Spain

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

arable land:

30%

permanent crops:

9%

permanent pastures:

21%

forests and woodland:

32%

other:

8% (1993 est.)

• pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas;
• water quality and quantity nationwide;
• air pollution;
• deforestation;
• desertification

0-14 years:

15% (male 3,057,919; female 2,879,109)

15-64 years:

69% (male 13,407,270; female 13,408,685)

65 years and over:

16% (male 2,651,149; female 3,729,864) (July 1998 est.)

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.71 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

noun:

Spaniard(s)

adjective:

Spanish

conventional long form:

Kingdom of Spain

conventional short form:

Spain

local short form:

Espana

• 17 autonomous communities (comunidades autonomas, singular-comunidad autonoma);
• Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluna, Communidad Valencian, Extremadura, Galicia, Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, Pais Vasco (Basque Country)

note: there are five places of sovereignty on and off the coast of Morocco (Ceuta, Mellila, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera) with administrative status unknown

chief of state:

King JUAN CARLOS I (since 22 November 1975); Heir Apparent Prince FELIPE, son of the king

head of government:

• President of the Government Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez (since 5 May 1996);
• First Vice President Francisco ALVAREZ CASCOS Fernandez (since 5 May 1996) and Second Vice President (and Minister of Economy and Finance) Rodrigo RATO Figaredo (since 5 May 1996)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers designated by the president

note: there is also a Council of State that is the supreme consultative organ of the government

elections:

• the king is a hereditary monarch;
• president proposed by the king and elected by the National Assembly following legislative elections;
• election last held 3 March 1996 (next to be held by NA March 2000)

election results:

Jose Maria AZNAR elected president; percent of National Assembly vote - NA

principal national parties, from right to left:

• Popular Party or PP [Jose Maria AZNAR Lopez];
• Spanish Socialist Workers Party or PSOE [Joaquin ALMUNIA Amann, secretary general];
• Spanish Communist Party or PCE [Julio ANGUITA Gonzalez];
• United Left or IU (a coalition of parties including the PCE and other small parties) [Julio ANGUITA Gonzalez]

chief regional parties:

• Convergence and Union or CiU [Jordi PUJOL i Soley, secretary general] (a coalition of the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia or CDC [Jordi PUJOL i Soley] and the Democratic Union of Catalonia or UDC [Josep Antoni DURAN y LLEIDA]);
• Basque Nationalist Party or PNV [Xabier ARZALLUS Antia];
• Canarian Coalition or CC (a coalition of five parties) [Lorenzo OLLARTE Cullen]

• on the extreme left, the Basque Fatherland and Liberty or ETA [Herri BATASUNA] and the First of October Antifascist Resistance Group or GRAPO use terrorism to oppose the government;
• free labor unions (authorized in April 1977);
• Workers Confederation or CC.OO;
• the Socialist General Union of Workers or UGT and the smaller independent Workers Syndical Union or USO;
• business and landowning interests;
• the Catholic Church;
• Opus Dei;
• university students

AfDB, AG (observer), AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CCC, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECLAC, EIB, ESA, EU, FAO, G- 8, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINUGUA, MTCR, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OSCE, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNU, UPU, WCL, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

chief of mission:

Ambassador Antonio OYARZABAL MARCHESI

chancery:

2375 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20037

telephone:

[1] (202) 452-0100, 728-2340

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Lawrence G. ROSSIN

embassy:

Serrano 75, 28006 Madrid

mailing address:

APO AE 09642

telephone:

[34] (1) 587-2200

• three horizontal bands of red (top), yellow (double width), and red with the national coat of arms on the hoist side of the yellow band;
• the coat of arms includes the royal seal framed by the Pillars of Hercules, which are the two promontories (Gibraltar and Ceuta) on either side of the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar

total:

16.2 million

by occupation:

services 64%, manufacturing, mining, and construction 28%, agriculture 8% (1997 est.)

• grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus;
• beef, pork, poultry, dairy products;
• fish catch of 867,000 metric tons in 1993

total value:

$94.5 billion (f.o.b., 1995)

commodities:

cars and trucks, semifinished manufactured goods, foodstuffs, machinery (1994)

partners:

EU 72.1%, US 4.2%, other developed countries 7.9% (1996)

total value:

$118.3 billion (c.i.f., 1995)

commodities:

machinery, transport equipment, fuels, semifinished goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals (1994)

partners:

EU 65.6%, US 6.6%, other developed countries 11.5%, Middle East 6.2% (1996)

total:

15,172 km

broad gauge:

12,781 km 1.668-m gauge (6,355 km electrified; 2,295 km double track)

standard gauge:

664 km 1.435-m gauge (480 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,727 km (privately owned: 1,708 km 1.000-m gauge, 517 km electrified; government owned: 19 km 1.000-m gauge, all electrified) (1996)

total:

344,847 km

paved:

341,399 km (including 7,747 km of expressways)

unpaved:

3,448 km (1996 est.)

• crude oil 265 km;
• petroleum products 1,794 km;
• natural gas 1,666 km

• key European gateway country for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish entering the European market;
• transshipment point for and consumer of Southwest Asian heroin SPRATLY ISLANDS