plateau surrounded by rugged hills;
Pyrenees in north

Elevation extremes:
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: 30%
permanent crops: 9%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 32%
other: 8% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 34,530 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: periodic droughts

Environment-current issues: 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

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air
Pollution-Sulphur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds,
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity,
Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Desertification

Geography-note: strategic location along approaches to Strait of
Gibraltar

@Spain:People

Population: 39,133,996 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 15% (male 3,057,919; female 2,879,109)
15-64 years: 69% (male 13,407,270; female 13,408,685)
65 years and over: 16% (male 2,651,149; female 3,729,864) (July 1998
est.)

Population growth rate: 0.08% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 9.73 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 9.62 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.71 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.51 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 77.56 years
male: 73.78 years
female: 81.59 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.21 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Spaniard(s)
adjective: Spanish

Ethnic groups: composite of Mediterranean and Nordic types

Religions: Roman Catholic 99%, other 1%

Languages: Castilian Spanish 74%, Catalan 17%, Galician 7%, Basque 2