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SPAIN PROFILE |
Located at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Europe and Africa, Spain's history and culture are made up of a rich mix of diverse elements.
People
Population: 45,200,737.
Annual growth rate: 0.116%.
Ethnic groups: Distinct ethnic groups within Spain include the Basques, Catalans, and Galicians.
Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic; Protestant and Islamic faiths also have a significant presence.
Languages: Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan-Valenciana 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%.
Cities: Capital--Madrid (5.5 million). Other cities--Barcelona (4.9 million), Valencia (2.3 million), Seville (1.8 million), Malaga (1.3 million), Zaragoza (871,000), Bilbao (353,950).
Spain's population density, lower than that of most European countries, is roughly equivalent to New England's. In recent years, following a longstanding pattern in the rest of Europe, rural populations are moving to cities. Urban areas are also experiencing a significant increase in immigrant populations, chiefly from North Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe.
Spain has no official religion. The constitution of 1978 disestablished the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion, while recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. More than 90% of the population is at least nominally Catholic. Among the remaining population, there are about 1.2 million evangelical Christians and other Protestants (2007 est.), 1 million Muslims (2007 est.), and 48,000 Jews (2007 est.).
Economy:
GDP: USD 1.556 trillion (seventh-largest Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development--OECD--economy).
Annual growth rate: 1.3%.
Per capita GDP: USD 33,100.
Spain's accession to the European Community--now European Union (EU)--in January 1986 required the country to open its economy to trade and investment, modernize its industrial base, improve infrastructure, and revise economic legislation to conform to EU guidelines.
These measures helped the economy grow rapidly over the next two decades, including for the last 15 years. Unemployment fell from 23% in 1986 to 8% in mid-2007, and the public debt-to-GDP ratio fell significantly. The adoption of the euro in 2002 greatly reduced interest rates, spurring a housing boom that further fueled growth. The strong euro also encouraged Spanish firms to invest in the United States. Several Spanish firms have significant U.S. investments in banking, insurance, wind and solar power, biofuels, and road construction, as well as other sectors. The end of the housing boom in 2007 and the international financial crisis led to a rapid deceleration during 2008. Housing sales and construction declined dramatically, and the unemployment rate stood at 11.3% in the third quarter of 2008, the second-highest level in the European Union. By the end of November 2008, nearly 3 million Spaniards were unemployed, and some banks predict that the unemployment rate could average 14% in 2009. |
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