SPAIN

Mohammad Chaudhry 726

GENERAL STATISTICS

NAME OF COUNTRY
The name of the country I researched is Spain, a

kingdom in southwest Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Spain has a very unique environment because it is

surrounded by the Mediterranean sea and has many mountains, such as the Pyrenees Mountains. It is also has many rivers such as the Duero River. Spain experiences extreme types of weather. It also has very low rates of rainfall. A saying in Madrid describes the weather as 9 months of winter, and 3 months of hell. Despite the extreme weather, Spain is still a major tourist attraction.

POPULATION
Spain has a population that consists of

approximately 45,957,671people. The capital city of Madrid consists of approximately 3,228,359 people. Madrid is Spain's most populous city.

MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Madrid is a very popular tourist spot in Spain because

of its rich culture and art. Madrids museums and castles, such as the Palacio Real de Madrid, are very beautiful. Barcelona is famous for its bullfighting shows and amazing architecture. Many world-renowned artists such as Dali and Miro are from Barcelona. Costa Blanca has a very rich country side.

NATURAL RESOURCES
Spain has coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead,

zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, magnesite, fluorspar, gypsum, sepiolite, kaolin, potash, hydropower, arable land as natural resources.

COMMON EXPORTS
Spain exports include motor vehicles, food,

medicines and machinery.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

HISTORY OF SPAIN
Spain, along with Portugal, was one of the first countries to

start colonization in the New World. Spain conquered the majority of South America and Central America and took hold of many parts of North America as well. Spain started to colonize the New World so that it could spread Christianity, gain riches, and become the dominant nation in Europe. This is why people in South and Central America speak Spanish today. The Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, came to Mexico in 1518. The Aztec rulers thought he was a God so they took very much care of them. What they didnt know was that Cortes was actually their to take their riches in the name of Spain. Cortes and his army not only destroyed the Aztec empire by taking their riches, but also destroyed them by giving them many diseases, such as smallpox.

HISTORY OF SPAIN
The history and art of Spain is shown together in

Pablo Picassos Guernica. Guernica symbolizes the tragic event of the bombing of Guernica, Spain during World War II. Many innocent people died during the bombing and Picasso painted this painting to describe the grievances of the innocent people.

FAMOUS PEOPLE
Spain is filled with a variety of many famous people

like Penelope Cruz, a famous actress. Rafael Nadal is the second best tennis player in the world and he brings much fame to Spain. Who could forget one of the best artists in this world, Pablo Picasso?

CULTURE
Holidays:
Jan 1st

Ao Nuevo (New Year's Day) Jan 6th Dia de los Tres Reyes (12th night, when Christmas presents are given) Mar 19th San Jose (Father's Day) Viernes Santo (Good Friday) Dia de Pascua (Easter Sunday)

Songs: Detrs de los Cerros, Nubes, Afuera, La Negra

Tomasa, Perdi Mi Ojo de Venado, Los Amantes de Lola, "Beber de Tu Sangre and Mam Sports: Football is the most popular sport in Spain, but they also play basketball, tennis, cycling, handball and motorcycling.

FOOD
Breakfast- Churros
Ingredients-

Vegetable or Olive Oil 1 cup water 1/2 cup margarine or butter 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup all-purpose flour 3 eggs 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
Recipe

Prepare to fry the churros by heating oil in a pan (1 to 1&1/2 inches) to 360 degrees F. To make churro dough, heat water, margarine and salt to rolling boil in 3-quart saucepan; stir in flour. Stir vigorously over low heat until mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute; remove from heat. Beat eggs all at once; continue beating until smooth and then add to saucepan while stirring mixture. Spoon mixture into cake decorators' tube with large star tip (like the kind use to decorate cakes). Squeeze 4-inch strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. (Mix Sugar and the optional cinnamon); roll churros in sugar or dump the sugar on the pile of churros, like the pros. That churro taste will take you right back to your favorite summer days walking the paseos of Spain.

FOOD (continued)
Lunch- Gambos Ajillo Ingredients-

1 kg large fresh green prawns (raw) 100 g butter, melted 5garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 lemon, juice of 1 lemon, zest of, finely grated black pepper and salt

Recipe-

Heat pan on stove and melt butter in it. Combine onion and garlic with it, cook for about 30 seconds on high flame. Add prawns to it, mix well. Combine chilli and lime salad dressing or lemons or lime juice with it. Sprinkle marjoram over the prawns. Add black pepper and sea salt to it.

FOOD (continued)
Dinner- Paella Ingredients1 (3-pound) frying chicken, cut into 10 pieces 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 Spanish chorizo sausages, thickly sliced Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 Spanish onion, diced 4 garlic cloves, crushed Bunch flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped, reserve some for garnish 1 (15-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained and hand-crushed 4 cups short grain Spanish rice 6 cups water, warm Generous pinch saffron threads 1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed 1 pound jumbo shrimp, peeled and de-veined 2 lobster tails 1/2 cup sweet peas, frozen and thawed Lemon wedges, for serving

FOOD (continued)

PaellaRecipe1 level teaspoon of sweet red paprika First, heat the oil and when it is hot enough, add the rabbit and chicken (lightly salted ) and fry unitl lightly browned. Then add the white and green beans and cook them together with the meat. While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pans and fry the chopped tomatoes until they look a little pasty, quickly adding the paprika, stirring quickly and immediately adding the hot water or broth until it is almost to the top of the paella pans edge. Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high fire and tasting for salt. After 20 minutes we add the rice, distributing it evenly, making sure the rice is covered with liquid. The fire should be fairly high, not interrupting the boil. It takes about 20 minutes for the paella rice to cook. Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pans, just change its position so that the fire gets to all patrs equally. All the broth should be absorbed when finished. Take the paella off the fire and let stand for about 10 minutes covering the top with newspaper. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the rice grains should be loose, not clumped together or having a mushy texture. For a fantastic table presentation, small wedges of lemon can decorate the border and branches of romero (aromatic herbs) in the middle. Now you are ready to dig into your paella with wooden spoons and eat directly from the paela pans! In other regions and even in some of the best recipes, you will that peas and peppers are added. These are not authentic ingredients for a true Valencian paella recipe. Happy paella eating!

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