Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of maps
- Preface
- 1 The land and its early inhabitants
- 2 Ancient legacies
- 3 Diversity in medieval Spain
- 4 The rise of Spain to international prominence
- 5 Spain as the first global empire
- 6 Toward modernity: from the Napoleonic invasion to Alfonso XIII
- 7 The struggle for the Spanish soul: Republic, civil war, and dictatorship
- 8 New Spain, new Spaniards: European, democratic, and multi-cultural
- Chronology and rulers
- Guide to further information
- Index
- Titles in the series
1 - The land and its early inhabitants
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of maps
- Preface
- 1 The land and its early inhabitants
- 2 Ancient legacies
- 3 Diversity in medieval Spain
- 4 The rise of Spain to international prominence
- 5 Spain as the first global empire
- 6 Toward modernity: from the Napoleonic invasion to Alfonso XIII
- 7 The struggle for the Spanish soul: Republic, civil war, and dictatorship
- 8 New Spain, new Spaniards: European, democratic, and multi-cultural
- Chronology and rulers
- Guide to further information
- Index
- Titles in the series
Summary
The Iberian Peninsula occupies several crucial crossroads, providing connections between Europe and Africa, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, and Europe and the Atlantic World. Spain's connections with Africa date from prehistoric times. When Muslim rulers controlled most of Spain during the Middle Ages, the close relationship with the North African world intensified. Today, Spain is the destination of choice for African would-be immigrants to Europe. Spain's connections with the rest of Europe are powerful as well, defined by history and geography and enhanced by the ties of the European Union. Spain's connections with Latin America date from the period of exploration and empire building in the late fifteenth century. In our times, Spain provides an important link between Europe and Latin America, with the greatest number of flights between the two continents, the largest investment in Latin America of any European country, and the most Latin American immigrants in Europe. For the world as a whole, Spain is a major center of tourism. In 2007 Spain ranked second in the world in the number of tourists, according to the World Tourism Organization. In that year, some 59.2 million tourists entered the country, compared to a Spanish population of about 45 million, a clear indication of Spain's continuing importance as a nexus of travel, transportation, and exchange.
This is a concise history of Spain, which we understand to mean a modern country that shares the Iberian Peninsula with Portugal. All of those geographical terms have a complex history, however.
- Type
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- Information
- A Concise History of Spain , pp. 1 - 20Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010