INTL-1100

November. 18th 2016

Salee Saied
4245191
Mojtaba Razavi
Spain

Spain

Fall

08

Spain is a beautiful place with many diverse cultures and is one of Europes largest countries. Spain is known for its
many physical features like the Mesta, Tangus, and Balearic islands. Spanish people are called Spaniards, which comes from
the Latin word Hispania. Discussed below will be the physical, economic, cultural, and political factors, along with how
Spain and Canada compare to each other as countries.
Spain is located in Southwestern Europe and borders the Pyrenees Mountains, Bay of Biscay, North Atlantic Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea. It has a total area of 505,370 km squared. 1.04% is made up of water, and its population is
47,042,984. Spain has three different time zones. The climatic conditions of the country vary from temperate in the interior
parts to moderate along the coastal regions. Its neighbouring countries are France, Portugal, Morocco, Gibraltar, and Andorra.
Spain has three different climate zones due to its large size. Spains three largest cities include Madrid, which has a
population of 3,255,944 million people and is also the capital city, Barcelona, which has a population of 1,621,537 million
people, and Valencia, which has a population of 814,208 million people. Spain is also known for its three physical features;
the first feature is Vest central plateau (also called Mesta). Mesta is a section between Burgos and Astorga, which is divided
by several chains of sierras and has elevations from 610 to 760 meters. The second feature is Tangus; its the longest river on
the Iberian Peninsula. It spans 645 miles long, starting its flow in Spain then following down to Portugal where it empties into
the Atlantic Ocean. The third feature is the Balearic Islands; they are located off of Eastern Spain in the Mediterranean. It is
known for its beaches and scenic coastline. Spain has been through many different names throughout its history. It was first
called Iberia, which means rivers, then it was called Hesperia, which meant Land of the setting sun, followed by their latest
and current name, Spain.

The ruler of Spain is King Felipe VI; second in command is the Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, who was elected on
December 21st, 2011. There have been three main political parties in contemporary Spanish politics: the Centre Democratic
Union (UCD), the Spanish Socialists (PSOE), and the Popular Party (PP). The Canadian embassy is located within Madrid,

Spain. Spain is a parliamentary monarchy with two legislative houses, governed under the constitution of 1978. The national
flag consists of three horizontal stripes that are red, yellow, and red, with the national coat of arms on the left side of the
yellow strip. Social corporate responsibility is extremely important in Spain. They consider corporate reputation, competitive
advantage and industry trends to be very important elements of CSR. Below is a quote made by Spain to explain their roles
with CRS.
Corporate social responsibility is not only strict compliance with legal requirements but also the voluntary inclusion by
businesses in their governance and management, in their strategy, policies, and procedures, of social, labor, environmental
and human rights concerns arising from transparent relations and dialogue with their interest groups, so they take
responsibility for the consequences and impacts of their actions. (Mele, 2004)

Spain has a mixed capitalist economy, which means that the state and the private sector direct the condition of the
economy. Being the fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP in the world, Spain has a total GDP of 63.81%. The unit of
currency used in Spain is Euro. The average net salary of a Spaniard is 26,700 euro. It has an inflation of 0.60% and a GDP
per capita of 29,863,18 USD.

Bolsa de Madrid (Madrid stock exchange) is the largest and most international of Spains four regional stock exchanges that
trade shares, along with convertible bonds and fixed income securities. The country is very rich in natural resources, some of
those resources include: coal, cooper, lead, gold, zinc, cement, gypsum and fluorspar. Globally, Spain is the third largest
producer of gypsum, the sixth largest producer of fluorspar and the eighth largest producer of cement. (AZoMining, 2012)
Spain is also known for many types of produce such as cereal grains, olives, sugar beet, strawberries, and tomatoes. The total
export value of the country amounted to $2553 billion and the total import value amounted to $315.3 billion. (AZoMining,
2012). Spains major export markets are France, Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom, and Italy. The major export items
include:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Vehicles: US $50.8 billion (17.9% of total export)

Machines, engines, pumps $22.8 billion (8%)
Oil $18.5 billion (6.5 %)
Electronic equipment $16.1 billion (5.7%)
Pharmaceuticals $11.6 billion (5.7 %)

Spains major import partners are France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and China. Some of the items include:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Oil: US $43.1 billion (13.8%)\

Vehicles: $40.3 (12.9 %)
Machines, engines, and pumps: $30 billion (9.6 %)
Electronic equipment: $24.7 billion (7.9 %)
Pharmaceuticals: $15.2 billion (4.9%)

The main industries include machinery, machine tools, metals and metal manufactures, chemicals, pharmaceuticals,
shipbuilding, automobiles, tourism, textiles and apparel, food and beverages. (ed, 2000)

The main language spoken is Spain is Spanish and second comes English. However in some regions of Spain,
Spanish is spoken along with other languages. The majority of the population practices Catholicism, followed by
Islamism, Judaism, Protestantism and Hinduism. It is known for football, otherwise known as soccer in Spain and other
countries around the world. Other popular activities include basketball, tennis, cycling, handball, motorcycling, golf and
bullfighting. Spaniards spend their leisure time by going walking, fishing, golfing, playing football, and dancing. A
typical Sunday afternoon in Spain would be getting out and enjoying the city at a leisurely pace by renting a bike to go
and visit an outdoor market, walk along the Gran Via, and visiting small galleries. The main regional newspapers in
Spain are called El Pais Liberal, El Mundo independent and ABC conservative. The major sports paper is called
Marca, and the AS. Spain and Canada are similar in terms of political relations, economy, education and culture.
They both are committed to defending global security along with democratic values and human rights. Both countries are
members of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Canada has
the highest GDP, ranking it 10th in the world with $1.79 trillion, while Spain is not too far behind with a GDP of $1.2
trillion and a ranking of 14th in the world. Spain has an unemployment rate of 24.7%, twice as much as Canada has. Both
Canada and Spain are very high in population with Spain having a 46.5 million people and Canada having 35.9 million

people.
In conclusion, it is very clear that Canada and Spain are both very economically and socially well off countries that are
great places to live. In terms of infrastructure and population, Canada seems to be a bit more advanced and that could be
due to their high paced economy and diverse population. On the other hand Spain has many natural resources and
manufacturers that the world relies on and cannot be found anywhere else, which makes it just as important of a country
as Canada. With both of these countries in a strong alliance, it leaves assurance that they will continue to be allies for a
very long time.

Works Cited
AZoMining. (2012, august 23). AZO MINING. Retrieved august 23, 2012, from www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?
ArticleID=95
Central intelligence agency. (n.d.). Retrieved from The world factbook : www.cia.gov
ed, t. c. (2000, AUGUST 4). spain. Retrieved 0CT0BER 13, 2015 , from www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/world/spaineconomy.html
Mele, D. (2004). Corporate Social Responsibility in Spain:Overview. SSRN Electronic Journal.
Spain. (n.d.). Retrieved from the heritage foundation: www.heritage.org
www.empleo.gob.es/es/sec_trabajo-ingles-web.pdf. (n.d.).