Spain
SPAIN
A. THE COUNTRY
The Kingdom of Spain is mainly in Europe, which includes the major part
of the Iberian peninsula, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.
Spain also has the Canary Islands off northwest Africa and the enclaves
of Ceuta and Melilla on the North African coast. Government is a
constitutional monarchy with an effective multiparty democracy. Main
sources of income are tourism, industry and agriculture. Spain has one
of Europe’s higher unemployment rates. Gambling addiction is a problem
for the nation and Spain is one of the world’s heaviest users of
cocaine, heroin and marijuana. The Spanish have one of the lowest birth
rates in the world.
B. THE PEOPLE
The population is ~45,451,000 and the official language Spanish, with
Catalan, Galician and Basque being official languages in respective
autonomous regions (17 communities and 2 cities are autonomous). An
estimated 5.6 million immigrants live in Spain, including 3 million
non-registered people, mainly from North Africa and Latin America.
~91.7% are European, ~3.9% Latin American, ~1.9% Arab World, ~1.4%
Gypsy/Romani, ~1.2% Others (Sub-Saharan Africans and Asians).
C. RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY/PENTECOSTALISM
The “cooperation agreements” (1992) between government and evangelicals,
Muslims and Jews was a positive move toward equality of rights, though
Catholicism remains under special consideration from the State. Spain
is fast moving from a Catholic society to a secular-dominated,
multicultural, multi-religious one.
~77.13% claim to be Christian, ~19.47% Non-religious, ~2.4% Muslim,
~0.7% Jewish, ~0.1% Other, ~0.1% Hindu, ~0.1% Buddhist.
In the Christian category:
~74.83% are Catholic, ~1.24% Orthodox, ~0.84% Protestant, ~0.24%
Independent, ~0.17% Anglican, ~0.48% are groups originating in western
society that are considered ‘marginal’.
Evangelicals represent ~1% of the population.
Charismatics represent ~1.1% and of those ~0.7% are Pentecostals.
Donna Siemens
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org
Operation World, Jason Mandryk. Colorado Springs: Biblica Publishing, 2010.