With a population of close to 50 million, Spain is a historically powerful and crucial economy and country within Europe. Due to its geographical location at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Europe, and Africa, it has played an important role both politically as well as culturally between the world's nations.
Spain was a powerful colonising force and spread its ideology, culture, and religion across the world starting during the 15th century, becoming a global empire by the fifteen hundreds all the way until its fall in the 19th century.
Between 1936-39 Spain went through a severe civil war followed by the decades-long dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. Only after his death in 1975, Spain has made the transition to democracy and built a modern economy.
The country is made up of 17 regions that have their own directly elected authorities. But much of recent history has seen separatism prevail, with Catalonia and the Basque Country fighting for their independence.
