spain

=Spain=

__Fast facts__
Country: Spain Population: 40,448,191 Size: 504,782 sq km Capital City: Madrid Language: Spanish Currency: Euro Head of Country: King Juan Carlos I __**Location:**__ Spain is located in southwestern area of Europe. To the west, Spain borders Portugal and to the south, it borders Gibraltar and Morocco. To the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders the southwestern part of France and It borders the Bay of Biscay, the Mediterranean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. Also, it borders the Pyrenees Mountains and the Southwest of France. Spain is slightly more than twice the size of Oregon. The coordinates are 40 North and 4 West.

Spain's landscape has large, flat to dissected plateau which is surrounded by rugged hills with the Pyrenees in north. Periodic droughts are the biggest natural hazard found in Spain. The lowest point is the Atlantic Ocean at 0 m and the highest point is Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands at 3,718 m. There are five big mountain ranges crossing the country, and about 50% of it are located at an elevated plain.The landscapes are extremely varied, some almost desert-like, others green and fertile, and of course there are the long coasts __**Climate**__ The climate in Spain is temperate. It has clear and hot summers. It is moderate and cloudy along the coast with cloudy and cold winters. Along the coast it is partly cloudy and cool. The average temperatures are 9ªC in winter and 18ªC in the summer. __**Economy**__ Spain's GDP is $1.084 trillion and the GDP per captita is $27,400. The currency used is euro. Agricultural products there are grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus; beef, pork, poultry, dairy products and fish. The natural resources are coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, and arable land. Exports are machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods and the imports are machinery and equipment, fuels, chemicals, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, measuring and medical control instruments. The export partners are France 18.9%, Germany 11%, Portugal 8.9%, Italy 8.6%, UK 7.8%, US 4.5%. Importing partners of Spain are Germany 14.7%, France 13.2%, Italy 8.1%, UK 5%, Netherlands 4.8%, China 4.8%.
 * __Geographical Features__**

__Government__
The Kingdom of Spain as it is known formally, has a capital called Madrid. It has parliamentary monarchy for the government and it is based on the civil law system. Citizens in Spain can vote at the age of 18, suffrage;universal. Espana is divided into two time zones including the Canary Islands and has 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities. Spain has a National Day on the 12th of October (1492) which celebrates the year when Columbus first found America. In the Executive Branch, the chief of state is King Juan Carlos I (since 22 November 1975) and the heir for the thrown is Prince Felipe, his son. The president of the government in Spain is Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (he is like our prime minister). The Legislative Branch, which is bicameral, is made up of the General Courts (National Assembly) consisting of 259 seats and 208 members that serve on a 4-year term. The other party is the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) consisting of 350 seats, serve on a 4-year term. The Judicial Branch is where the Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo) is found. =__History__= Spain's history is very old and complicated. When the Roman emperor Hispania ruled, it became one of the most important regions in the country. Germans took over in the early Middle Ages but soon after almost all of the peninsula of Spain was under Muslim rule! Kingdoms in the north, who were ruled by Christian leaders, eventually overtook and by 1492 there were no more Muslim rulers in Spain. During that same year Columbus reached the Americas, the first global empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Spain was the strongest kingdom in all of Europe. Although, wars and other set-backs made it loose this status. During the twentieth century Spain came under a dictatorship. In this time it experienced stagnation and an economic revival. In 1986, Spain joined the European Union and went through an economic and cultural renaissance.