Background information: 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.
Independence: 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.
Full Country Name: Kingdom of Spain
Surface Area: 504,784 squared km.
Capital: Madrid
Regions: Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities.
Time zone: GMT/UTC + 1 hour in winter or two in summer (from last Sunday of March to last Saturday of September)
Religion: 94% Catholic
Government: Parliamentary Monarchy
Electricity: 220V, 50 Hz.
Weights and measurements: Metric System.
Telephone dialing: From Spain: 00 + country code + city code + phone number.
Population: 40,448,191 (July 2007 est.)
Age Structure:
- 0-14 years: 14.4%
- 15-64 years: 67.8%
- 65 years and over: 17.8%
Median age:
- total: 40.3 years
- male: 39 years
- female: 41.7 years (2007 est.)
Sex ratio: total population: 0.956 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
Life expectancy:
- total population: 79.78 years
- male: 76.46 years
- female: 83.32 years (2007 est.)
Languages: Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally
National holiday: National Day, 12 October (1492); year when Columbus first set foot in the Americas
Constitution: approved by legislature 31 October 1978; passed by referendum 6 December 1978, effective 29 December 1978
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Source: CIA The World Factbook
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sp.html
