Irrigated land: 12,650 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: land degradation/desertification (soil erosion
resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction
of vegetation); water supplies contaminated by raw sewage; siltation
of reservoirs; oil pollution of coastal waters
natural hazards: northern mountains geologically unstable and
subject to earthquakes; periodic droughts
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands;
signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Environmental
Modification, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: strategic location along Strait of Gibraltar
People ———
Population: 29,779,156 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 38% (male 5,696,731; female 5,522,077)
15-64 years: 58% (male 8,577,918; female 8,700,521)
65 years and over: 4% (male 613,712; female 668,197) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.05% (1996 est.)
Birth rate: 27.39 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 5.77 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate: -1.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)