Who likes Spain? Introduce it! I think it's a passionate nation ~

Spain (Spanish: Espa? A), officially known as the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de Espa? A) A country located in the southwest of Europe, on the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal, and bordering France and Andorra in the northeast. Its territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic and Ceuta and Melilla in Africa. It borders the Bay of Biscay in the north, Portugal in the west, Morocco in Africa across the Strait of Gibraltar in the south, France and Andorra in the northeast, and the Mediterranean Sea in the east and southeast. The coastline is about 7800 kilometers long. The territory is mountainous and is one of the alpine countries in Europe.

The main ethnic group in Spain is Castilians, accounting for more than 70% of the total population. Catalans, Galicians and Basques are the most important three of Spain's 20 ethnic minorities.

Catalans mainly live in northeastern Spain, and Barcelona is the important town of Catalonia. A few Catalans live in Aragon, and there are about 600,000 people in Germany, Italy, Andorra and other countries. Galicians live in the Galician region in the northwest. Their origins are related to the Portuguese, and they are also very close in culture and language. Abroad, Galicians are mainly concentrated in Argentina, with a total of 975,000 people. Basques are distributed on the west side of the Pyrenees, living in the foothills of Cantabria and along the Bay of Biscay. There are about 300 thousand people abroad, many of whom are in France. Sociologists have so far failed to find the origin of the Basque nation. In these three regions, the national language and Spanish (Castilian) are official languages.

At present, there are about 3.36 million Spaniards living abroad, including 2.207 million in America and 6.5438+0.07 million in Europe. Constant immigration is the characteristic of Spain's population structure, which is related to her colonial rule. After the discovery of the New World, a large number of Spaniards flocked to Central and South America and even parts of North America to look for gold and adventure. By 19 13, the number of Hispanic American immigrants reached 220,000. After the war, the direction of Spanish immigration reversed. Before 1960, up to 85% of the immigrants' target was the Americas on the other side of the Atlantic, and then it dropped to10%; At the same time, a large number of immigrants turned their new dreams to Europe, and their favorite places were France, Germany and Switzerland. After the war, the population of Spain who emigrated abroad was 1.5 million.

Celts immigrated from Central Europe in the 9th century BC. Since the 8th century BC, Iberian Peninsula has been invaded by foreigners and ruled by Romans, Visigoths and Moors for a long time. The Spaniards fought against foreign aggression for a long time and won the "Recovery Movement" in 1492. 15 16, Juan, Queen of Castilla, and Charles I (Spanish name: Carlos), son of Philip I, as grandchildren of the family of Trastamara, inherited the throne of Castilla, Leon, Aragon and Wagner for Carlos. Established the earliest confederate country in Europe to unify the central kingship. /kloc-was a maritime power in the 0 th and 6 th centuries, and then gradually declined. 1837, Isabel Ii formally merged it into a country after passing the constitutional monarchy bill, and decided to use the Spanish word "Espa? A "(Phoenician, meaning" hare ") naming, ended the * * * main confederacy mode after more than 300 years.

193 1 year, the dynasty was overthrown and the Republic was established. 1936, the coalition government led by the People's Front was established. Franco launched the Spanish Civil War in 1936, seized power in 1939, and declared the monarchy in 1947.

1492 In June, Columbus discovered the West Indies. Since then, Spain has gradually become a maritime power with colonies in Europe, America, Africa and Asia. 1588, the "Armada" was defeated by Britain and began to decline. 1873, the bourgeois revolution broke out and the first Republic was established. 1874 65438+ February Dynasty Restoration. In the Spanish-American War of 1898, the last colonies in America and Asia-Pacific-Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines were lost. Remain neutral in the first world war. 193 1 In April, the dynasty was overthrown and the Second Republic was established. 1936 In February, a coalition government with the participation of the Socialist Party and the Producer Party was established. In July of the same year, Franco launched a rebellion. After three years of civil war, he seized power in April of 1939 and practiced dictatorship for 36 years. 1943 In February, it entered into a military alliance with Germany and participated in the war of aggression against the Soviet Union. 1947 In July, Franco declared Spain a monarchy and became a lifelong head of state. 1in July, 966, Juan Carlos, grandson of the last king Alfonso XIII, was appointed as the heir.

1975 1 1 Franco died of illness, Juan Carlos I ascended the throne and the monarchy was restored. 1in July, 976, the king appointed the former secretary-general of the National Movement, A Suarez, as prime minister, and began the transition to western parliamentary democracy.

The earliest archaeological remains of human beings found in Spain can be traced back to around 30,000 BC to 50,000 BC. The prehistoric rock paintings of Neanderthals provide us with the life scenes of prehistoric civilization in Iberian Peninsula. The most important relics found in Spain include dark caves and pine caves, and of course the famous Alta Milla cave.

Celtic Spain

According to the latest theoretical research, Iberians came to the peninsula from North Africa. They mainly settled in the Mediterranean coast and further south, where Iberians created many different cultures, which are of great significance to archaeology. In the history of ancient Greece, the most important one was recorded, and the Greeks called it "Turdog". They are a tribe of Iberians, and have established a splendid kingdom in Gwadar Keevil Valley.

In 1200 BC, Celts from Central and Northern Europe entered the peninsula from the north. Blonde Celts intermarried with dark-skinned Iberians and spread to the whole peninsula. The only area in the history of Iberian Peninsula that has not been invaded by any foreign forces is probably the northern mountainous area where Basques live. Historians and sociologists have not yet figured out the origin of Basques, who are not related to any neighboring ethnic groups. However, some people have found similarities between Basque and Japanese. The only thing they know now is that the Basques are a very old ethnic group.

Phoenicians, Greeks and Carthaginians

In 1 100 BC, the Phoenicians, a powerful maritime nation, established colonies on the peninsula, the most important of which was Gadir, which is today's Cadiz. At the same time, the Greeks established their own rule in the south and the Mediterranean coast.

During the Punic War, the Carthaginians took the opportunity to occupy most of Spain's land, leaving famous cities including Cartagena, which means "New Carthage".

Romans and Goths

After the Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the Punic War, they also extended their colonies to Spain and soon occupied the whole peninsula. The famous heroic story of Numancia was born in the process of Iberian resistance to Roman invasion. Since then, the peninsula has existed as the "Spanish province" of the Roman Empire on the Megatron Sea. Two Roman emperors, Tragano and Adrian, and Seneca, the great Stoic philosopher, were born here. Spain completely absorbed Roman culture, including Greek Latin and Jewish Christian politics, law, family, religion and customs, and Roman began to be used on the peninsula. Merida is the most complete Spanish city that preserves the remains of ancient Rome today. In segovia, you can also see ancient Roman canals passing through the city from mid-air. A unified civilization appeared on the peninsula for the first time.

In 409 AD, powerful Gothic barbarians invaded the declining Roman Empire, and in 4 19 AD, they established their own kingdom in Iberia, with Toledo as its capital. But the Goths did not make much contribution to the development of Spanish civilization.

Muslim Spain and the Renaissance War

The visigoths ruled until 7 1 1. At that time, 50,000 Muslim soldiers crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, defeated the Gothic soldiers who frightened the Romans with machetes, and won the great victory in the Battle of Guadalet. Four years later, Arabs swept across the peninsula, which was a part of Andaluz, a huge Arab empire. China called it "green food" in ancient times.

Abdullah III finally turned Spain into an independent caliphate. Under his rule, Spain ushered in an unprecedented cultural prosperity. Great progress has been made in urban construction and commodity economy, which has even promoted the development of Europe as a whole. Arabs brought the most advanced knowledge in medicine, mathematics and astronomy, and left a deep impression on Spanish music, art, literature and architecture. Alhambra Palace is the pinnacle of Arab art, at the same time, Arabic has left many words in Spanish. The most important cities at that time were Valencia, Zaragoza, Seville and Có rdoba. With 500,000 residents and a huge library, Có rdoba was the largest city and cultural center in western Europe in the tenth century.

However, in the 1 1 century, the constant infighting among the royal families (39 princes) led to the disintegration and decline of the Muslim empire, and the recovery movement intensified. The king of the north won one victory after another. By the14th century, only Granada was the last stronghold of Muslims in Spain, and they persisted for nearly a hundred years until the "Catholic King" incorporated her into the territory of the Kingdom of Castilla.