Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country located in southwest Europe. One of Europe’s largest countries, it covers an area of 505,983 square kilometers (195,361 square miles) and is home to a population of 47,900,000 people. Madrid is the capital city and the government is a constitutional monarchy with two legislative houses.
The population of Spain is made up of diverse ethnic groups and the country has three autonomous communities that each have their own regional customs and official language — Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country. There is also a small population of Roma (Gypsies or Gitanos) . The main language spoken is Castilian Spanish but other languages include Catalan, Galician, and Basque. The predominant religion is Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic) .
Spain’s central plateau is surrounded by the Ebro River valley, the mountainous Catalonia region, the Mediterranean coastal region of Valencia, the Guadalquivir River valley, and the mountainous region extending from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic coast. It has a developed market economy based on services, light and heavy industries, and agriculture. Mineral resources include iron ore, mercury, and coal. Its agricultural products include grains and livestock and it is one of the world’s major producers of wine and olive oil. Tourism is also a major industry, especially along the southern Costa del Sol.
The currency is the euro and the exchange rate is 1 U.S. Dollar equals 0.918 euro. As of 2022, its population rank was 30th in the world and the population projection for 2030 is 47,083,000. Its density is 245.2 persons per square mile and 94.7 persons per square kilometer. 80.3% of the population is urban and 19.7% is rural. The life expectancy at birth is 80.9 years for males and 86.2 years for females. Literacy rate is 98% for both genders. The Gross National Income (GNI) is 1,429,358 U.S. dollars and the GNI per capita is 30,330 U.S. dollars.