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Spain: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for the study of Spain, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Spain. Curated by the Hispanic Division, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Division is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Spain from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Spain: Quick Facts

The kingdoms of Spain and Portugal, divided into their great provinces. 1772. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.

Official Name: Kingdom of Spain

Capital: Madrid

Date of the de facto unification of Spain: January 20, 1479

Head of State/Government: Felipe VI (King), Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (Prime Minister)

Population: 47,431,256 (2020 estimate)

Languages: Spanish (official), Aranese, Basque, Catalan, Valencian, and Galician.

Autonomous Communities: Andalusia, Catalonia, Community of Madrid, Valencian Community, Galicia, Castile and León, Basque Country, Castilla-La Mancha, Canary Islands, Region of Murcia, Aragon, Extremadura, Balearic Islands, Principality of Asturias, Chartered Community of Navarre, Cantabria, and La Rioja.