BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Name: SPAIN
Capital
Madrid
Largest city Madrid
Official language
Spanish
Government
Constitutional Monarchy
Area 505,992 km²
Population
44,395,286
Currency Euro (€)
(EUR)
Time
zone (UTC +1)
Internet
TLD .es
Calling
code +34
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GEOGRAPHY
& BACKGROUND
Spain,
officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish:
Reino de España[1]), is a European
parliamentary monarchy. It is the largest
of the three sovereign nations that make
up the Iberian Peninsula—the others
are Portugal and Andorra—located in
Southern Europe. To the west and to the
south of Galicia, Spain borders Portugal.
To the south, it borders Gibraltar and,
through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta
and Melilla), Morocco. To the northeast,
along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders
France and the tiny principality of Andorra.
It also includes the Balearic Islands in
the Mediterranean Sea, the Canary Islands
in the Atlantic Ocean and a number of uninhabited
islands on the Mediterranean side of the
strait of Gibraltar, known as Plazas de
soberanía, such as the Chafarine
islands, the isle of Alborán, the
"rocks" (peñones) of Vélez
and Alhucemas, and the tiny Isla Perejil.
In the northeast along the Pyrenees, a small
exclave town called Llívia in Catalonia
is surrounded by French territory.
Mainland
Spain is dominated by high plateaus and
mountain ranges such as the Pyrenees or
the Sierra Nevada. Running from these heights
are several major rivers such as the Tajo,
the Ebro, the Duero, the Guadiana and the
Guadalquivir. Alluvial plains are found
along the coast, the largest of which is
that of the Guadalquivir in Andalusia, in
the east there are alluvial plains with
medium rivers like Segura, Júcar
and Turia. Spain is bound to the east by
Mediterranean Sea (containing the Balearic
Islands), to the north by the Bay of Biscay
and to its west by the Atlantic Ocean, where
the Canary Islands off the African coast
are found.
Spain's
climate is very diverse and can be divided
in the following areas:
The
Northern and Eastern Mediterranean coast
(Catalonia, Northern Valencia): Mild summers
with pleasant temperatures and relatively
mild winters. Relatively dry climate, similar
to southern France.
The South East Mediterranean coast (Alicante,
Almería): Warm summers and mild winters.
Very dry semi-desert, rainfall as low as
150mm a year.
Southern Mediterranean coast (Málaga):
Warm summers ,very mild winters. Average
yearly temperatures close to 20 degrees
celsius (subtropical).
The Guadalquivir valley (Seville, Cordoba):
Very hot and dry summers and mild winters.
South West Atlantic coast (Cadiz, Huelva):
Pleasant summers, very mild winters. Relatively
humid.
The interior tableland: Cold winters (depending
mostly on altitude) and hot, dry summers.
Relatively dry weather (400-600mm per year).
Ebro Valley (Zaragoza): Very hot summers,
cold winters. Very dry semi-desert climate.
Northern Atlantic coast or "Green Spain"
(Galicia, Asturias, Coastal Basque country):
A very wet climate, with mild summers and
winters.
The Canary Islands: subtropical weather,
with mild temperatures (18 °C to 24
°C; 64 °F to 75 °F) throughout
the year. Desertic in the Eastern islands
and moister in the westernmost ones.
At 194,884 mi² (504,782 km²),
Spain is the world's 51st-largest country
(after Thailand). It is comparable in size
to Turkmenistan, and somewhat larger than
the US state of California.
For
more information please visit
http://www.fco.gov.uk/
