Geography, Demography and History
Posted on 1 Jun 2010
Last modified on 1 Jun 2010
Geography
Spain is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Share this Peninsula with mainland Portugal, occupying 80% of it. Apart from the peninsula, Spain includes the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza) in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands (consisting of seven islands and several islets) in the Atlantic Ocean, and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. It is the 3rd country in Europe in extension and the 5th in population. To the north it borders France and Andorra, finding its natural border in the Pyrenees.
Geographically has five major mountain ranges that cross and almost 50% of its territory lies on a plateau. Its coasts are bathed by the Mediterranean Sea in the east, from the Pyrenees to Gibraltar, the Atlantic Ocean on its west coast, the peninsula that stretches from Gibraltar to Galicia, with a majority of the coast to Portugal, and the northern coast of the Cantabrian Sea.
His landscapes have a remarkable variety, ranging from desert areas to the most green fields, where mountains, valleys, rivers and beaches originate a variety of climates.
Demography
According to the National Statistics Institute (INE) the total Spanish population in 2009 was 46,745,807 people. The 9.27% of Spain’s population is of foreign nationality. The large-scale immigration began in the mid-nineties. By 2000, Spain received the second highest number of immigrants from around the world in absolute terms (after USA).
It is the tenth country in the world with the largest foreign population, behind countries like the United States, Russia, Germany, France, Canada or the United Kingdom. Most immigrants come from Latin America (36.21%), followed by Western Europe (21.06%), Eastern Europe (17.75%) and the Maghreb (14.76%).
The average age of the resident population in Spain is 40.2 years: 38.9 years for males and 41.6 years for women. Life expectancy is located at 80.2 years on average: 77.0 for males and 83.5 for women. The population density is 91.4 inhabitants / km ², lower than most other Western European countries and their distribution throughout the territory is very irregular.
Thus, the Spanish population is concentrated mainly in two areas:
• Costa and surrounding areas: coastal areas and nearby valleys are the most densely populated and where the main population centers and metropolitan areas (except Madrid), for example Barcelona extending its influence throughout the Catalan coast, Valencia, Alicante-Cartagena-Murcia-Elche, Seville, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada, Bilbao-Santander-Guipúzcoa, Asturias, La Coruña-Vigo, Palma de Mallorca, etc.
• Madrid: it is a densely populated area, the main city is the largest in Spain, the third municipality in the European Union (second only to London and Berlin) and its metropolitan area is the third largest of the European Union (second only to Paris and London), which are cities like Móstoles, Alcalá de Henares, Fuenlabrada, Alcorcón, Leganés, Getafe, etc., exceeding 100,000. This area is so populated because Madrid is the capital of Spain and its influence now extends through the provinces of Toledo and Guadalajara, forming a large metropolitan area.
History
One of the most characteristic aspects of ancient history of Spain is the successive waves of different people that spread throughout the peninsula. The first to arrive were the Iberians, a town in northern Africa. Then came the Celts, a typically Aryan people, and the merger of the two there arose a new race, the Celts, who were grouped into several tribes (Cantabria, Asturias, Lusitano) that gave name to their respective territories. The next to arrive, attracted by mining wealth, were the Phoenicians, who founded several trading posts along the coast, the most important of which was Cadiz. Then came the Greeks, who founded several cities, among which were Rosas, Ampurias and Sagunto. In their struggle against the Greeks, the Phoenicians called the Carthaginians, who under the orders of Hamilcar Barca, took over most of Spain. It was at this time when Rome began to defend disputed border areas of Greek influence: And so the peninsula began in the Second Punic War, which decided the fate of the world then. After the victory of Rome, Publius Scipio, “The African”, began the conquest of Spain, which was to be under Roman rule for six centuries.
Once the peninsula was completely subdued, there was a romanization of such magnitude, which produced writers of the stature of Seneca and Lucan and such eminent emperors as Trajan and Hadrian. Rome bequeathed to Spain four major social institutions: the Latin language, Roman law, the municipalities and the Christian religion.
After the fall of the Roman Empire the Swabians, Vandals and Alans entered Spain, but were defeated by the Visigoths, who in the late sixth century occupied practically the whole peninsula. In the early eighth century the Arabs came into the South. Quickly conquered the country except for a small bastion of the north would become the springboard for the start of the Reconquista, which was not completed until eight centuries later. The period of Muslim rule is divided into three periods: the Emirate (711 to 756), the Caliphate (756-1031) and the Taifa Kingdoms (small independent kingdoms) (1031-1492).
In 1492 the marriage of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, prepared the way for the union of the two kingdoms and marked the beginning of a period of growing success for Spain, since during his reign, Granada, the last stronghold Arabs in Spain, was conquered and yet, in the same historic year of 1492, the caravels sent by the Crown of Castile under the command of Christopher Columbus discovered America. The Canary Islands became a Spanish territory (1495), affirmed the hegemony of Spain in the Mediterranean at the expense of France and the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, and Navarre was incorporated into the Crown.
The next two centuries, the sixteenth and seventeenth witnessed the construction and apogee of the Spanish Empire as a result of which, the country became the leading power in the world under the aegis of the Habsburgs and European politics turned around him.
The War of Succession of Spain (1701-1714) marked the end of the Habsburg dynasty and the beginning of the Bourbons. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formalized the British occupation of the Rock of Gibraltar, giving rise to an anachronistic colonial situation which still persists today and is the only dispute between Spain and the United Kingdom. In 1808 Joseph Bonaparte was installed on the throne of Spain after the Napoleonic invasion, although the fierce resistance of the people led to the restoration of the Bourbons in the person of Fernando VII.
In 1873 the short reign of Amadeus of Savoy ended with his resignation and the First Republic was proclaimed. However, a military coup in 1875 restored the monarchy and Alfonso XII was proclaimed king of Spain. His son Alfonso XIII was succeeded in 1886, although his mother Queen Maria Cristina of Habsburg acted as regent until 1902, when he was crowned King. Before that a brief war against the United States ended with the loss of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in 1898, thus completing the dissolution of the Spanish Empire.
In the municipal elections of April 12, 1931 it became clear that in all major Spanish cities, candidates who supported the monarchy had been defeated. The magnitude of the Republican vote was huge in cities like Madrid and Barcelona. In rural constituencies the monarchists were powerful enough to secure a majority in the entire nation. But it was clear that the chiefs in the area still had enough power to prevent a fair vote. On the night the day after elections gathered in the streets of Madrid large crowds. The friends that trusted more the King advised him to leave the capital without delay to avoid a bloodbath. Consequently Alfonso XIII of Spain went and established the Second Republic on April 14, 1931. Over its five years of life went through all kinds of political, economic, and social, inexorably divided opinion into two irreconcilable parts. The climate of growing violence culminated on July 18, 1936 with a military uprising that led to a tragic civil war that ended only three years later.
On 1 October 1936 he clinched General Franco to power as head of state and supreme commander of the armies. The Spanish State embarked on a period of forty years of dictatorship, during which the country’s political life was characterized by the illegality of all political parties except the National Movement. Franco died in 1975 ending a period in the history of Spain and opening the way for the restoration of the monarchy with the ascension to the throne of the present King of Spain Juan Carlos I de Borbon y Borbon.
The young monarch soon established himself as a resolute motor for change toward a Western-style democracy through a careful process of political reform that repealed the legal structures of Franco. Adolfo Suárez, President of the second government of the monarchy (July 1976) led with determination and skill with the help, certainly, a broad social consensus-the so-called transition to democracy which, after passing through several stages (recognition of freedoms key political parties including the Communist Party, trade unions, an amnesty for political crimes, etc..), culminated in the first democratic parliamentary elections in 41 years on June 15 1977. The Court elected decided to begin a constitutional process that concluded with the adoption of a new constitution, ratified by referendum on December 6, 1978.
Between 1980 and 1982 the regions of Catalonia, the Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia approved statutes of autonomy and elected their respective parliaments. In January 1981 the Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez resigned and was succeeded by Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. On August 27, 1982 Calvo-Sotelo presented the King’s decree dissolving Parliament and call for general elections by 28 October. The victory at the polls was for the Spanish Socialist Workers Party and its secretary general Felipe Gonzalez. The Socialists won 202 seats of the 350 that has the House and approximately 48% of the popular vote. Felipe Gonzalez was elected prime minister (December 2) for the parliamentary vote of investiture. The big losers were the Union of Democratic Centre-which split after the departure of several of its members, and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). Popular Alliance, whose chairman was Manuel Fraga Iribarne, got a considerable increase (106 seats and approximately 26% of the vote). The Spanish Socialist Party also won elections in 1986, 1989 and 1993 and consolidated the position of People’s Party, led by José María Aznar, as the country’s second political force. In 1996 and 2000 elections were won by the Popular Party with Jose Maria Aznar. In 2004, the Socialist government came to power.