Demographics of Spain
Encyclopedia
This article is about the demographic
Demographics
Demographics are the most recent statistical characteristics of a population. These types of data are used widely in sociology , public policy, and marketing. Commonly examined demographics include gender, race, age, disabilities, mobility, home ownership, employment status, and even location...

 features of the population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...

 of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

, including population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

, ethnicity
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 has 47,150,819 inhabitants according to 1/1/2010 municipal records (Padrón Municipal). Its population density, at 91.4/km² (229/sq. mile), is lower than that of most Western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries. With the exception of the capital, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

, the most densely populated areas lie around the coast.

The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural interior to the industrial cities, a phenomenon which happened later than in other Western European countries. No fewer than eleven of Spain's fifty provinces saw an absolute decline in population over the century.

The last quarter of the century saw a dramatic fall in birth rates. Spain's fertility rate of 1.47 (the number of children the average woman will have during her lifetime) is lower than the EU average, but has climbed every year since the late 1990s. The birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...

 has climbed in 10 years from 9.10 births per 1000 people per year in 1996 to 10.9 in 2006.

Spain has no official religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

. The Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...

 abolished the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 as the official state religion, while recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. 76.7% of the population define themselves as Catholic, 20.0% as non-believers or atheists, and 1.6% other religions. Among believers, 55.3% assert they almost never go to any religious service, by contrast, 17.0% attend one or more masses almost every week.

Immigration and Demographic Issues

The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century as a result of the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. After that time, the birth rate plunged through the 1980s and Spain's population became stalled, its demographics showing one of the lowest sub replacement fertility rates
Sub-replacement fertility
Sub-replacement fertility is a total fertility rate that leads to each new generation being less populous than the previous one in a given area. In developed countries sub-replacement fertility is any rate below approximately 2.1 children born per woman, but the threshold can be as high as 3.4...

 in the world, only second to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

 and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Many demographers have linked Spain's very low fertility rate to the country's lack of any real family planning policy. Spain spends the least on family support out all western European countries—0.5% of GDP. A graphic illustration of the enormous social gulf between Spain and the rest of Europe in this field is the fact that a Spanish family would need to have 57 children to enjoy the same financial support as a family with 3 children in Luxembourg.

In emigration/immigration terms, after centuries of net emigration, Spain, has recently experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Spanish government there were 5,730,667 foreign residents in Spain as of January 2011. Of these, more than 860,000 were Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....

, and half 760,000 were Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 while the number of Ecuadorians was around 390,000. Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...

 population amounted to around 300,000. There are also a significant number of British (359,076 as of 2011, but more than one million are estimated to live permanently in Spain) and German (195,842) citizens, mainly in Alicante
Alicante (province)
Alicante or Alacant is a province of eastern Spain, in the southern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Murcia on the southwest, Albacete on the west, Valencia on the north, and the Mediterranean Sea on the east...

, Málaga
Málaga (province)
The Province of Málaga is located on the southern coast of Spain, in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the South, and by the provinces of Cádiz, Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada.Its area is 7,308 km²...

 provinces, Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

 and Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

. Chinese number over 166,000. Immigrants from several sub-Saharan African countries have also settled in Spain as contract workers, although they represent only 4.08% of all the foreign residents in the country.

During the early 2000s, the mean year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached back in the 1960s when a mean year-on-year growth of 1% was experienced. This trend is far from being reversed at the present moment and, in 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700,000 people.

Allegedly, the growing population of immigrants is the main reason for the slight increase in Spain's fertility rate. From 2002 through 2008 the Spanish population grew by 8%, of which 6% were foreign.

Vital statistics

Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000)
1900 18 520 627 848 536 716 91 132 33.9 29.0 4.9
1901 18 610 650 649 517 575 133 074 35.0 27.8 7.1
1902 18 720 666 687 488 289 178 398 35.6 26.1 9.6
1903 18 810 685 265 470 387 214 878 36.4 25.0 11.4
1904 18 980 649 878 486 889 162 989 34.2 25.7 8.6
1905 19 110 670 651 491 369 179 282 35.1 25.7 9.4
1906 19 250 650 385 499 018 151 367 33.8 25.9 7.8
1907 19 380 646 371 472 007 174 364 33.3 24.4 9.0
1908 19 530 658 008 460 946 197 062 33.7 23.6 10.1
1909 19 670 650 498 466 648 183 850 33.1 23.7 9.3
1910 19 770 646 975 456 158 190 817 32.7 23.1 9.7
1911 19 950 628 443 466 525 161 918 31.5 23.4 8.1
1912 20 040 637 860 426 297 211 563 31.8 21.3 10.6
1913 20 170 617 850 449 349 168 501 30.6 22.3 8.4
1914 20 310 608 207 450 340 157 867 29.9 22.2 7.8
1915 20 430 631 462 452 479 178 983 30.9 22.1 8.8
1916 20 610 599 011 441 673 157 338 29.1 21.4 7.6
1917 20 740 602 139 465 722 136 417 29.0 22.5 6.6
1918 20 910 612 637 695 758 -83 121 29.3 33.3 -4.0
1919 21 000 585 963 482 752 103 211 27.9 23.0 4.9
1920 21 130 623 339 494 540 128 799 29.5 23.4 6.1
1921 21 270 648 892 455 469 193 423 30.5 21.4 9.1
1922 21 510 656 093 441 330 214 763 30.5 20.5 10.0
1923 21 740 662 576 449 683 212 893 30.5 20.7 9.8
1924 21 990 653 085 430 590 222 495 29.7 19.6 10.1
1925 22 160 644 741 432 400 212 341 29.1 19.5 9.6
1926 22 400 663 401 420 838 242 563 29.6 18.8 10.8
1927 22 610 636 028 419 816 216 212 28.1 18.6 9.6
1928 22 860 666 240 413 002 253 238 29.1 18.1 11.1
1929 23 120 653 668 407 486 246 182 28.3 17.6 10.7
1930 23 340 660 860 394 488 266 372 28.3 16.9 11.4
1931 23 510 649 276 408 977 240 299 27.6 17.4 10.2
1932 23 897 670 670 388 900 281 770 28.3 16.5 11.8
1933 24 122 667 866 394 750 273 116 27.9 16.5 11.4
1934 24 349 641 889 392 793 249 096 26.4 16.1 10.2
1935 24 578 636 725 388 757 247 968 25.9 15.8 10.1
1936 24 810 617 220 417 108 200 112 24.9 16.8 8.1
1937 25 043 568 977 475 310 93 667 22.7 19.0 3.7
1938 25 279 508 726 487 546 21 180 20.1 19.3 0.8
1939 25 517 422 345 472 611 -50 266 16.6 18.5 -2.0
1940 25 757 631 285 428 416 202 869 24.5 16.6 7.9
1941 25 999 511 157 487 748 23 409 19.7 18.8 0.9
1942 26 244 530 845 387 844 143 001 20.2 14.8 5.4
1943 26 491 606 971 352 587 254 384 22.9 13.3 9.6
1944 26 620 602 091 349 114 253 796 22.6 13.1 9.5
1945 26 770 621 558 330 581 290 977 23.2 12.3 10.9
1946 27 030 585 381 353 371 232 010 21.7 13.1 8.6
1947 27 150 588 732 330 341 258 391 21.7 12.2 9.5
1948 27 593 642 041 305 310 336 731 23.3 11.1 12.2
1949 27 811 601 759 321 541 280 218 21.6 11.6 10.1
1950 28 009 565 378 305 934 259 444 20.2 10.9 9.3
1951 28 236 567 474 327 236 240 238 20.1 11.6 8.5
1952 28 474 593 019 276 735 316 284 20.8 9.7 11.1
1953 28 713 589 188 278 522 310 666 20.5 9.7 10.8
1954 28 955 577 886 264 668 313 218 20.0 9.1 10.8
1955 29 199 598 970 274 188 324 782 20.5 9.4 11.1
1956 29 445 608 121 290 410 317 711 20.7 9.9 10.8
1957 29 693 646 784 293 502 353 282 21.8 9.9 11.9
1958 29 943 653 216 260 683 392 533 21.8 8.7 13.1
1959 30 195 654 474 269 591 384 883 21.7 8.9 12.7
1960 30 455 663 375 268 941 394 434 21.8 8.8 13.0
1961 30 744 654 616 263 441 391 175 21.3 8.6 12.7
1962 31 067 658 816 278 575 380 241 21.2 9.0 12.2
1963 31 393 671 520 282 460 389 060 21.4 9.0 12.4
1964 31 723 697 697 273 955 423 742 22.0 8.6 13.4
1965 32 056 676 361 274 271 402 090 21.1 8.6 12.5
1966 32 394 669 919 276 173 393 746 20.7 8.5 12.2
1967 32 734 680 125 280 494 399 631 20.8 8.6 12.2
1968 33 079 667 311 282 628 384 683 20.2 8.5 11.6
1969 33 427 666 568 303 402 363 166 19.9 9.1 10.9
1970 33 779 663 667 286 067 377 600 19.6 8.5 11.2
1971 34 216 672 092 308 516 363 576 19.7 9.0 10.6
1972 34 572 672 405 285 508 386 897 19.5 8.3 11.2
1973 34 921 672 963 301 803 371 160 19.3 8.7 10.7
1974 35 288 688 711 300 403 388 308 19.6 8.5 11.0
1975 35 688 669 378 298 192 371 186 18.8 8.4 10.5
1976 36 118 677 456 299 007 378 449 18.9 8.3 10.5
1977 36 564 656 357 294 324 362 033 18.1 8.1 10.0
1978 36 741 636 892 296 781 340 111 17.3 8.1 9.2
1979 37 289 601 992 291 213 310 779 16.2 7.8 8.4
1980 37 527 571 018 289 344 281 674 15.2 7.7 7.5
1981 37 741 533 008 293 386 239 622 14.1 7.8 6.3
1982 37 942 515 706 286 655 229 051 13.6 7.6 6.0
1983 38 122 485 352 302 569 182 783 12.7 7.9 4.8
1984 38 279 473 281 299 409 173 872 12.4 7.8 4.5
1985 38 419 456 298 312 532 143 766 11.9 8.1 3.7
1986 38 536 438 750 310 413 128 337 11.4 8.1 3.3
1987 38 631 426 782 310 073 116 709 11.0 8.0 3.0
1988 38 716 418 919 319 437 99 482 10.8 8.3 2.6
1989 38 792 408 434 324 796 83 638 10.5 8.4 2.2
1990 38 851 401 425 333 142 68 283 10.3 8.6 1.8
1991 38 940 395 989 337 691 58 298 10.2 8.7 1.5
1992 39 068 396 747 331 515 65 232 10.2 8.5 1.7
1993 39 190 385 786 339 661 46 125 9.8 8.7 1.2
1994 39 295 370 148 338 242 31 906 9.4 8.6 0.8
1995 39 387 363 469 346 227 17 242 9.2 8.8 0.4
1996 39 478 362 626 351 449 11 177 9.2 8.9 0.3
1997 39 582 369 035 349 521 19 514 9.3 8.8 0.5
1998 39 721 365 193 360 511 4 682 9.2 9.1 0.1
1999 39 927 380 130 371 102 9 028 9.5 9.3 0.2
2000 40 264 397 632 360 391 37 241 9.9 9.0 0.9
2001 40 721 406 380 360 131 46 249 10.0 8.8 1.1
2002 41 314 418 846 368 618 50 228 10.1 8.9 1.2
2003 42 005 441 881 384 828 57 053 10.5 9.2 1.4
2004 42 692 454 591 371 934 82 657 10.6 8.7 1.9
2005 43 398 466 371 387 355 79 016 10.7 8.9 1.8
2006 44 117 482 957 371 478 111 479 10.9 8.4 2.5
2007 44 879 492 527 385 361 107 166 11.0 8.6 2.4
2008 45 556 518 967 385 954 133 013 11.4 8.5 2.9
2009 46 909 492 931 383 486 109 445 10.7 8.4 2.4
2010 47 203

Metropolitan areas

The most important metropolitan areas in 2007 are:

  1. Madrid
    Madrid
    Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

    5,603,285
  2. Barcelona
    Barcelona
    Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

    4,667,136
  3. Valencia 1,671,189
  4. Seville
    Seville
    Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...

    1,499,673 (INE 2008)
  5. Bilbao
    Bilbao
    Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

    950,829
  6. Málaga
    Málaga
    Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...

    897,563
  7. Asturias
    Asturias
    The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...

     (Gijón
    Gijón
    Gijón , officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history...

    Oviedo
    Oviedo
    Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....

    Avilés
    Avilés
    Avilés is a city in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main towns in the Principality of Asturias.The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, in a land that belonged to the sea, surrounded by small promontories, all of them having an altitude of less than...

    ) 857,079
  8. Alicante
    Alicante
    Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...

    –Elche 748,565
  9. Zaragoza
    Zaragoza
    Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

     731,803
  10. Vigo
    Vigo
    Vigo is a city and municipality in north-west Spain, in Galicia, situated on the ria of the same name on the Atlantic Ocean.-Population:...

     662,412
  11. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...

     616,903
  12. Bahía de Cádiz
    Bay of Cádiz (comarca)
    The Bay of Cádiz is a comarca in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, southern Spain. It is composed of five municipalities: Cádiz, Chiclana, El Puerto de Santa María, Puerto Réal, and San Fernando.- External links:**...

     (Cádiz
    Cádiz
    Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

    Jerez de la Frontera
    Jerez de la Frontera
    Jerez de la Frontera is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, situated midway between the sea and the mountains. , the city, the largest in the province, had 208,896 inhabitants; it is the fifth largest in Andalusia...

    ) 615,494
  13. Santa Cruz de Tenerife
    Santa Cruz de Tenerife
    Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...

     573,825
  14. Murcia
    Murcia
    -History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...

     563,272
  15. Palma 474,035
  16. Granada
    Granada
    Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

     472,638
  17. San Sebastián 402,168
  18. Tarragona
    Tarragona
    Tarragona is a city located in the south of Catalonia on the north-east of Spain, by the Mediterranean. It is the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and the capital of the Catalan comarca Tarragonès. In the medieval and modern times it was the capital of the Vegueria of Tarragona...

     406,042
  19. A Coruña
    A Coruña
    A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...

     403,007
  20. Valladolid
    Valladolid
    Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...

     400,400
  21. Santander
    Santander, Cantabria
    The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

    Torrelavega
    Torrelavega
    Torrelavega is a municipality and important industrial and commercial hub in the single province Autonomous Community of Cantabria in northern Spain....

     391,480
  22. Córdoba
    Córdoba, Spain
    -History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...

     323,600
  23. Pamplona
    Pamplona
    Pamplona is the historial capital city of Navarre, in Spain, and of the former kingdom of Navarre.The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermín festival, from July 6 to 14, in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions...

     309,631

Islands

Islander population:
  • 1. Tenerife
    Tenerife
    Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...

     886,033
  • 2. Majorca 846,210
  • 3. Gran Canaria
    Gran Canaria
    Gran Canaria is the second most populous island of the Canary Islands, with a population of 838,397 which constitutes approximately 40% of the population of the archipelago...

     829,597
  • 4. Lanzarote
    Lanzarote
    Lanzarote , a Spanish island, is the easternmost of the autonomous Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 125 km off the coast of Africa and 1,000 km from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering 845.9 km2, it stands as the fourth largest of the islands...

     132,366
  • 5. Ibiza
    Ibiza
    Ibiza or Eivissa is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza...

     113,908
  • 6. Fuerteventura
    Fuerteventura
    Fuerteventura , a Spanish island, is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is situated at 28°20' north, 14°00' west. At 1,660 km² it is the second largest of the Canary Islands, after Tenerife...

     94,386
  • 7. Minorca
    Minorca
    Min Orca or Menorca is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. It takes its name from being smaller than the nearby island of Majorca....

     86,697
  • 8. La Palma
    La Palma
    La Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...

     85,933
  • 9. La Gomera
    La Gomera
    La Gomera is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. In area, it is the second-smallest of the seven main islands of this group.- Political organization :...

     22,259
  • 10. El Hierro
    El Hierro
    El Hierro, nicknamed Isla del Meridiano , is the smallest and farthest south and west of the Canary Islands , in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a population of 10,162 .- Name :The name El Hierro, although phonetically identical to the Spanish word for 'iron', is generally thought...

     10,558
  • 11. Formentera
    Formentera
    Formentera is the smaller and more southerly island of the Pine Islands group , which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community .-Geography:...

     7,957
  • 12. Arousa
    A Illa de Arousa
    A Illa de Arousa is the only island municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra.-External links:* Townhall of Arousa Island**...

     4,889
  • 13. La Graciosa 658
  • 14. Tabarca
    Tabarca
    Tabarca , is an islet located in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the town of Santa Pola, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community, Spain...

     105
  • 15. Ons
    ONS
    ONS may stand for:* ONS coding system* The Ons Island in Galicia, Spain.* Oberste Nationale Sportbehörde, former German motor racing governing body, now Deutscher Motor Sport Bund * Object Naming Service* Office for NATO Standardization...

     61

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

Population

46,525,002 (July 2010 est.)

Age structure (2008 est.)


0-14 years:
14.4% (male 3,423,861/female 3,232,028)

15-64 years:
69.1% (male 16,185,5575/female 15,683,433)

65 years and over:
16.5% (male 3,238,301/female 4,394,624) (2008 est.)

Sex ratio


at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:
1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:
1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:
0.72 male(s)/female

total population:
0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth


total population:
79.65 years

male:
76.32 years

female:
83.2 years (2006 est.)

Ethnic groups

Definition of ethnicity or nationality in Spain is fraught politically. The term "Spanish people
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

" (pueblo español) is defined in the 1978 constitution as the political sovereign, i.e. the citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. The same constitution in its preamble speaks of "peoples and nationalities of Spain" (pueblos y nacionalides de España) and their respective cultures, traditions, languages and institutions.

The CIA Factbook (2011) gives a racial description of "composite of Mediterranean
Mediterranean race
The Mediterranean race was one of the three sub-categories into which the Caucasian race and the people of Europe were divided by anthropologists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, following the publication of William Z. Ripley's book The Races of Europe...

 and Nordic types" under "ethnic groups" instead of the usual breakdown of ethnic composition.
This reflects the formation of the modern Kingdom of Spain by the accretion of several independent Iberian
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

 realms, i.e. Asturias
Kingdom of Asturias
The Kingdom of Asturias was a Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula founded in 718 by Visigothic nobles under the leadership of Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom after Islamic conquest of Hispania...

, León
Kingdom of León
The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

, Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia
The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...

, Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

, Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....

, Aragon
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...

, Catalonia, Majorca
Kingdom of Majorca
The Kingdom of Majorca was founded by James I of Aragon, also known as James The Conqueror. After the death of his first-born son Alfonso, a will was written in 1262 which created the kingdom in order to cede it to his son James...

, Valencia
Kingdom of Valencia
The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...

, Granada. The individual nationalities or peoples of these lands are the Asturians
Asturian people
The Asturians are one of the nationalisms of Spain, issuing from the historical country of the Principality of Asturias. They have Celtiberian heritage, related to its historical and cultural links with neighbouring Galicia, as well as Visigothic cultural influences most notably found in the...

, Leonese
Leonese people
The Leoneses are an ethnic group whose homeland is the former Kingdom of León, now region of Leon which was a country in Southwestern Europe, embracing a territory situated in the north-west of Spain and northeast of Portugal. The languages of León are the Leonese language and Spanish in Spain and...

, Galicians
Galician people
The Galicians are an ethnic group, a nationality whose historical homeland is Galicia in north-western Spain. Most Galicians are bilingual, speaking both their historic language, Galician, and Castilian Spanish.-Political and administrative divisions:...

, Basques
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

, Cantabrians
Cantabrian people
The Cantabrians are an ethnic group living in the historical region of Cantabria, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Sometimes they are referred to as "montañeses" in English "Highlander"...

, Castilians
Castilian people
The Castilian people are the inhabitants of those regions in Spain where most people identify themselves as Castilian. They include Castile-La Mancha, Madrid, and the major part of Castile and León. However, not all regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile think of themselves as Castilian...

, Aragonese
Aragonese people
The Aragonese are an ethnic group or nation living in the historical region of Aragon, between the centre and the north-east of Spain. Their native Aragonese language, which might have been spoken in the whole of the Kingdom of Aragon in the Middle Ages, is nowadays a seriously endangered language,...

, Catalans
Catalan people
The Catalans or Catalonians are the people from, or with origins in, Catalonia that form a historical nationality in Spain. The inhabitants of the adjacent portion of southern France are sometimes included in this definition...

, and Andalusians
Andalusian people
The Andalusians are the people of the southern region in Spain approximated by what is now called Andalusia. They are generally not considered an ethnically distinct people because they lack two of the most important markers of distinctiveness: their own language and an awareness of a presumed...

.

The native Canarian
Canarian people
The Canarians are an ethnic group living in the archipelago of the Canary Islands , near the coast of Western Africa...

s are the descendants of the population of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

 prior to Spanish colonization in the 15th century.
Also included are many Spaniard citizens who are descendents of people from Spain's former colonies, mostly from Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...

, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. There is also a sizeable number of Spaniards of Middle Eastern, Eastern European, African and Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....

 origins.

Native-born Spanish citizens of all races and ethnic groups make up 88% of the total population, and 12% are immigrants. Among the immigrants, around 57% of them come from Spain's former colonies in Latin America (including those from Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...

 and Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

), Africa and Asia. The rest are mostly Eastern European (especially Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

ns, Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

ns, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

ns, Bosnians
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...

, Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...

 and Albanians
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

), North and West Africans (notably Moroccans, Algerians
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...

, Senegalese, Nigerians and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

ians), Middle Eastern peoples including the Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 and Syrian communities, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

ns, Pakistanis and Chinese, as well as a sizeable number of citizens from the European Union, as of 2007 mostly Romanians, British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

, Bulgarians
Bulgarians
The Bulgarians are a South Slavic nation and ethnic group native to Bulgaria and neighbouring regions. Emigration has resulted in immigrant communities in a number of other countries.-History and ethnogenesis:...

, Portuguese
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

, Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

, and Germans
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

.

Religions

Roman Catholicism is the largest religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 in the country by far. According to a July 2009 study by the Spanish Center of Sociological Research about 70% of Spaniards self-identify as Catholics, 10% other faith, and about 20% identify with no religion
Irreligion
Irreligion is defined as an absence of religion or an indifference towards religion. Sometimes it may also be defined more narrowly as hostility towards religion. When characterized as hostility to religion, it includes antitheism, anticlericalism and antireligion. When characterized as...

. Most Spaniards do not participate regularly in religious services. This same study shows that of the Spaniards who identify themselves as religious, 58% hardly ever or never go to church, 17% go to church some times a year, 9% some time per month and 15% every Sunday or multiple times per week. But according to a December 2006 study, 48% of the population declared a belief in a supreme being, while 41% described themselves as atheist or agnostic.

Languages

  • Spanish
    Spanish language
    Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

     100% (89% mother tongue ) (official nationwide)
  • Catalan
    Catalan language
    Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...

     16% (9% mother tongue ) (co-official in Catalonia
    Catalonia
    Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

    , Balearic Islands
    Balearic Islands
    The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...

    , and Valencia — see Valencian
    Valencian
    Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...

    )
  • Galician
    Galician language
    Galician is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community located in northwestern Spain, where it is co-official with Castilian Spanish, as well as in border zones of the neighbouring territories of Asturias and Castile and León.Modern Galician and...

     7% (5% mother tongue ) (co-official in Galicia)
  • Basque
    Basque language
    Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...

     1.6% (1% mother tongue ) (co-official in Basque Country
    Basque Country (autonomous community)
    The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

     and designated areas in Navarre
    Navarre
    Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...

    ).
  • Aranese (a variant of Gascon Occitan) is co-official in Val d'Aran
    Val d'Aran
    The Val d'Aran is a valley in the Pyrenees mountains and a comarca in the northwestern part of the province of Lleida, in Catalonia, northern Spain. Most of the valley constitutes the only part of Spain, and of Catalonia, on the north face of the Pyrenees, hence the only part of Catalonia whose...

    , a small valley in the Pyreenes.


Others with no official status:
  • Asturian-Leonese (in the former Kingdom of León
    Kingdom of León
    The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...

     and Asturias
    Asturias
    The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...

    )
  • Aragonese
    Aragonese language
    Aragonese is a Romance language now spoken in a number of local varieties by between 10,000 and 30,000 people over the valleys of the Aragón River, Sobrarbe and Ribagorza in Aragon, Spain...

     (in the province of Huesca
    Huesca (province)
    Huesca , officially Huesca/Uesca, is a province of northeastern Spain, in northern Aragon. The capital is Huesca.Positioned just south of the central Pyrenees, Huesca borders France and the French Departments of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Hautes-Pyrénées...

    , Aragon
    Aragon
    Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...

    )

Literacy


definition:
age 15 and over can read and write

total population:
97.9% (2003 est.)

male:
98.7% (2003 est.)

female:
97.2% (2003 est.)

Educational system

About 70% of Spain's student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 population attends public schools or universities. The remainder attend private schools or universities, some of which are operated by the Catholic Church.

Compulsory education begins with primary school or general basic education for ages 6–16. It is free in public schools and in many private schools, most of which receive government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

 subsidies
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...

. Following graduation, students attend either a secondary school offering a general high school diploma or a school of professional study in all fields — law, sciences, humanities, and medicine — and the superior technical schools offer programs in engineering and architecture.

See also

  • Health in Spain
    Health in Spain
    Health care in Spain accounted for 8.4% of GDP in Spain in 2006. It was 2,458 USD in 2006 , compared with an OECD average of 2,824 USD....

  • Spain
    Spain
    Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

  • List of Spaniards
  • Nationalities in Spain
    Nationalities in Spain
    Historically, the modern country of Spain was formed after the process known as Reconquista.Several independent Christian Kingdoms and political entities mostly independent were formed by their own inhabitants efforts under aristocrat leadership and coexisted with the Muslim Iberian states and had...

  • Romani people in Spain
  • Ranked list of Spanish autonomous communities
    Ranked list of Spanish autonomous communities
    This article includes several ranked indicators for Spain's autonomous communities.-By area:Spanish autonomous communities by their area.Source: Unknown.-By population:Spanish autonomous communities by their population as of January 1, 2011....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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