15 Facts about Spain

The Kingdom of Spain are not crowded beaches, bull fights and flamenco. The ancient monuments left by the Moors and Romans, castles from the medieval centuries, the white Andalusian villages, vibrant cities of Madrid and Barcelona offer various cultural attractions. Similar to the architecture and monuments, the landscape in Spain varies widely. The desserts of Almeria, the glittering beaches, the rugged Sierra Nevada mountains and the evergreen Galicia… Such a diversity can surprise and satisfy all types of tourists. Many things about Spain travelers know, but let’s just mention 15 important facts about Spain, this diverse, beautiful and temperament country.

1. The official name of the country is the Kingdom of Spain.
2. Since 1978 Spain is Parliamentary Monarchy.
3. The capital city is Madrid, which is also the largest Spanish city with about 6 million inhabitants.
4. Second largest city in Spain is Barcelona with approximately 5.3 million inhabitants and the third is 1.6 million inhabitants city, Valencia.
5. Overall population, based on 2006 statistics is 44.7 million inhabitants.
6. After France, Spain is the largest country in Europe with the size of 506,000 million square meters.
7. In Europe, the least densely populated country with 202 inhabitants per square mile is exactly Spain.
8. The number of tourists visiting Spain annually is greater than the population size: over 52 million tourists.
9. Spanish peseta has been replaced with Euro in 2002, so Euro is since then Spanish currency.
10. There are 17 autonomous regions in Spain.
11. The telephone country code is (00)34.
12. Throughout the history, various groups of people have settled here: Basques, Celts, Greeks, Iberians, Moors, Phoenicians, Moors.
13. Spain is the largest producer of olive oil and this country accounts for 45% of the global olive oil production.
14. The national sport of Spain is football (fútbol).
15. The same sex marriage is legalized in Spain in 2005.