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Spain's population density, at 87.8/km² (220/sq. mile), is lower than that of most Western European countries. With the exception of the capital, Madrid, the most populated regions lie around the coast.

The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century, but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural interior to the industrial cities, a phenomenon which happened later than in other Western European countries. No fewer than eleven of Spain's fifty provinces saw an absolute decline in population over the century.

The last quarter of the century saw a dramatic fall in birth rates. Spain's fertility rate of 1.28 (the number of children the average woman will have during her lifetime) is now one of the lowest in the world.

Spain has no official religion. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 abolished the Roman Catholic Church as the official state religion, while recognizing the role it plays in Spanish society. More than 90% of the population are at least nominally Catholic.

Contents 1 Immigration and Demographic Issues 2 Metropolitan areas 3 Statistical indicators 4 Educational system 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century, due to the spectacular demographic boom by the 60's and early 70's. Then, the birth rate plunged by the 80's and Spain's population became stalled, its demographics showing one of the lowest sub replacement fertility rate in the world, only second to Japan's.^{[citation needed]}. Many demographers have linked Spain's very low fertility rate to the country's lack of any real family planning policy. Spain is the Western European country that spends least on family support (a paltry 0.5% of GDP). A graphic illustration of the enormous social gulf between Spain and the rest of Europe in this field is the fact that a Spanish family would need to have 57 children to enjoy the same financial support as a family with 3 children in Luxembourg.

In emigration/immigration terms, after centuries of net emigration, Spain, has recently experienced large-scale immigration for the first time in modern history. According to the Spanish government there were 4,145,000 foreign residents in Spain in January 2007. Of these well over half a million were Moroccan while the Ecuadorians figure was around half a million as well. Romanian and Colombian populations ammounted to around 300,000 each. There are also a significant number of British (761,000 as of 2006) and German (133,588) citizens, mainly in Alicante, Málaga provinces, Balearic islands and Canary islands. Chinese in Spain are estimated to number between ten and sixty thousand. Immigrants from several sub-Saharan African countries have also settled in Spain as contract workers, although they represent only 4.08% of all the foreign residents in the country.

During the early 2000's, the mean year-on-year demographic growth set a new record with its 2003 peak variation of 2.1%, doubling the previous record reached back in the 1960's when a mean year on year growth of 1% was experienced.^[1] This trend is far from being reversed at the present moment and, in 2005 alone, the immigrant population of Spain increased by 700 000 people ^[2].

Allegedly, the growing immigrant population is the main reason for the slight increase in Spain's fertility rate ^[3].

The most important metropolitan areas in 2005 are:

1. Madrid 5,646,572[3]
2. Barcelona 3,135,758[4]
3. Valencia 1.623.724
4. Sevilla 1,317,098
5. Málaga 1,074,074
6. Bilbao 947,581
7. Asturias (Gijón-Oviedo) 855,199
8. Alicante-Elche 711,215
9. Zaragoza 683,763
10. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 616,903
11. Bahía de Cádiz (Cádiz-Jerez de la Frontera) 615,494
12. Murcia 563,272
13. Palma de Mallorca 474,035
14. Granada 472,638
15. Vigo 423,821
16. Santa Cruz de Tenerife 420,198
17. San Sebastián 399,125
18. La Coruña 396,015
19. Valladolid 383,894
20. Tarragona 375,749
21. Cordoba 321,164
22. Pamplona 309,631

Population: 44,708,964 (January 2006)

Age structure (2000 est.):
0-14 years: 14.4% (male 3,000,686/female 2,821,325)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 13,751,963/female 13,653,426)
65 years and over: 17.7% (male 2,993,496/female 4,176,946) (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.13% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 10.06 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 9.72 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: 0.99 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.72 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 4.37 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 79.65 years
male: 76.32 years
female: 83.2 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.28 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Spaniard(s)
adjective: Spanish

Religions: Roman Catholic 80.4%, atheistics or agnostics 17.2%, other 2.3% ^[4]. According to a December 2006 study, 41% of the population described themselves as atheist or agnostic, while 48% believed in a God or supreme being.^[5]

Languages:

• Spanish (official) 100%
• Catalan 10% (co-official in Catalonia, Balearic Islands, and Valencia — see Valencian)
• Galician 6% (co-official in Galicia)
• Basque 1.6% (co-official in Basque Country and designated areas in Navarre).
• Aranese (a variant of Gascon Occitan) is co-official in Val d'Aran, a small valley in the Pyreenes.

Others with no official status:

• Asturian (in Asturias and part of Leon province)
• Aragonese (in Huesca province, Aragon)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.9% (2003 est.)
male: 98.7% (2003 est.)
female: 97.2% (2003 est.)

About 70% of Spain's student population attends public schools or universities. The remainder attend private schools or universities, the great majority of which are operated by the Catholic Church.

Compulsory education begins with primary school or general basic education for ages 6-16. It is free in public schools and in many private schools, most of which receive government subsidies. Following graduation, students attend either a secondary school offering a general high school diploma or a school of professional study in all fields — law, sciences, humanities, and medicine — and the superior technical schools offer programs in engineering and architecture.

1. ^ Official report on Spanish recent Macroeconomics, including data and comments on immigration
2. ^ Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Evolution of the foreign population in Spain since 1998[1]
3. ^ Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Evolution of the global fertility rate between 1975 and 2005 [2]
4. ^ CIS study, 2005, question 35
5. ^ Religion Important for Americans, Italians, Angus Reid Global Monitor, December 30, 2006

• Spain
• List of Spaniards
• Nationalities in Spain

• Spanish Instituto Nacional de Estadística Statistical data about demography and population