| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Official name | Reino de España (Kingdom of Spain) |
| Form of state | Parliamentary monarchy |
| Head of state | King Felipe VI (since 2014) |
| Capital | Madrid |
| Area | about 505,990 km² |
| Population | about 49.1 million (INE, 1 January 2025) |
| Density | about 97 people per km² |
| Neighbouring countries | Portugal, France, Andorra, Morocco (at Ceuta and Melilla), Gibraltar (UK) |
| Administrative divisions | 17 autonomous communities, 2 autonomous cities, 50 provinces, 8,132 municipalities |
| Official languages | Castilian (Spanish) nationwide; Catalan/Valencian, Galician and Basque in their communities |
| Religion | Catholic majority by tradition, with a growing share of non-believers |
| Currency | euro (since 2002) |
| Dialling code | +34 |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1); Canaries UTC+0 |
| National day | 12 October, Fiesta Nacional de España |
| EU member | since 1 January 1986 |
Main cities
The most populous cities, by municipal population: Madrid (about 3.5 million), Barcelona (about 1.7 million), Valencia (about 840,000), Seville, Zaragoza, Málaga, Murcia, Palma, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Alicante and Bilbao. The metropolitan areas of Madrid and Barcelona exceed 7 and 5 million people respectively.
Geography in figures
- Mountains: Teide, 3,715 m (Tenerife, Spain's highest peak); Mulhacén, 3,479 m (Sierra Nevada, highest on the peninsula); Aneto, 3,404 m (Pyrenees).
- Rivers: Tagus (about 1,000 km, partly in Portugal), Ebro (about 930 km, the longest entirely in Spain), Duero, Guadiana, Guadalquivir.
- Islands: Canaries (about 7,450 km²: Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, El Hierro, La Graciosa); Balearics (about 4,990 km²: Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera).
Population and society
Spain has over 49 million inhabitants, more than nine million of them born abroad. Life expectancy, around 84 years, is among the highest in the world, while the birth rate, about 1.1 children per woman, is among the lowest. More: population, economy, geography and Spain today.