International disputes: Gibraltar question with UK; Spain controls five places of sovereignty (plazas de soberania) on and off the coast of Morocco - the coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco contests, as well as the islands of Penon de Alhucemas, Penon de Velez de la Gomera, and Islas Chafarinas
Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in interior, more moderate and cloudy along coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly cloudy and cool along coast
Terrain: large, flat to dissected plateau surrounded by rugged hills; Pyrenees in north lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico de Teide on Canary Islands 3,718 m
Natural resources: coal, lignite, iron ore, uranium, mercury, pyrites, fluorspar, gypsum, zinc, lead, tungsten, copper, kaolin, potash, hydropower
Land use:
arable land: 31%
permanent crops: 10%
meadows and pastures: 21%
forest and woodland: 31%
other: 7%
Irrigated land: 33,600 sq km (1989 est.)
Environment:
current issues: pollution of the Mediterranean Sea from raw sewage
and effluents from the offshore production of oil and gas; air
pollution; deforestation; desertification
natural hazards: periodic droughts
international agreements: party to - Air Pollution, Air
Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber
83, Wetlands, Whaling; signed, but not ratified - Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Desertification, Law of the Sea
Geographic note: strategic location along approaches to Strait of
Gibraltar
People ———
Population: 39,181,114 (July 1996 est.)