Haley DeSimone
Professor
Class
Date
Nation-State: Spain Known for its famous bull fights, flamenco dancing, and historical cathedrals, Spain still remains as one of the many popular vacation destinations around the world. Spain is located in Southwestern Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic Ocean, and Pyrenees Mountains. To the north of Spain sits France, which has had heavily influences on the Spanish language and culture. Portugal is another bordering country that sits on the western side of Spain. Portugal and Spain have many similarities, but most notable are their languages. Although both countries have their own individual languages, many Spanish speakers can communicate and understand Portuguese, and vice versa. The final bordering country to Spain is Morocco, Africa, which just barely touches the most south region of Spain. Even though Spain is only about 212,000 square feet, it has many natural resources that Spain uses and exports. Spain is most known for its hydropower, considering it is also known as the Iberian Peninsula. Most of Spain’s borders are surrounded by water, and Spain also has many rivers, including the Tajo River, which is over 565 miles long. It is no wonder why this country is known for its excellence in hydropower. Spain also has other natural resources, such as coal, iron ore, lead and zinc. To begin with, Spain has fifteen mainland regions and two island regions with the country population totaling to 47,737,941 people as of July 2014 (World Factbook, 2014). The average life span for a citizen in Spain is between 79 and 85 years of age. According to the World Health Organization, Spain infants are born with low birth weights with a recent spike of this epidemic in 2007-2008, which was right about the time the recession began. Smoking and tobacco use are very common, which has also been impacting the diagnoses of lung cancer and cardiovascular problems. However, even though drinking alcoholic beverages and tobacco use is common, their diet and nutrition is actually healthier than that of the United States. In fact, the Spanish even have a strategic dietary plan. (NLiS Country Profile, 2014).
With all of these people populating Spain, the citizens fit into the seventeen geographic regions. The different regions of Spain include: Andalucía, Aragon, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Basque Country, Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla de la Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Cataluña, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra, and Valencia. Spanish is the national language, but there are many variations of the language across different regions of Spain. In fact, in Spain, citizens that speak Spanish refer to the language as Castilian. Galician is spoken in the region of Galicia and Basque by increasing numbers of the population of Esaki, the Spanish Basque Country. All of these languages are noted as the official language for their region.
However, recently there has been a large debate and separation issue with the Cataluña area, which the people speak Catalan. Barcelona wants to succeed from the nation of Spain to become its own nation-state. In an article published by the Wall Street Journal on November 9th, Matt Moffett writes that over two million Catalans (people around the Barcelona area) went against the Spanish court decisions and voted in favor for the separation of their country by becoming an independent state. According to these recent polls, over eighty percent of the voters voted to become both separated and independent from the nation-state of Spain (Moffett, 2014). These voters believe that this arrangement would reflect the multinational, multicultural and multilingual nature of Spain better. Even though nothing has been finalized, this has been a controversy that many have debated heavily about over the past years. Barcelona has a very steady economy. The city seems to have it all from tourist beaches, industrial factories, education, and much
