Spain

Spain

Spain is a country in southern Europe, south of France. The total area is 505,990 sq km (195,364 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Madrid.

Land and Resources

The largest part of Spain is a dry central plateau divided by mountain ranges, where rapid rivers flow through narrow valleys. A narrow plain edges the long coast. The Pyrenees Mountains form the border with France, and the narrow Strait of Gibraltar separates Spain from Africa.

Despite a climate with extremes of temperature and generally low rainfall, nearly one-third of Spain's land is suitable for cultivation. Olive trees and grapevines are widely grown. The country also has many mineral resources, including coal, iron, and petroleum.

Population

The population of Spain is 39,107,912 (1997 estimate), with 77 percent of the people living in towns and cities. Ethnic groups include the Catalans, the Galicians, the Basques, and the Roma (Gypsies). About 97 percent of Spain's population is Roman Catholic. Education is free and compulsory. Most of the people of Spain speak Castilian Spanish, but Catalan, Galician, and Basque are also spoken.

Spain has rich traditions of music, painting, and literature (see Spanish Literature). It is known for festivals called fiestas, for guitar music such as flamenco, and for bullfighting.

Economy

Traditionally an agricultural country, Spain saw rapid industrial growth during the late 1900s. Manufacturing now employs twice as many workers as agriculture and related activities. The country has a flourishing tourism industry. Fishing also contributes to the Spanish economy.

Spain is a leading wine producer. Among its manufactures are textiles, iron and steel, motor vehicles, ships, and cement. The unit of currency is the peseta (127 pesetas equal U.S. $1; 1996).

Government

The head of state of Spain is a hereditary monarch. Executive power is held by the prime minister, a cabinet, and the Council of States, a consultative body. Spain's parliament is made up of a 208-member Senate, which also has 47 special regional representatives, and a 350-member Congress of Deputies, which votes into office the prime minister proposed by the monarch.

History

Human beings lived in what is now Spain during the Stone Age. The Iberians, a North African people, were well established by 1000 BC. The Celts later migrated from France and intermingled with the Iberians. The Phoenicians established a colony, probably in the 11th century BC, and Greek traders followed, establishing colonies on the Mediterranean coast.

In the late 3rd century BC the African state of Carthage conquered much of the region, a move viewed unfavorably by Rome, which forced the Carthaginians out in 206 BC. See Punic Wars. For the next seven centuries, until the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe in the 5th century AD, this region was one of Rome's most prosperous possessions.

The Visigoths invaded the region in AD 412. Within seven years they were the region's dominant power. For three centuries the Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse implanted Roman culture and Christianity in the peninsula. Roman Catholicism became the official state religion.

In 711 an Islamic army invaded from northern Africa and defeated the Visigoths. By 719 Muslims known as Moors ruled most of the region. Spanish civilization flowered during three centuries of Moorish rule. Learning was cultivated at Muslim universities, an extensive literature developed, and art and architecture flourished.

A remnant of Christian rule was preserved in the northern portion of the region. The next centuries saw an enlargement of Christian territory, and in 1056, with northern Spain consolidated, Ferdinand I proclaimed himself emperor of Spain, initiating the period of reconquest from the Moors. After a great battle fought on the plains of Toledo in 1212, Moorish power was limited to a few areas in the south, where it endured until 1492.

In 1469 Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand V of AragÐ"Ñ-n married, linking the two Spanish kingdoms. In 1478 they established the Inquisition to enforce the purity of the Catholic faith, and also to increase royal power. Inquisitors were given both civil and church power. Proceedings were secret and property confiscated. In 1492 the last Moorish stronghold was conquered. Religious uniformity was imposed throughout Spain by the forcible conversion or expulsion of Jews and Moors.

The Spanish monarchs sponsored the journey of Italian-Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus to find a westward route to the Indies. Columbus's voyages were followed by Spain's expansion in the Americas. By the 1550s Spain controlled most of South America, Central America, Florida, Cuba, and, in Asia, the Philippine Islands. This empire brought enormous wealth to Spain, and it became a major power in Europe. In 1516, the year of Ferdinand's death, Spain controlled southern Italy and had arranged strategic marriages with other royal families. Ferdinand was succeeded by his grandson, Charles, the first king of a united Spain. Charles was also an heir to the Habsburg dynasty and so held the Netherlands and Bourgogne. In 1519 he was elected Holy Roman emperor. See Charles V.

In 1556, when Charles relinquished the Spanish throne to his son, Philip II, Spain was prosperous, and it's "Golden Age" of culture and art began. In 1580 Philip acquired Portugal and its territories in Asia, Africa, and Brazil, becoming ruler of the largest empire in the world.

Troubles gradually accumulated, however. Philip's persecution of Protestants and his attempts to rule the Netherlands led to war with Protestant England. Philip sent the great Spanish Armada against England in 1588, but it was defeated. Epidemics swept Spain in the 1590s, significantly reducing the population. Although Spain reached its cultural height in the 1600s, the country was in political turmoil.

In 1701 the Austrian Habsburgs and the French Bourbons both claimed the Spanish throne, leading to the War of the Spanish Succession, which involved much of Europe until 1713. Spain's European possessions went to Austria, while the throne and the overseas empire passed to France. Bourbon rule was notable for large public works programs, commerce, industry, agriculture, a revived intellectual life, and economic