Spain

Southwestern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and Pyrenees Mountains; southwest of France

40 00 N, 4 00 W

Europe

almost five times the size of Kentucky; slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

4,964 km

temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees Mountains in north

coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land

38,012 sq km (2022)

Tagus river source (shared with Portugal [m]) - 1,006 km

note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

with the notable exception of Madrid, Sevilla, and Zaragoza, the largest urban agglomerations are found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts; numerous smaller cities are spread throughout the interior; very dense settlement around the capital of Madrid, as well as the port city of Barcelona

periodic droughts, occasional flooding

volcanism: volcanic activity in the Canary Islands, located off Africa's northwest coast; Teide (3,715 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; La Palma (2,426 m) is the most active of the Canary Islands volcanoes; Lanzarote is the only other historically active volcano

strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar; Spain controls a number of territories in northern Morocco, including the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas, and Islas Chafarinas; Spain's Canary Islands are one of four North Atlantic archipelagos that make up Macaronesia; the others are the Azores (Portugal), Madeira (Portugal), and Cabo Verde

Spanish 84.8%, Moroccan 1.7%, Romanian 1.2%, other 12.3% (2021 est.)

Roman Catholic 58.2%, atheist 16.2%, agnostic 10.8%, other 2.7%, non-believer 10.5%, unspecified 1.7% (2021 est.)

0.12% (2025 est.)

7.16 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

9.98 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

3.98 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

with the notable exception of Madrid, Sevilla, and Zaragoza, the largest urban agglomerations are found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts; numerous smaller cities are spread throughout the interior; very dense settlement around the capital of Madrid, as well as the port city of Barcelona

6.751 million MADRID (capital), 5.687 million Barcelona, 838,000 Valencia (2023)

31.2 years (2020 est.)

3 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

1.32 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.65 (2025 est.)

4.29 physicians/1,000 population (2022)

2.9 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)

23.8% (2016)

50.2% (2021 est.)

pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from oil and gas production; drought; air pollution; deforestation; desertification

temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast

8.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

111.5 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

parliamentary constitutional monarchy

17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular - comunidad autonoma) and 2 autonomous cities* (ciudades autonomas, singular - ciudad autonoma); Andalucia; Aragon; Asturias; Canarias (Canary Islands); Cantabria; Castilla-La Mancha; Castilla-Leon; Cataluña (Castilian), Catalunya (Catalan), Catalonha (Aranese) [Catalonia]; Ceuta*; Comunidad Valenciana (Castilian), Comunitat Valenciana (Valencian) [Valencian Community]; Extremadura; Galicia; Illes Baleares (Balearic Islands); La Rioja; Madrid; Melilla*; Murcia; Navarra (Castilian), Nafarroa (Basque) [Navarre]; Pais Vasco (Castilian), Euskadi (Basque) [Basque Country]

civil law system with regional variations

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

Asturias Forum or FAC 
Basque Country Unite (Euskal Herria Bildu) or EH Bildu (coalition of 4 Basque pro-independence parties)
Basque Nationalist Party or PNV or EAJ 
Canarian Coalition or CC (coalition of 5 parties)
Ciudadanos Party (Citizens Party) or Cs 
Compromis - Compromise Coalition 
Navarrese People's Union or UPN 
Together for Catalonia or Junts 
People's Party or PP 
Republican Left of Catalonia or ERC 
Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE 
Teruel Existe or TE 
Unidas (Unite) or Sumar (electoral coalition formed in March 2022) (formerly Unidas Podemos or UP)
Vox or VOX

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CABEI, CAN (observer), CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAIA (observer), MIGA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, PIF (partner), Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), SICA (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, Union Latina, UNOCI, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNWTO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

1492

National Day (Hispanic Day), 12 October (1492)

description: three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double-width), and red, with the national coat of arms on the left side of the yellow band; the coat of arms shows the emblems of the area's former kingdoms (clockwise from upper left: Castile, Leon, Navarre, and Aragon), which also used red and yellow as their colors; the stylized pomegranate at the bottom of the shield represents Granada; the two columns represent the Pillars of Hercules, which are promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on the Strait of Gibraltar; a red scroll bears the imperial motto of "Plus Ultra" (further beyond), referring to Spanish lands outside Europe

Pillars of Hercules

red, yellow

$1.723 trillion (2024 est.)

milk, olives, pork, grapes, wheat, tomatoes, barley, sugar beets, maize, oranges (2023)

textiles and apparel (including footwear), food and beverages, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machine tools, tourism, clay and refractory products, footwear, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment

2.6% (2024 est.)

24.386 million (2024 est.)

20.2% (2022 est.)

15% (of GDP) (2023 est.)

France 15%, Germany 10%, Portugal 9%, Italy 9%, UK 6% (2023)

cars, packaged medicine, refined petroleum, vehicle parts/accessories, garments (2023)

Germany 11%, China 10%, France 10%, Italy 7%, USA 7% (2023)

crude petroleum, cars, garments, vehicle parts/accessories, natural gas (2023)

mix of publicly operated and privately owned TV and radio stations; hundreds of TV channels available, including national, regional, local, public, and international channels; satellite and cable TV available; multiple national radio networks, large number of regional radio networks, and larger number of local radio stations (2019)

.es

EC

365 (2025)

162 (2025)

Spanish Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas de España): Army (Ejército de Tierra), Spanish Navy (Armada Espanola; includes Marine Corps), Air and Space Force (Ejército del Aire y del Espacio), Emergency Response Unit (Unidad Militar de Emergencias); Civil Guard (Guardia Civil)

Ministry of the Interior: Spanish National Police (Cuerpo Nacional de Policía, CNP) (2025)

approximately 120,000 active-duty military personnel; approximately 80,000 Guardia Civil (2025)

the military's inventory is comprised of weapons and equipment that were produced domestically, co-produced with or imported from other European countries, or acquired from the US; key suppliers of major armaments include Germany and the US; Spain's defense industry manufactures land, air, and sea weapons systems and is integrated within the European defense-industrial sector (2025)

18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women (upper age limits depend on branch of service, roles, specialties, etc); 24-36 month initial obligation; no conscription, but the Spanish Government retains the right to mobilize citizens 19-25 years of age in a national emergency; 18-58 for the voluntary reserves (2026)

Spain has up to 3,000 military personnel deployed on 17 missions supporting the EU, NATO, and the UN on four continents, as well as naval missions in the Mediterranean and the seas off the Horn of Africa; its largest deployments are up to 700 troops in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and about 1,700 personnel in Eastern Europe supporting NATO missions in Latvia, Romania, and Slovakia (2025)

the Spanish military has a wide range of responsibilities, including protecting the country’s national interests, sovereignty, and territory, providing support during natural disasters, and fulfilling Spain’s responsibilities to European and international security; it maintains garrisons in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta, and Melilla, conducts operations worldwide, and participates in a variety of EU-, NATO-, and UN-led missions; Spain joined NATO in 1982 and is fully integrated into the NATO structure; it routinely conducts exercises with NATO (and EU) partners, and hosts one of NATO’s two combined air operations centers 

the Spanish military's history goes back to the 13th century; the Army has an infantry regiment, formed in the 13th century, that is considered the oldest still active military unit in the Western world; the Marine Corps, which traces its roots back to 1537, is the oldest naval infantry force in the world; Spain created a Spanish Legion for foreigners in 1920, but early on the Legion was primarily filled by native Spaniards due to difficulties in recruiting foreigners, and most of its foreign members were from the Republic of Cuba; it was modeled after the French Foreign Legion and its purpose was to provide a corps of professional troops to fight in Spain's colonial campaigns in North Africa; in more recent years, it has been used in NATO peacekeeping deployments; today’s Legion includes a mix of native Spaniards and foreigners with Spanish residency (2025)

Spanish Space Agency (AEE; became operational in 2023); Center for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) (2025)

El Arenosillo Test Center/Range (Andalusia) (2025)

space program dates back to the 1940s; manufactures and operates communications, remote sensing (RS), and scientific/technology satellites; has developed sounding rockets; conducts research and development in a broad range of space-related capabilities, including astrobiology, astronomy, imaging/RS, meteorology, optics, propulsion, robotics, satellites (particularly micro- and nano-satellites), and satellite launch vehicles; program is integrated into the ESA; also participates in EU space programs; hosts the European Space Astronomy Center (ESOC) and the ESA’s Space Surveillance and Tracking Data Centre (ESAC); cooperates with foreign space agencies and industries, including the US; has an active commercial space industry (2025)

1960s - began working with the US/NASA and the European Space Research Organization (ESRO), the forerunner of the ESA; sounding rocket program (ended in the 1990s)

1974 - first satellite (IntaSat) launched by US

1990s - satellite launch vehicle (SLV) development program (canceled in 2000)

1992 - first communications satellite (Hispasat 1A) launched on European rocket

1998 - first astronaut in space on US Space Shuttle

2018 - first synthetic-aperture-radar, remote-sensing/reconnaissance satellite (Paz) launched by US

2023 - Spanish built Miuri-1 becomes first European private rocket to reach space; joined US-led Artemis Accords for space and lunar exploration

2025 - communications satellite (SpainSat NG 1) with advanced security technology launched by US

Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); al-Qa’ida