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The Kingdom of 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 War 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) gave Spain a dynamic and rapidly growing economy and made it a global champion of freedom and human rights. More recently the government has had to focus on measures to reverse a severe economic recession that began in mid-2008. Austerity measures implemented to reduce a large budget deficit and reassure foreign investors have led to one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

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Capital: Madrid

Population: 47,370,542 (July 2013 est.)

Official Language: Spanish (Catalan is official in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community (where it is known as Valencian); in the northwest corner of Catalonia (Vall d’Aran), Aranese is official along with Catalan; Galician is official in Galicia; Basque is official in the Basque Country and in the Basque-speaking area of Navarre)

Currency: Euro

Ethnicity/race: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types

Religion: Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%

*Source: CIA Factbook

3 Interesting Facts:

  1. Spain is home to a type of tailless monkey, the macaque, which is the only type of wild monkey that lives in Europe.
  2. In 1492, Ferdinand V of Aragon and Queen Isabella paid for Christopher Columbus to explore the west in search of a new route to India. Columbus landed on one of the islands of the Bahamas by mistake. His mistake made Spain one of the richest nations in the world for a time.
  3. Spain was neutral in WWI and WWII but experienced a civil war (1936-1939) which killed over 500,000 people. The victorious General Francisco Franco ruled as a brutal dictator until his death in 1975. After his defeat, Spain began to transform itself into a modern, industrial, and democratic European nation.

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