Spain), or the Kingdom of Spain (), is a transcontinental country predominantly located in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea.
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Spain), or the Kingdom of Spain (), is a transcontinental country predominantly located in southwestern Europe with parts of territory in the Atlantic Ocean and across the Mediterranean Sea.
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The largest part of Spain is situated on the Iberian Peninsula; its territory includes the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea, and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa.
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Spain'spania remained under Roman rule until the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fourth century, which ushered in the migration of Germanic peoples and the Alans into the peninsula.
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Centralisation of the administration and further State-building in mainland Spain ensued in the 18th and 19th centuries, during which the Crown saw the loss of the bulk of its American colonies a few years after of the Peninsular War.
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Spain is a developed country, a secular parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state.
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Spain has one of the longest life expectancies in the world at 83.
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Spain is a member of the United Nations, the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and many other international organisations.
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Spain'spania served as a granary for the Roman market, and its harbours exported gold, wool, olive oil, and wine.
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Habsburg Spain was one of the leading world powers throughout the 16th century and most of the 17th century, a position reinforced by trade and wealth from colonial possessions and became the world's leading maritime power.
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Spain managed to hold on to most of the scattered Habsburg empire, and help the imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire reverse a large part of the advances made by Protestant forces, but it was finally forced to recognise the separation of Portugal and the United Provinces, and eventually suffered some serious military reverses to France in the latter stages of the immensely destructive, Europe-wide Thirty Years' War.
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In 1793, Spain went to war against the revolutionary new French Republic as a member of the first Coalition.
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French occupation of Mainland Spain created an opportunity for overseas criollo elites who resented the privilege towards Peninsular elites and demanded retroversion of the sovereignty to the people.
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Napoleonic War left Spain economically ruined, deeply divided and politically unstable.
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The Spanish–American War was fought in the spring of 1898 and resulted in Spain losing the last of its once vast colonial empire outside of North Africa.
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El Desastre, as the war became known in Spain, gave added impetus to the Generation of '98 who were analyzing the country.
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Catalanism and Vasquism, alongside other nationalisms and regionalisms in Spain, arose in that period, being the Basque Nationalist Party formed in 1895 and Regionalist League of Catalonia in 1901.
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In May 1982 Spain joined NATO, followed by a referendum after a strong social opposition.
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In 1986 Spain joined the European Economic Community, which later became the European Union.
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On 1 January 2002, Spain fully adopted the euro, and Spain experienced strong economic growth, well above the EU average during the early 2000s.
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In March 2021, Spain became the sixth nation in the world to make active euthanasia legal.
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Mount Teide is the highest mountain peak in Spain and is the third largest volcano in the world from its base.
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Spain 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, such as the Chafarinas Islands and Alhucemas.
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Mainland Spain is a rather mountainous landmass, dominated by high plateaus and mountain chains.
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The highest point in Spain is the Teide, a 3, 718-metre active volcano in the Canary Islands.
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Vegetation of Spain is varied due to several factors including the diversity of the terrain, the climate and latitude.
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Spain includes different phytogeographic regions, each with its own floral characteristics resulting largely from the interaction of climate, topography, soil type and fire, and biotic factors.
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In Spain there are 17, 804 million trees and an average of 284 million more grow each year.
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The constitution specifies that Spain has no state religion and that all are free to practice and believe as they wish.
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Spain is organisationally structured as a so-called Estado de las Autonomias; it is one of the most decentralised countries in Europe, along with Switzerland, Germany and Belgium; for example, all autonomous communities have their own elected parliaments, governments, public administrations, budgets, and resources.
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Spain has maintained its special relations with Hispanic America and the Philippines.
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Legal situation concerning Gibraltar was settled in 1713 by the Treaty of Utrecht, in which Spain ceded the territory in perpetuity to the British Crown stating that, should the British abandon this post, it would be offered to Spain first.
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UN resolutions call on the United Kingdom and Spain to reach an agreement over the status of Gibraltar.
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Spain provides one of the highest degrees of liberty in the world for its LGBT community.
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Perennial weak points of Spain's economy include a large informal economy, and an education system which OECD reports place among the poorest for developed countries, along with the United States.
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Spain is the second biggest foreign investor there, after the United States.
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In 2017, Spain was the second most visited country in the world, recording 82 million tourists which marked the fifth consecutive year of record-beating numbers.
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In 2010 Spain became the solar power world leader when it overtook the United States with a massive power station plant called La Florida, near Alvarado, Badajoz.
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Spain was ranked 30th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021, down from 29th in 2019.
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Spain subsequently has one of the oldest populations in the world, with the average age of 43.
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In 2005, Spain instituted a three-month amnesty programme through which certain hitherto undocumented aliens were granted legal residency.
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Many foreign residents in Spain come from other Western and Central European countries.
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Spain has been described as a de facto plurinational state.
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Spain has a number of descendants of populations from former colonies, especially Latin America and North Africa.
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Since 2000, Spain has experienced high population growth as a result of immigration flows, despite a birth rate that is only half the replacement level.
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In fact, Spain was Europe's largest absorber of migrants from 2002 to 2007, with its immigrant population more than doubling as 2.
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In 2008, prior to the onset of the economic crisis, the Financial Times reported that Spain was the most favoured destination for Western Europeans considering a move from their own country and seeking jobs elsewhere in the EU.
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State education in Spain is free and compulsory from the age of six to sixteen.
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The centuries-long colonial era globalised Spanish language and culture, with Spain absorbing the cultural and commercial products of its diverse empire.
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Artists from Spain have been highly influential in the development of various European and American artistic movements.
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Spain is currently experiencing a revolution in contemporary architecture and Spanish architects like Rafael Moneo, Santiago Calatrava, Ricardo Bofill as well as many others have gained worldwide renown.
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Today, Spain is a major world sports powerhouse, especially since the 1992 Summer Olympics and Paralympics that were hosted in Barcelona, which stimulated a great deal of interest in sports in the country.
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Public holidays celebrated in Spain include a mix of religious, national and local observances.
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