Spain (the Kingdom of Spain, España in Spanish) is a country situated on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern part of Europe. It has borders with Gibraltar on the East, France and Andorra on the North and Portugal on the West. It also owns the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Spain covers the total area of 504,030 square km and thus is the second largest country in the European Union. The population is about 45,200,000 inhabitants. The official language is Spanish, but Aranese, Basque, Catalan (Valencian) and Galician are also spoken regionally.

The capital and the largest city is Madrid located on the river Manzanares in the very center а the country. It has population of about 3,228,000 people (about 5,561,000 inhabitants including metropolitan area). It is the third most populous city in the European Union. Madrid is the seat of government and royal residence, it is also an economic and cultural center of the country. There are a lot а historical buildings and architectural monuments in Madrid, so it is one of the major European travel destinations.

The landscapes of mainland Spain consist mainly by high plateaus and mountain ranges, like the Sierra Nevada in Andalusia. The highest point, mount Mulhacen (3,479 meters), is situated there. About one forth of the country’s territory is situated higher than 1,000 meters above the sea level. In Europe only Switzerland is located higher. Although Spain does not come into mind first when thinking about skiing, there are five separate ski regions. Advanced skiers and snowboarders mostly prefer the Pyrenees, but if you’d like to combine ski trip with beach vacations - the Sierra Nevada is the natural choice.

Photo: Corada/flickr.com (under common licence)