Spain is a country in Southern Europe. It is in the Iberian Peninsula.

Spain is bordered to the west by

Portugal; to the northeast it borders France, from which it is separated by the tiny principality of Andorra
and by the great wall of the Pyrenees Mountains. Spain’s only other land border is in the far south with
Gibraltar, an enclave that belonged to Spain until 1713, when it was ceded to Great Britain in the Treaty of
Utrecht at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. Elsewhere the country is bounded by water: by
the Mediterranean Sea to the east and southeast, by the Atlantic Ocean to the northwest and southwest,
and by the Bay of Biscay (an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean) to the north. The Canary (Canarias) Islands, in the
Atlantic Ocean off the northwestern African mainland, and the Balearic (Baleares) Islands, in the
Mediterranean, also are parts of Spain, as are Ceuta and Melilla, two small enclaves in North Africa
(northern Morocco) that Spain has ruled for centuries.

Since 1975, Spain has had a constitutional monarchy. Spain has more than five hundred thousand square
kilometres of land. It is smaller than France, but it is bigger than Germany. Almost fifty million people live in
Spain. Spain is divided into 17 autonomous communities (this means that they can decide upon some
affairs themselves). Each community has its own government.

Spain is a storied country of stone castles, snowcapped mountains, vast monuments, and sophisticated
cities, all of which have made it a favoured travel destination. The country is geographically and culturally
diverse. Its heartland is the Meseta, a broad central plateau half a mile above sea level. Much of the region
is traditionally given over to cattle ranching and grain production.