Head of state: King Juan Carlos I Prime minister: Mariano Rajoy
Population
313,847,465
47,042,984
Life Expectancy
78.490 years
81.270 years
Capital City
Washington, DC
Madrid
Largest city
New York City (population: 8,008,280)
Madrid (population: 3,117,980)
Human Development Index
0.95
0.949
GDP per capita
$49,000 US
$31,000 US
Literacy Rate
99%
97.9%
Corruption Perception Index
7.3
6.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
16.6%
33.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
William Gates III ($40.0bn US)
Amancio Ortega ($18.3bn US)
Unemployment Rate
9.000%
21.700%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
Constitution-based federal republic; strong democratic tradition
parliamentary monarchy
Independence date
4 July 1776 (from Great Britain)
the Iberian peninsula was characterized by a variety of independent kingdoms prior to the Muslim occupation that began in the early 8th century A.D. and lasted nearly seven centuries; the small Christian redoubts of the north began the reconquest almost immediately, culminating in the seizure of Granada in 1492; this event completed the unification of several kingdoms and is traditionally considered the forging of present-day Spain
Religions
Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)
Roman Catholic 94%, other 6%
Languages
English 82.1%, Spanish 10.7%, other Indo-European 3.8%, Asian and Pacific island 2.7%, other 0.7% (2000 census) note: Hawaiian is an official language in the state of Hawaii
Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally
machinery, motor vehicles; foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, medicines, other consumer goods
External Debt
$14,710,000,000,000 $
$2,570,000,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6734 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
4.060%
1.200%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
110
18
Location
North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France
Area
9,826,675 km sq
505,370 km sq
Coastline
19,924 km
4,964 km
Climate
mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest; low winter temperatures in the northwest are ameliorated occasionally in January and February by warm chinook winds from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains
temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
