Spain - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Spain. Strategic location along approaches to Strait of Gibraltar; Spain controls a number of territories in northern Morocco, including the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla and the islands of Penon de Velez de la Gomera, Penon de Alhucemas, and Islas Chafarinas; Spain's Canary Islands are one of four North Atlantic archipelagos that make up Macaronesia; the others are the Azores (Portugal), Madeira (Portugal), and Cabo Verde. Mother's mean age at first birth is 31.2 years (2020 est.) (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 3 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Geographical data of Spain
| Location | Southwestern Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay, and Pyrenees Mountains; southwest of France |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 40 00 N, 4 00 W |
| Map references | Europe |
| Tarrain | large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees Mountains in north |
| Natural Resources | coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land |
| Natural Hazards | periodic droughts, occasional flooding volcanism: volcanic activity in the Canary Islands, located off Africa's northwest coast; Teide (3,715 m) has been deemed a Decade Volcano by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations; La Palma (2,426 m) is the most active of the Canary Islands volcanoes; Lanzarote is the only other historically active volcano |
| Irrigated Land | 38,012 sq km (2022) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Tagus river source (shared with Portugal [m]) - 1,006 km note: [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 1,952.7 km |
| Border Countries | Andorra 63 km; France 646 km; Gibraltar 1.2 km; Portugal 1,224 km; Morocco (Ceuta) 8 km and Morocco (Melilla) 10.5 km |
| Coastline | 4,964 km |
| Climate | temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 498,980 sq km |
| Water Area | 6,390 sq km |
| comparative Area | almost five times the size of Kentucky; slightly more than twice the size of Oregon |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Contiguous zone | 24 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm (applies only to the Atlantic Ocean) |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Pico de Teide (Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m |
| Lowest point | Atlantic Ocean 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 660 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 53.4% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 23.4% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 10.2% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 19.8% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 37.2% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 9.5% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
With the notable exception of Madrid, Sevilla, and Zaragoza, the largest urban agglomerations are found along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts; numerous smaller cities are spread throughout the interior; very dense settlement around the capital of Madrid, as well as the port city of Barcelona
People and Society
In Spain, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Spanish 84.8%, Moroccan 1.7%, Romanian 1.2%, other 12.3% (2021 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.12% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 7.1 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 10 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 2.9 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.3 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.64 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 50.1% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | |
| Education expenditures | |
| Net Migration rate | 4.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Spanish | Spaniard(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 58.2%, atheist 16.2%, agnostic 10.8%, other 2.7%, non-believer 10.5%, unspecified 1.7% (2021 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 13% (male 3,147,019/female 3,012,821) |
| 15-64 years | 66.1% (male 15,662,492/female 15,585,138) |
| 65 years and over | 20.9% (2024 est.) (male 4,259,816/female 5,613,147) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 51.3 (2024 est.) |
| Youth dependency ratio | 19.7 (2024 est.) |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 31.6 (2024 est.) |
| Potential support ratio | 3.2 (2024 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 46.8 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 45.7 years |
| Female | 47.8 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 81.6% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 0.24% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 6.751 million MADRID (capital), 5.687 million Barcelona, 838,000 Valencia (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.76 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 2.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 2.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 83 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 80.3 years |
| Female | 85.8 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 99.9% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0.1% of population (2022 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: rural | rural: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Improved: total | total: 100% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Unimproved: total | total: 0% of population (2022 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 10.72 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 4.67 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 3.52 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 2.34 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 23.9% (2025 est.) |
| Male | 25.8% (2025 est.) |
| Female | 22% (2025 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Spain
Want to know more about Spain? Check all different factbooks for Spain below.
