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Introduction
Spain, also known as Kingdom of Spain, is one of the biggest countries of the European Union and located in the Southwest of the continent. The state has three exclaves in North Africa as well as several Islands in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. Spain´s mainland is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south and east, by the Cantabric Sea including the Bay of Biscay to the north, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The country borders with Portugal in the west, France and Andorra in the north, as well as with the British colony of Gibraltar and Morocco in the south. Together with Portugal and Andorra, the Kingdom of Spain makes up the Iberian Peninsula and is as well the largest of those three sovereign states. Spain has an area of about 504,646 km², and is behind France the second largest country of the European Union.
The Kingdom of Spain is a constitutional monarchy which is organised as a parliamentary democracy. It joined the European Union together with Portugal in 1986 after several years of negociations. For many years, Spain has been the main beneficiary of the Union's subsidies. Today, it is a developed country with the ninth largest economy in the world and fifth largest in the EU.
History
The history of Spain is very ancient and quite complex, especially the country´s prehistory. During the Roman empire, the territory called Hispania flourished and became one of the most important regions of the Empire. Germanic tribes came to power during the early Middle Ages. Afterwards, the Muslim people occupied and ruled almost the entire peninsula. Due to the continuing christianisation of the european continent and the growing power of Christian kingdoms in the north, the Muslim rule was gradually pushed back, and finally extinguished in 1492.
1492 was also the year when Columbus discovered America, and the process of globalisation, which is still going on nowadays, had begun. With the discovery of South America, Columbus took the first steps towards the first global empire in the world. That is why, in the sixteenth and the first half of the seventheeth centuries, Spain became the strongest kingdom in Europe. Nevertheless, the country continued making wars which finally led to a diminished status.
A few centuries later, namely in the middle decades of the twentieth century, Spain came under a dictatorship ruled buy the Caudillo Francisco Franco, which led first to many years of stagnation and then to a spectacular economic revival.
In 1986, Spain joined after many years of negociations the European Union and has experienced an economic and cultural renaissance. This is for the most part due to the fact that during many years, Spain was the main beneficiary of the Union's subventions.
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