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🌍 Countries of the world 🏰 Europe

Spain

Spain

📖 In short

Spain is a country in southwest Europe that covers most of the Iberian Peninsula, separated from Morocco only by the Strait of Gibraltar. Its capital is Madrid. Spain has a rich history: it was part of al-Andalus, ruled by Muslims for about eight centuries.

🤩 Did you know?

  • Spain's longest river is the Tagus, which runs about 1007 kilometers to the Atlantic Ocean.
  • Spain's capital is Madrid, and the currency is the euro.
  • The Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic belong to Spain.
  • People speak Spanish, and in some regions other languages like Catalan.

🗂️ Fact file

Location of Spain
Location of Spain
The Spanish coat of arms
The Spanish coat of arms
Capital
Madrid
Official language
Spanish; Catalan, Galician and Basque are co-official languages in the regions where they're widely spoken, alongside Spanish.
Official name
Spain
Currency
Basic unit: the euro, worth about one dollar. The peseta was withdrawn in 2002.
Area
505,992 km², including the Balearic and Canary Islands
Population
(Estimate) 2002: 39,567,000 people. (Census) 1991: 39,433,942 people.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Al-Andalus

In al-Andalus science and the arts flourished, and great cities were built, like Córdoba, Granada and Seville. The Great Mosque of Córdoba with its red and white arches, and the wonderful Alhambra palace, are still there.

🔍 Arabic words

Spanish has thousands of words of Arabic origin, like “aceite” from “az-zayt” (oil) and “alcoba” from “al-qubba”… And many place names are Arabic in origin, like the Guadalquivir (“al-wadi al-kabir”, the great river).

💡 Explorers

Christopher Columbus set out from Spain in 1492 on the voyage in which he reached the Americas.

🎯 Flamenco and food

Southern Spain is famous for flamenco dancing with guitar and clapping. One of its famous dishes is paella, rice cooked with vegetables and fish.

🧩 Test yourself

1 What is the old Arabic name for a large part of Spain?

2 What is the capital of Spain?

3 Which picture shows “Spain”?

🌍 Discover more

📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons