 machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods _5 France 19.3%, Germany 11.4%, Portugal 9.6%, UK 8.4%, Italy 8.4%, US 4.1% (2005) _6 $324.4 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) _7 machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, measuring and medical control instruments _8 Germany 15.3%, France 14.7%, Italy 8.6%, UK 5.8%, Netherlands 5%, China 4.2% (2005) _[ $17 billion (2006 est.) _9 $1.591 trillion (30 June 2006 est.) _\ ODA, $1.33 billion (1999) _; euro (EUR) `* on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions with the member countries _< euros per US dollar - 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002) _= calendar year 
]& _> 18.322 million (2005) _? 41.328 million (2005) _@ `G generally adequate, modern facilities; teledensity is 45 main lines for each 100 persons `H NA `I country code - 34; 22 coaxial submarine cables; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Indian Ocean), NA Eutelsat; tropospheric scatter to adjacent countries _A AM 208, FM 715, shortwave 1 (1998) _B 224 (plus 2,105 repeaters; includes 11 television broadcast stations and 88 repeaters in the Canary Islands) (1995) _C .es _D 2.521 million (2006) _E 19.205 million (2006) 
]' _F 157 (2006) _G `! 96 `a 16 `J 10 `b 20 `c 24 `W 26 (2006) _R `! 61 `b 2 `c 15 `W 44 (2006) _] 8 (2006) _^ gas 7,962 km; oil 622 km; refined products 3,447 km (2006) _e `! 14,873 km `r 11,919 km 1.668-m gauge (6,950 km electrified) `m 998 km 1.435-m gauge (998 km electrified) `n 1,928 km 1.000-m gauge (815 km electrified); 28 km 0.914-m gauge (28 km electrified) (2005) _H `! 666,292 km `K 659,629 km (includes 12,009 km of expressways) `L 6,663 km (2003) _b 1,000 km (2003) _S `! 169 ships (1000 GRT or over) 1,902,839 GRT/1,874,161 DWT by type: bulk carrier 9, cargo 13, chemical tanker 14, container 27, liquefied gas 9, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 49, petroleum tanker 15, refrigerated cargo 5, roll on/roll off 20, specialized tanker 2, vehicle carrier 5 `X 36 (Cuba 1, Denmark 1, Germany 12, Italy 2, Mexico 3, Norway 7, UK 1, Uruguay 2, US 7) `d 112 (Bahamas 12, Belize 3, Brazil 4, Cambodia 1, Cape Verde 1, Cuba 1, Cyprus 7, Italy 1, Malta 6, Marshall Islands 3, Nigeria 1, Panama 53, Portugal 15, Saint Kitts and Nevis 2, UK 1, Venezuela 1) (2006) _I Algeciras, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gijon, Huelva, La Coruna, Tarragona, Valencia 
]( _J Spanish Armed Forces: Army (Ejercito de Tierra), Spanish Navy (Armada Espanola, AE; includes Marine Corps), Spanish Air Force (Ejercito del Aire Espanola, EdA) (2006) _T 20 years of age (2004) _K males age 20-49: 9,366,588 females age 20-49: 9,155,057 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 20-49: 7,623,356 females age 20-49: 7,434,465 (2005 est.) _L males age 18-49: 233,384 females age 20-49: 221,805 (2005 est.) _U 1.2% (2005 est.) 
]) _N 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; 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 _O 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 