Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located in Southern Europe, with two small exclaves in North Africa (both bordering Morocco). Spain is a democracy which is organised as a parliamentary monarchy. It is a developed country with the ninth-largest economy in the
world. It is the largest of the three sovereign nations that make up the Iberian Peninsula—the others are Portugal and the microstate of Andorra.
To the west and to the south of Galicia, Spain borders Portugal. To the south, it borders Gibraltar (belonging to the UK) and, through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla), Morocco (claimed by Morocco as unredeemed territories). 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.
The name Spain (España in Spanish) comes from the Latin name Hispania. On January 1, 2002 Spain terminated its historic peseta currency and replaced it with the euro, which has become its national currency shared with 13 other countries from the Eurozone. This culminated a fast process of economic modernization. Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch and a bicameral parliament, the Cortes Generales. The executive branch consists of a Council of Ministers presided over by the President of Government (comparable to a prime minister), proposed by the monarch and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autónomas) and 2 autonomous cities (ciudades autónomas) - Ceuta and Melilla. These autonomous communities are subdivided into 50 provinces (provincias). Historically, some provinces are also divided into comarcas (roughly equivalent to a US "county" or an English district). The lowest administrative division of Spain is the municipality (municipio).
At 194,884 mi² (504,782 km²), Spain is the world's 51st-largest country. It is comparable in size to Turkmenistan, and somewhat larger than the US state of California. On the west, Spain borders Portugal, on the south, it borders Gibraltar (a British overseas territory) and Morocco, through its cities in North Africa (Ceuta and Melilla). On the northeast, along the Pyrenees mountain range, it borders France and the tiny principality of Andorra. Spain 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 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. Spain has called for the return of Gibraltar, a small but strategic British overseas territory near the Strait of Gibraltar. An overwhelming majority of Gibraltar's 30,000 inhabitants want to remain British, as they have repeatedly proven in referenda on the issue. UN resolutions call on the UK and Spain to reach an agreement to resolve their differences over Gibraltar. According to the World Bank, Spain's economy is the eighth biggest worldwide and the fifth largest in Europe. As of 2005, the absolute GDP was valued at $1.12 trillion, just behind Italy and ahead of Canada (see List of countries by GDP (nominal)). It is listed 22nd in GDP per capita, just behind the United Arab Emirates and ahead of Singapore. Spain's mixed economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is 90% of that,
Spain currently has the second highest immigration rates within the EU, just after Cyprus, and the second highest absolute net migration in the World (after the
USA). This can be explained by a number of reasons including its geographical position, the porosity of its borders, the large size of its submerged economy and the strength of the agricultural and construction sectors which demand more low cost labour than can be offered by the national workforce. In fact, booming Spain has been Europe's largest absorber of migrants for the past six years, with its immigrant population increasing fourfold as 2.8 million people have arrived.
