Geography, history

The country is mountainous- with an average altitude of 650 m, the second highest in Europe (after Switzerland). Spain is known for the richness of its culturally diverse heritage, having been influenced by many nations and peoples throughout its history. The definition of a national Spanish culture has been characterized by tension between the centralized state (dominated in recent centuries by Castilia) and numerous regions and minority peoples.



After Italy, Spain is the country with the second highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world, with a total of 40. Spain was the first European power after Portugal to carve out a large
colonial empire, with Spanish America and the Philippines as the most notable examples.
Spain played a minor part in the scramble for Africa, with the colonisation of Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco and Equatorial Guinea.
Severe political instability in the 19th and early 20th centuries culminated in the bitterly fought Spanish Civil War (1936-39). The rebel Nationalist forces, led by General Francisco Franco, emerged victorious with the support of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The Spanish Civil War has been called the first battle of the Second World War.

After World War II, Spain was politically and economically isolated, and was kept out of the United Nations until 1955. In the 1960s, Spain registered an unprecedented economic growth in what was called the Spanish miracle, which rapidly resumed the interrupted transition towards a modern industrial economy.
Upon the death of General Franco in November 1975, Prince Juan Carlos assumed the position of king and head of state. With the approval of the new Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the arrival of democracy, the State devolved autonomy to the regions and created an internal organization based on autonomous communities.



In 2008 Spain officially reached 46.06 million people registered.
Capital and largest city: Madrid
Spain's population density is lower than that of most Western European countries and its distribution along the country is very unequal.
With the exception of the region surrounding the capital, Madrid, the most populated areas lie around the coast.
The most populous urban regions are Madrid (almost 6 million) - Barcelona (5,3 million) - Valencia (1,6 million) - (Sevilla 1,3 million) - Málaga (1,1 million) - Bilbao (0.95 million).

Climate

Although an obsolete European proverb has it that Africa starts south of the Pyrenees, someone from tropical parts may be in for a shock. As in the rest of Europe, temperatures vary considerably with the seasons.
Clear, hot summers in the interior, more moderate and cloudy along the coast; cloudy, cold winters in the interior, partly cloudy and cool along the coast.
Hours of sunshine vary from 1,700 on the Cantabrian coast up to more than 3,000 in the South and the Canaries.
Combined with local differences in “continentality” (distance from the sea) and altitude, this causes wide variation across the country. There is a difference in temperature of some 22ºC between the freezing peaks of Mulhacen, the ceiling of the Sierra Nevada at 3478 m, and the semi-tropical Granada coast, just 40km apart.
There is a number of official figures of around 45ºC, including one at Écija, also known as the 'frying pan of Andalucia' in the province of Seville, with 47.0ºC.
The coldest stretch of coast in winter is in Guipúzcoa with an average of 8ºC. In the more higher parts inland of spain can be also very frosty in the winter.

Economy

Industries: metals and metal manufactures, textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, chemicals,shipbuilding, electronic devices, automobiles, machine tools, tourism.
According to the World Bank, Spain's economy is the eighth largest worldwide and the fifth largest in Europe.
Weak points of Spain's economy include high inflation, a large underground economy, and an education system which OECD reports place among the poorest for developed countries, together with the United States and UK.
The Spanish tourism industry has grown to become the second biggest in theworld (approx. 5% of GDP in 2006).
In 2006, Spain took the 23rd place in a list of least corrupt countries. Population below poverty line: 19.8% (2005) (link als bij Fr) Recently a recession has been making itself felt, leading to much unemployment, especially in the low-skilled jobs segment.

Migration

The population of Spain doubled during the 20th century.There was a demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. The pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural interior to the industrial cities. No fewer than eleven of Spain's fifty provinces saw an absolute decline in population over the century. Then, after the 80s, a new population increase started. Initially in the return of many Spanish who had emigrated to other European countries; more recently, boosted by the large numbers of immigrants mostly from Latin America (38.75%), Eastern Europe(16.33%), North Africa (14.99%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (4.08%). Romanians were the largest group of recent arrivals.

According to the Spanish government, there were 4.5 million foreign residents in Spain in 2007; independent estimates put the figure at 4.8 million people, or 11% of the total population (Red Cross, World Disasters Report 2006). According to residence permit data for 2005, about 500,000 were Moroccan, another 500,000 were Ecuadorian, more than 200,000 were Romanian, and 260,000 were Colombian. Other important foreign communities are British (8.09%), French (8.03%), Argentine (6.10%), German (5.58%) and Bolivian (2.63%).
In 2005, a regularisation programme increased the legal immigrant population by 700,000 people.

Reasons for this include Spain's cultural ties with Latin America, its geographical position, the porosity of its borders, the large size of its underground economy, and the strength of the agricultural and construction sectors, which demand more low cost labour than can be offered by the national workforce.
Another significant factor is the large number of residents of EU origin retiring to Spain's Mediterranean coast.
Spain has been Europe's largest absorber of migrants for the past six years, with its immigrant population increasing fourfold as 2.8 million people have arrived. According to the Financial Times, Spain is the most favoured destination for West Europeans considering a move from their own country and seeking jobs elsewhere in the EU.

Over two-thirds of Spanish people support equal social rights for legally resident foreign nationals, one of the highest levels of support in the EU.  However, 42.1% of Spanish respondents agreed with the idea that unemployed migrants should be deported, the eighth highest figure in the EU.

Cities with largest foreign populations (2001): Madrid (9%), Barcelona (4%), Palma de Mallorca (4%)
Largest countries of origin (2005): Morocco, Ecuador, Romania.
Foreign-born as part of the population (2004): 8.6%; increased by 2007 to 11%.