Spain 🇪🇸
Spain is a country in Europe with a population of 47,558,630. Its capital is Madrid. The official currency is EUR, and the main languages are Spanish.
Quick facts
- Capital: Madrid
- Continent: Europe
- Population: 47,558,630
- Area: 505,992 km²
- Density: 94.0 people per km²
- Currency: EUR
- Languages: Spanish
- ISO code: ES
Where Spain sits
Spain 🇪🇸 is one of 46 countries in Europe, with its capital at Madrid. It covers 505,992 square kilometres — 51st in the world — and is home to about 47,558,630 people, 30th globally.
The countries it shares a continent with include Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy. If you are learning geography region by region — which works far better than alphabetically, because memory for places is spatial — those are the ones to learn alongside it.
How Spain compares
Raw figures are hard to hold on their own, so it helps to anchor them. In population, Spain sits closest to Uganda and Sudan. In land area, its nearest counterparts are Thailand and Turkmenistan.
At 94.0 people per square kilometre it is somewhat above the world average of 59.4. It ranks higher by population than by area, so it is more crowded than its size alone suggests.
Spanish is an official language in 20 countries here, among them Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Colombia, and 15 others. The EUR is shared with 25 other countries, including Andorra, Austria and Belgium, and 22 others.
To see Spain next to every other country, sort the country rankings by population, area or density; its currency and languages are listed alongside every other country's in world currencies and world languages.
How to remember Spain
Madrid lies in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, so the capital is right in the middle of the map. For the flag, think of a fat yellow stripe sandwiched between two thin red ones.
The flag of Spain: red and yellow
🇪🇸 The flag is three horizontal stripes of red, yellow (twice as wide) and red, with the coat of arms on the yellow stripe towards the flagpole. The coat of arms shows the emblems of the old kingdoms of Castile, León, Navarre and Aragon, a pomegranate for Granada, and the two Pillars of Hercules on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar with the motto 'Plus Ultra' (further beyond).
Region and neighbours
Spain is a large country in southwestern Europe that covers most of the Iberian Peninsula, plus the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic, and Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa. It shares land borders with 4 countries: Portugal, France, Andorra and Morocco. The border with Morocco is around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities on the African coast. Spain also borders Gibraltar, a British territory at its southern tip.
- Portugal 🇵🇹 — capital Lisbon
- France 🇫🇷 — capital Paris
- Andorra 🇦🇩 — capital Andorra la Vella
- Morocco 🇲🇦 — capital Rabat
Three facts about Spain
- Mount Teide, a volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, is the highest mountain in Spain at 3,715 m.
- Spanish is the world's second-most spoken native language.
- Spain has fifty UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Alhambra in Granada.
Sources: Wikipedia: Spain, Wikipedia: Flag of Spain, Wikipedia: Madrid, Wikipedia: Teide, CIA World Factbook.
Quiz yourself on Spain
- European capitals quiz — match Spain to Madrid
- European flags quiz — spot the Spain flag among its neighbours
Quizzes that include Spain
Three angles are worth covering for any country — where it is, what its flag looks like, and what its capital is. For Spain those are:
- Europe map quiz — place it on a blank map
- Europe flags quiz — identify its flag among its neighbours
- Europe capitals quiz — match it to Madrid
- Spain capital quiz — five quick questions starting with Spain
- Daily Map Challenge — five countries to find on a blank world map, the same five for everyone each day
Doing all three for one continent before moving on is far more efficient than learning flags globally, then capitals globally, then the map.
Read more about Spain
- Capital of Spain: Madrid — the capital in detail, with size and density rankings
- All 46 countries of Europe
Nearby countries
- Albania 🇦🇱 — capital Tirana
- Andorra 🇦🇩 — capital Andorra la Vella
- Austria 🇦🇹 — capital Vienna
- Belarus 🇧🇾 — capital Minsk
- Belgium 🇧🇪 — capital Brussels
- Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 — capital Sarajevo
- Bulgaria 🇧🇬 — capital Sofia
- Croatia 🇭🇷 — capital Zagreb
- Cyprus 🇨🇾 — capital Nicosia
- Czechia 🇨🇿 — capital Prague
- Denmark 🇩🇰 — capital Copenhagen
- Estonia 🇪🇪 — capital Tallinn
Frequently asked questions
What are the colours of the Spain flag?
The flag of Spain is three horizontal stripes of red, yellow (twice as wide) and red, with the coat of arms on the yellow stripe towards the flagpole. The coat of arms shows the emblems of the old kingdoms of Castile, León, Navarre and Aragon, a pomegranate for Granada, and the two Pillars of Hercules on either side of the Strait of Gibraltar with the motto 'Plus Ultra' (further beyond).
Which countries border Spain?
Spain shares land borders with Portugal, France, Andorra and Morocco. The border with Morocco is around Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish cities on the African coast. Spain also borders Gibraltar, a British territory at its southern tip.
How can I remember the capital of Spain?
Madrid lies in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, so the capital is right in the middle of the map. For the flag, think of a fat yellow stripe sandwiched between two thin red ones.