http://www.eurowrc.org/ > Contributions > EuroWRC Español |
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SPAINAREA: 504,782 sq km (194,897 sq miles).
POPULATION: 39,371,147 (1998).
POPULATION DENSITY: 72.47 per sq km.
CAPITAL: Madrid. Population: 2,866,850 (1996).
GEOGRAPHY: Spain shares the Iberian peninsula with Portugal and is
bounded to the north by the Pyrenees, which separate Spain from France. The
Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera), 193km (120 miles)
southeast of Barcelona, and the Canary Islands off the west coast of Africa are
part of Spain, as are the tiny enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla on the north
African mainland. With the exception of Switzerland, mainland Spain is the
highest and most mountainous country in Europe, with an average height of 610m
(2000ft). The Pyrenees stretch roughly 400km (249 miles) from the Basque Country
in the west to the Mediterranean Sea; at times the peaks rise to over 1524m
(5000ft), the highest point being 3404m (11,169ft). The main physical feature of
Spain is the vast central plateau, or Meseta, divided by several chains
of sierras. The higher northern area includes Castille and León, the southern
section comprises Castile/La Mancha and Extremadura. In the south the plateau
drops abruptly at the Sierra Morena, beyond which lies the valley of
Guadalquivir. Southeast of Granada is the Sierra Nevada, part of the Betic
Cordillera, which runs parallel to the Mediterranean, rising to 3481m (11,420ft)
and the highest point on the Spanish peninsula (the Pico del Teide on Tenerife
in the Canaries is the highest peak in Spain). The Mediterranean coastal area
reaches from the French frontier in the northeast down to the Straits of
Gibraltar, the narrow strip of water linking the Mediterranean with the Atlantic
and separating Spain from North Africa.
GOVERNMENT: Constitutional monarchy since 1978. LANGUAGE: Spanish (Castillian), Catalan, Galician and Basque.
RELIGION: Roman Catholic majority.
TIME: Mainland Spain/Balearics: GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last
Sunday in March to Saturday before last Sunday in October). |
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