Spain’s population is 47.042.984 and gained independence in 1479. It shares land borders with 5 countries: Morocco, Gibraltar, Andorra, France and Portugal.
The Iberian peninsula ( occupied by Spain and Portugal ), separated by the Pyrenees from Western Europe and the Strait of Gibraltar from Africa, has long been an attractive destination to enlarge Mediterranean empires and greedy foreigners.
M. of the Roman EmpireHe. In 1100, Southern Iberia was colonized by Phoenicians and it was found in the city of Iberia.In 220 B.C., The Romans and their cultures were dominated by the entire peninsula.
Upon the fading of the Roman Empire, various ethnic groups settled and the difficult Visigoths finally decided.
In the early 700’s, Muslim forces from North Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and influenced most of the peninsula for 800 years.
In 1469, when he married Fernando, heir to the throne of Aragon, and Princess Isabella of Castilian, the great Christian sections of Spain came together.
His forces invaded Granada and surrendered to the last Muslim Fort. Fernando and Isabel , now known as ‘Catholic rulers’, continued the Spanish Inquisition ( or requestess), an aggressive religious persecution period in which Muslims, Jews and other non-Christians were expelled and / or executed .
The royal couple supported Columbus ‘ voyages to the new world and other researchers such as Balboa , Cotez and Magellan . Unexplained riches poured into Spain from the new colonies in America and Spain became a powerful country.
Columbus, actually, 16. and 17. in the centuries ( under the Habsburg ), the Spanish empire was literally the first global superpower with its colonies spread throughout the United States and its navy that dominated the oceans. The Golden Age Cervantes, El Greco, Lope De Vega and Velazquez (even creative, and others produced permanent masterpieces), was born in the international law, and Spain was now writing its own cultural history.
In 1808, shortly after Louis XVI was dressed in France , Napoleon’s soldiers crossed the Pyrenees into Spain. The Spanish people resisted and after a five-year war of independence, French forces finally got fired and returned to the Spanish throne.