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    Spain Geography 2000

      Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France

      Geographic coordinates: 40 00 N, 4 00 W

      Map references: Europe

      Area:
      total: 504,782 sq km
      land: 499,542 sq km
      water: 5,240 sq km
      note: includes Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - Ceuta, Melilla, Islas Chafarinas, Penon de Alhucemas, and Penon de Velez de la Gomera

      Area - comparative: slightly more than twice the size of Oregon

      Land boundaries:
      total: 1,917.8 km
      border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco (Ceuta) 6.3 km, Morocco (Melilla) 9.6 km

      Coastline: 4,964 km

      Maritime claims:
      contiguous zone: 24 nm
      exclusive economic zone: 200 nm (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean)
      territorial sea: 12 nm

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

      Terrain: large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north

      Elevation extremes:
      lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
      highest point: Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m

      Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land

      Land use:
      arable land: 30%
      permanent crops: 9%
      permanent pastures: 21%
      forests and woodland: 32%
      other: 8% (1993 est.)

      Irrigated land: 34,530 sq km (1993 est.)

      Natural hazards: periodic droughts

      Environment - current issues: 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

      Environment - international agreements:
      party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
      signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification

      Geography - note: strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar

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    Revised 01-Nov-00
    Copyright © 2000 Photius Coutsoukis (all rights reserved)