We don't exactly offer spanish courses online, but we believe that what we are offering here is the best way to learn spanish, for free, by the way. You simply start by reading the texts available on this site or added by you and whenever you need a spanish to english translation on any word, just select it with your mouse, and the translation can be seen on the right side column. Some words are clickable - if they are, you can also hear the pronunciation by clicking on the link.
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| Population | 40,491,052 (July 2008 est |
| Capital | Madrid |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begin |
| Location | Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains, southwest of France |
| General info about Spain |
| Spain's powerful world empire of the 16th and 17th centuries ultimately yielded command of the seas to England. Subsequent failure to embrace the mercantile and industrial revolutions caused the country to fall behind Britain, France, and Germany in economic and political power. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II but suffered through a devastating civil war (1936-39). A peaceful transition to democracy following the death of dictator Francisco FRANCO in 1975, and rapid economic modernization (Spain joined the EU in 1986) have given Spain one of the most dynamic economies in Europe and made it a global champion of freedom. Continuing challenges include Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorism, illegal immigration, and slowing economic growth. |
| Languages spoken |
| Castilian Spanish (official) 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2%, are official regionally |
| What about drugs? |
| despite rigorous law enforcement efforts, North African, Latin American, Galician, and other European traffickers take advantage of Spain's long coastline to land large shipments of cocaine and hashish for distribution to the European market; consumer for Latin American cocaine and North African hashish; destination and minor transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin; money-laundering site for Colombian narcotics trafficking organizations and organized crime |
| Ethnic division |
| composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types |
| HIV/AIDS prevalence rate |
| 0.7% (2001 est.) |
| Climate |
| temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast |
| Resources |
| coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land |
| Economy |
| The Spanish economy boomed from 1986 to 1990 averaging 5% annual growth. After a European-wide recession in the early 1990s, the Spanish economy resumed moderate growth starting in 1994. Spain's mixed capitalist economy supports a GDP that on a per capita basis is equal to that of the leading West European economies. The center-right government of former President Jose Maria AZNAR successfully worked to gain admission to the first group of countries launching the European single currency (the euro) on 1 January 1999. The AZNAR administration continued to advocate liberalization, privatization, and deregulation of the economy and introduced some tax reforms to that end. Unemployment fell steadily under the AZNAR administration but remained high. Growth averaging more than 3% annually during 2003-07 was satisfactory given the background of a faltering European economy. The Socialist president, Jose Luis Rodriguez ZAPATERO, has made mixed progress in carrying out key structural reforms. Growth dropped to 1.3% in 2008 as a result of the mortgage and credit crises and diminished world demand. |
| Environment |
| 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 |