About Spain GEOGRAPHY
Spain is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Spanish territory includes: Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in Atlantic Ocean, and two autonomous cities Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. On the west, Spain borders Portugal, and on the north it borders France and Andorra.
Capital of Spain is Madrid (5,646 million people). The biggest cities are Barcelona (3,136 mil.), Valencia (1,623 mil.), Sevilla (1,317 mil.), Ěalaga (1,074 mil.) Bilbao. Spain is divided into 50 administrative provinces.
Total area of the country - 504,8 sq.km
Population - 44,709 million (by January 2006)
POLITICS
The Kingdom of Spain is a constitutional monarchy organized as a parliamentary democracy; monarch is a head of the state and Council of Ministers presided over by the President of Government (prime-minister).
Spain has been a member of the European Union since 1986. Also it is a member of UN, NATO and other international organizations.
ECONOMY
Spain is a highly developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU, based on nominal GDP.
Spain's recent economic performance has been remarkable, with 2006 marking its 13th consecutive year of growth, one of the longest periods of sustained growth in its recent history. However, according to the Financial Times and OECD, there are persistent signs of imbalances that threaten to derail the strong performance, although recent data suggest some improvement.
The imbalances that have been accompanying the expansion for some years now raise persistent questions as to whether the expansion can last: i) the still high inflation (4,3%) differential with the euro area average is eroding competitiveness and helping to widen the external deficit, which has now reached a historic high; ii) developments in the housing market and mounting household debt remain disturbing; and iii) productivity growth is still extremely low.
Nevertheless, experts expect further growth of Spanish economy in 2008 due to industry development, global economy growth and increasing the volume of trade with Latin America and Asia.
The Spanish currency is Euro.
|
