Spain's powerful empire of the 16th/17th centuries yielded command of the seas to England and beyond. Spain remained neutral in World Wars I and II, but suffered through a crushing civil war (1936-1939). 

In the second half of the 20th century, Spain played much of a catch-up role in the Western Community; it joined the European Union in 1986, on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union established the euro as a single common currency to be used by the financial institutions of the member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for all transactions with all of the member countries.

Area: Spain is a 504,782 square kilometer (194,896 square mile) territory, which includes the main land, the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, plus Ceuta and Melilla (N. Africa). For comparison: Great Britain is 229,850 km² (88,745 sq. mi.) and Oregon is 251,419 sq km (97,073 sq. mi.)

Border countries: Andorra 63.7 km, France 623 km, Gibraltar 1.2 km, Portugal 1,214 km, Morocco 96 km (Ceuta &Melilla)

Population of Spain: As per 2009, the population in Spain was 46,661,950.