Palace of the Assembly

1995 & 1997 25 PTAS Coins of Spain

Country Spain
Type Circulating commemorative coin
Year 1997
Value 25 Pesetas (25 ESP)
Metal Aluminium-bronze
Weight 4.25 g
Diameter 19.5 mm
Thickness 2.1 mm
Shape Round with a hole
Orientation Coin alignment ↑↓
Demonetized 02-28-2002
References KM# 983, Schön# 246
Commemorative issue
Melilla, an Autonomous Community in Spain

Obverse
Centre hole divides towered buildings of the Palace of the Assembly of Melilla

Lettering: ESPAÑA 1997

Engraver: Luis Antonio Garcia

Reverse
Centre hole divides ancient phoenician amphora and dates

Lettering:
25 PTAS
M MELILLA 1497-1997

Engraver: Luis Antonio Garcia

USA: SPANISH DEFENCE MINISTER SERRA MEETS COHEN

English/Nat

Spain's minister of defence has met with U-S Defence Secretary William Cohen to re-solidify the two countries' historic military ties.

As the European Union continues to solidify areas such as military action, Cohen and Spain's Eduardo Serra met to ensure any military responsibilities Spain takes on as an E-U member won't interfere with its relationship with the U-S.

The two countries have had historically close military ties, with Spain allowing the U-S a valuable military presence in the Mediterranean.

U-S Defence Secretary William Cohen welcomed his Spanish counterpart to the Pentagon on Thursday.

Cohen and Eduardo Serra met to assess the two countries' relationship in the wake of the NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo.

Spain and the U-S have had typically strong ties, Spain helping to ensure the U-S maintains a strong military presence in Europe.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
Spain and the United States have a very close relationship as to Minister Serra and I. And I continue to look forward to working with him in the coming years because he is a very strong advocate of this relationship not only on a bilateral basis but certainly as members of NATO.
SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, U-S Defence Secretary

The two countries actually have a formalized agreement delineating what they characterize as a strong relationship.

But as the European Union begins to solidify its own military capabilities, Spain wants to ensure its link with the U-S won't be impeded by any decisions made by the E-U.

Serra said in no way did Spain want to renegotiate its arrangement with the U-S in light of a stronger E-U military force.

SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
We don't want to renegotiate the agreement. We're very satisfied with the relationship that we have with the United States. It's a very old relationship and is mutually beneficial to both countries. In no way did we talk about re-negotiations.
SUPER CAPTION: Eduardo Serra, Spanish Minister of Defence

Cohen again faced questions concerning the U-S Navy's presence in Puerto Rico and its use of a bombing range on the island of Vieques.

He said he wants to talk directly to Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rossello to resolve a standoff that resulted after a civilian security guard was killed in a bombing accident on Vieques.

Rossello has insisted there be no further live-fire training on Vieques.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
We need to have a dialogue on this, and one thing that became clear to me from the rush panel was that the Navy had not done a very good job in their relations with the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico. And we hope to do better in that regard. So I am hoping to be able to engage some other officials in direct conversations with me and others to see if we can't come up with a constructive solution.
SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, U-S Defence Secretary

The Navy halted bombing on Vieques last April.

Protestors are occupying the range and say they will not leave peacefully if the Navy tries to remove them.


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Congress of Deputies (Spain)

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The Congress of Deputies of Spain, commonly referred to as simply the Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch.It has 350 members elected by constituencies by proportional representation using the D'Hondt method.Congressmen serve four-year terms.The President of the Congress of Deputies is the analogue to a speaker and presides over debates.

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Porto

Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu]) (occasionally also known as Oporto in English) is the second-largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon, and one of the major urban areas in Southern Europe and the capital of the second major great urban area in Portugal.The urban area of Porto, which extends beyond the administrative limits of the city, has a population of 1.3 million (2011) in an area of 389 km2 (150 sq mi), making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. The Porto Metropolitan Area includes an estimated 2 million people. It is recognized as a Gamma- level global city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group, being one of five cities on the Iberian Peninsula with global city status, (the others being Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and Valencia).
Located along the Douro river estuary in northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its Latin name, Portus Cale, has been referred to as the origin for the name Portugal, based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese the name of the city is spelled with a definite article as o Porto (English: the port). Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers.


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5 days in Morocco. From Marrakech to the Sahara desert passing through the Atlas mountains

Morocco is a North African country that has a coastline on both the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It has borders with Western Sahara to the south, Algeria to the east and the Spanish North African territories of Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast in the north. It is just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Gibraltar.

Jemaa El-Fnaa Square:
Think of it as live-action channel-surfing: everywhere you look in the Djemaa el-Fna, Marrakesh’s main square, you’ll discover drama in progress. The hoopla and halqa (street theatre) has been non-stop here ever since this plaza was the site of public executions around AD 1050 – hence its name, which means ‘assembly of the dead’.

By mid-morning the soundtrack of snake-charmer flutes has already begun, but the show doesn't kick off until sunset when restaurants fire up their grills, cueing musicians to tune up their instruments.
Unesco declared the Djemaa el-Fna a 'Masterpiece of World Heritage' in 2001 for bringing urban legends and oral history to life nightly and although the storytellers who once performed here have since given way to acrobats, musical performers, and slapstick comedy acts, Djemaa's nightly carnival continues to dazzle. Berber musicians strike up the music and Gnaoua troupes sing while henna tattoo artists beckon to passers by and water-sellers in fringed hats clang brass cups together, hoping to drive people to drink. This is a show you don't want to miss and it's a bargain too. Applause and a few dirhams ensure an encore.
The square's many eclectic exhibitions are not without a darker side though; you are very likely to see monkeys, kept in cages throughout the day, led around on chains for entertainment, and some of the practices of the plaza's snake charmers are ethically questionable, to say the least.

While wandering around the Djemaa at any time of day stay alert to cars, motorbikes and horse-drawn-carriage traffic, which whiz around the perimeter of the plaza. Also be on guard against pickpockets and rogue gropers who are known to work the crowds particularly after sunset. To nab prime seats on makeshift stools (women and elders get preference) around musician circles, arrive early in the evening.

Bahia Palace:
Imagine what you could build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years, and here you have it.

The salons of both the petit riad and grand riad host intricate marquetry and zouak (painted wood) ceilings while the vast grand courtyard, trimmed in jaunty blue and yellow, leads to the Room of Honour, with a spectacular cedar ceiling.

The harem offers up yet more dazzling interiors with original woven-silk panels, stained glass windows and rose-bouquet painted ceilings.
The floor-to-ceiling decoration here was begun by Grand Vizier Si Moussa in the 1860s and embellished from 1894 to 1900 by slave-turned-vizier Abu ‘Bou’ Ahmed. In 1908 the palace's beguiling charms attracted warlord Pasha Glaoui, who claimed it as a suitable venue to entertain French guests. They, in turn, were so impressed that they booted out their host in 1911, installing the protectorate’s resident-general in his place.

Though today only a portion of the palace’s eight hectares and 150 rooms is open to the public, there's still plenty of ornamental frippery on show. While admiring the tranquil grand courtyard with its floor laid in white Carrara marble, remember this is where people waited in the sun for hours to beg for Bou Ahmed’s mercy. Bou Ahmed's four wives and 24 concubines all lived in the lavish interiors of the harem's small salons.

Prepare for your senses to be slapped. Marrakesh's heady sights and sounds will dazzle, frazzle and enchant. Put on your babouches and dive right in.

Sahara Desert:
The Sahara is the world’s largest hot desert and one of the harshest environments on the planet. It is third largest desert overall after Antarctica and the Arctic, which are cold deserts.

At 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million square kilometers), the Sahara, which is Arabic for The Great Desert, engulfs most of North Africa. The desert covers large sections of Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Western Sahara, Sudan and Tunisia.

Russia: Putin makes a call for a 'young, forward-looking' nation at United Russia congress

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the nation to be young and forward-looking, while speaking at the United Russia party's congress, in Moscow, on Saturday.

Putin warned against treating Russia like a grandmother, explaining, Russia is a country with a thousand-year old history. However, we should not treat it as a beloved grandmother: just give medicine in time to make sure nothing hurts and limit ourselves to this. Not at all.

Putin expressed his confidence in the need to further develop the mechanisms of direct democracy. He said that the nation should encourage competitiveness, the competition of ideas, proposals, and approaches toward addressing development challenges and to respect the capable and responsible opposition.

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castillo templario 3d max motam y kevistazo

un castillo hecho en 3d max por mi :D, producido por motam productions y coproducido por kevistazo producciones

Spain | Wikipedia audio article

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Spain

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This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.



SUMMARY
=======
Spain (Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao.
Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek, Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp(a)n or Spania. At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi, Alans and Vandals. Eventually, the Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically, ecclesiastically and legally all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was then documented as Hispania.
In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north, lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada. This led to many wars during a long reconquering period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of Kingdom of Leon, Kingdom of Castille, Kingdom of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre as the main Christian kingdoms to face the invasion. Following the Moorish conquest, Europeans began a gradual process of retaking the region known as the Reconquista, which by the late 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a unified country under the Catholic Monarchs.
In the early modern period, Spain became the world's first global empire and the most powerful country in the world, leaving a large cultural and linguistic legacy that includes +570 million Hispanophones, making Spanish the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese. During the Golden Age there were also many advancements in the arts, with world-famous painters such as Diego Velázquez.
The most famous Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, was also published during the Golden Age. Spain hosts the world's third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. It is a major developed country and a high income country, with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Or ...

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Andalusia | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:



00:04:32 1 Name
00:07:53 2 Symbols
00:12:18 3 Geography
00:13:00 3.1 Location
00:13:48 3.2 Climate
00:18:32 3.3 Terrain
00:21:11 3.4 Hydrography
00:22:54 3.5 Soils
00:24:53 3.6 Flora
00:27:31 3.7 Fauna
00:30:19 3.8 Protected areas
00:32:27 4 History
00:34:13 4.1 Carthaginians and Romans
00:35:10 4.2 Vandals, Visigoths and the Byzantine Empire
00:36:10 4.3 Al-Andalus
00:40:56 4.4 Kingdom of Castile
00:42:32 4.5 Early modern era
00:45:02 4.6 Francoist oppressions
00:46:29 5 Government and politics
00:50:40 5.1 Andalusian Autonomous Government
00:53:42 5.2 Judicial power
00:54:22 6 Administrative divisions
00:54:32 6.1 Provinces
00:55:19 6.2 Comarcas and mancomunidades
00:56:32 6.3 Municipalities and local entities
00:58:54 6.4 Main cities
00:59:02 7 Demographics
00:59:50 7.1 Population change
01:01:34 7.2 Structure
01:02:54 7.3 Immigration
01:04:14 8 Economy
01:05:13 8.1 Primary sector
01:06:16 8.1.1 Agriculture, husbandry, hunting, and forestry
01:10:56 8.1.2 Fishing
01:12:26 8.1.3 Mining
01:13:23 8.2 Secondary sector: industry
01:15:23 8.3 Tertiary sector: services
01:17:07 8.3.1 Tourism in Andalusia
01:22:32 8.3.1.1 Monuments and features
01:22:41 8.4 Unemployment
01:22:59 9 Infrastructure
01:23:08 9.1 Transport
01:28:00 9.2 Energy infrastructure
01:30:02 9.3 Education
01:31:09 9.4 Healthcare
01:31:44 9.5 Science and technology
01:33:24 10 Media
01:34:14 10.1 Newspapers
01:35:31 10.2 Public television
01:36:20 10.3 Radio
01:36:59 11 Art and culture
01:39:14 11.1 Arts
01:40:13 11.1.1 Architecture
01:44:06 11.1.2 Sculpture
01:45:34 11.1.3 Painting
01:47:01 11.2 Literature and philosophy
01:50:49 11.3 Music of Andalusia
01:53:29 11.4 Film
01:56:01 11.5 Culture
01:56:10 11.5.1 Customs and society
01:59:11 11.5.2 Andalusian Spanish
01:59:57 11.5.3 Religion
02:01:54 11.5.4 Bullfighting
02:02:57 11.5.5 Festivals
02:04:35 11.5.6 Cuisine
02:08:32 11.5.7 Other traditions
02:10:32 12 Sports
02:10:41 12.1 Team sports
02:13:14 12.2 Olympics
02:15:19 12.3 Other sports
02:16:06 13 Twinning and covenants
02:16:30 14 Image gallery
02:16:40 15 See also



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I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.
- Socrates


SUMMARY
=======
Andalusia (UK: , US: ; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a]; Portuguese: Andaluzia) is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populous, and the second largest autonomous community in the country. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a historical nationality. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville.
Andalusia is located in the south of the Iberian peninsula, in southwestern Europe, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus (الأندلس). The toponym al-Andalus is first att ...

Porto | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Porto


00:01:59 1 History
00:02:07 1.1 Early history
00:04:42 1.2 18th century
00:06:06 1.3 19th century
00:09:19 1.4 20th century
00:10:12 2 Geography
00:12:09 2.1 Climate
00:14:01 3 Politics and government
00:14:15 3.1 Local election results 1976-2017
00:14:27 4 Economy
00:18:20 5 Transport
00:18:29 5.1 Roads and bridges
00:20:18 5.2 Cruising
00:20:34 5.3 Airports
00:21:08 5.4 Public transport
00:21:17 5.4.1 Railways
00:22:20 5.4.2 Light rail
00:23:26 5.4.3 Buses
00:24:05 5.4.4 Trams
00:24:51 5.4.5 Porto Public Transportation Statistics
00:25:36 6 Culture
00:27:56 6.1 Entertainment
00:29:19 6.2 Arts
00:29:45 6.3 Architecture
00:30:25 6.4 Gastronomy
00:31:17 7 Tourism
00:31:42 8 Education
00:33:44 9 Public health
00:34:54 10 Sport
00:35:59 10.1 Football
00:38:07 10.2 Basketball
00:38:33 11 International relations
00:38:43 11.1 Twin towns — sister cities
00:38:55 12 Notable citizens



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

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You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Porto (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpoɾtu]; also known as Oporto in English) is the second-largest city in Portugal after Lisbon and one of the major urban areas of the Iberian Peninsula. The city proper has a population of 237,591 and the metropolitan area of Porto, which extends beyond the administrative limits of the city, has a population of 1.9 million (2011) in an area of 2,395 km2 (925 sq mi), making it the second-largest urban area in Portugal. It is recognized as a gamma level global city by the Globalization and World Cities (GaWC) Study Group, the only Portuguese city besides Lisbon to be recognised as a global city.
Located along the Douro river estuary in Northern Portugal, Porto is one of the oldest European centres, and its historical core was proclaimed a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The western part of its urban area extends to the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean. Its settlement dates back many centuries, when it was an outpost of the Roman Empire. Its combined Celtic-Latin name, Portus Cale, has been referred to as the origin of the name Portugal, based on transliteration and oral evolution from Latin. In Portuguese, the name of the city is spelled with a definite article o Porto; Consequently, its English name evolved from a misinterpretation of the oral pronunciation and referred to as Oporto in modern literature and by many speakers.
One of Portugal's internationally famous exports, port wine, is named after Porto, since the metropolitan area, and in particular the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia, were responsible for the packaging, transport, and export of fortified wine. In 2014 and 2017, Porto was elected The Best European Destination by the Best European Destinations Agency. Porto is on the Portuguese Way path of the Camino de Santiago.

Candide by Voltaire | Full Audiobook with Subtitles

Candide is a relentless, brutal assault on government, society, religion, education, and, above all, optimism. Dr. Pangloss teaches his young students Candide and Cunegonde that everything in this world is for the best, a sentiment they cling to as the world steps in to teach them otherwise. The novel is brilliant, hilarious, blasphemous. . . and Voltaire never admitted to writing it.
Candide (version 2)
VOLTAIRE
Genre(s): General Fiction

Audio Book Audiobooks All Rights Reserved. This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer visit librivox.org.

Independent city | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Independent city


00:00:11 1 Historical precursors
00:00:53 2 National capitals
00:01:02 2.1 In general
00:02:52 2.2 Federal capitals
00:05:34 3 Asia
00:05:42 3.1 Republic of China (Taiwan)
00:06:19 3.2 South Korea
00:08:27 3.3 Philippines
00:09:23 3.4 Vietnam
00:09:44 4 Europe
00:09:52 4.1 Austria
00:10:05 4.2 Bosnia and Herzegovina
00:10:52 4.3 Bulgaria
00:11:05 4.4 Croatia
00:11:30 4.5 France
00:12:00 4.6 Germany
00:13:27 4.7 Hungary
00:13:45 4.8 Ireland
00:13:59 4.9 Norway
00:14:13 4.10 Poland
00:14:32 4.11 Russian Federation
00:15:01 4.12 Spain
00:15:39 4.13 Ukraine
00:16:00 4.14 United Kingdom
00:16:55 5 North America
00:17:04 5.1 Canada
00:17:45 5.2 United States



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
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Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a county).

Andalusia | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Andalusia

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Andalusia (; Spanish: Andalucía [andaluˈθi.a]; Portuguese: Andaluzia) is an autonomous community in southern Spain. It is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities in the country. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a historical nationality. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Seville. Its capital is the city of Seville (Spanish: Sevilla).
Andalusia is located in a privileged area in the south of the Iberian peninsula, in south-western Europe, immediately south of the autonomous communities of Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha; west of the autonomous community of Murcia and the Mediterranean Sea; east of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean; and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Andalusia is the only European region with both Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines. The small British overseas territory of Gibraltar shares a three-quarter-mile land border with the Andalusian province of Cádiz at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar.
The main mountain ranges of Andalusia are the Sierra Morena and the Baetic System, consisting of the Subbaetic and Penibaetic Mountains, separated by the Intrabaetic Basin. In the north, the Sierra Morena separates Andalusia from the plains of Extremadura and Castile–La Mancha on Spain's Meseta Central. To the south the geographic subregion of Upper Andalusia lies mostly within the Baetic System, while Lower Andalusia is in the Baetic Depression of the valley of the Guadalquivir.The name Andalusia is derived from the Arabic word Al-Andalus (الأندلس). The toponym al-Andalus is first attested by inscriptions on coins minted in 716 by the new Muslim government of Iberia. These coins, called dinars, were inscribed in both Latin and Arabic. The etymology of the name al-Andalus has traditionally been derived from the name of the Vandals; however, a number of proposals since the 1980s have challenged this contention. Halm in 1989 derived the name from a Gothic term, *landahlauts,
and in 2002, Bossong suggested its derivation from a pre-Roman substrate. The region's history and culture have been influenced by the native Iberians, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines,
Jews, Romani, Muslim Moors and the Castilian and other Christian North Iberian nationalities who reconquered and settled the area in the latter phases of the Reconquista.
Andalusia has been a traditionally agricultural region, compared to the rest of Spain and the rest of Europe. However, the growth of the community especially in the sectors of industry and services was above average in Spain and higher than many communities in the Eurozone. The region has a rich culture and a strong identity. Many cultural phenomena that are seen internationally as distinctively Spanish are largely or entirely Andalusian in origin. These include flamenco and, to a lesser extent, bullfighting and Hispano-Moorish architectural styles, both of which are also prevalent in other regions of Spain.
Andalusia's hinterland is the hottest area of Europe, with cities like Córdoba and Seville averaging above 36 °C (97 °F) in summer high temperatures. Late evening temperatures can sometimes stay around 35 °C (95 °F) until close to midnight, with daytime highs of over 40 °C (104 °F) common. Seville also has the highest average annual temperature in mainland Spain and mainland Europe (19.2 °C), closely followed by Almería (19.1 °C).

Spain | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Spain

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
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- improves your listening skills
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- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Spain (Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa] (listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao.
Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek, Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp(a)n or Spania. At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi, Alans and Vandals. Eventually, the Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically, ecclesiastically and legally all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was then documented as Hispania.
In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north, lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada. This led to many wars during a long reconquering period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of Kingdom of Leon, Kingdom of Castille, Kingdom of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre as the main Christian kingdoms to face the invasion. Following the Moorish conquest, Europeans began a gradual process of retaking the region known as the Reconquista, which by the late 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a unified country under the Catholic Monarchs.
In the early modern period, Spain became the world's first global empire and the most powerful country in the world, leaving a large cultural and linguistic legacy that includes +570 million Hispanophones, making Spanish the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese. During the Golden Age there were also many advancements in the arts, with world-famous painters such as Diego Velázquez.
The most famous Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, was also published during the Golden Age. Spain hosts the world's third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. It is a major developed country and a high income country, with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North ...

Spain | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Spain

Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.


You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.



SUMMARY
=======
Spain (Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao.
Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek, Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp(a)n or Spania. At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi, Alans and Vandals. Eventually, the Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically, ecclesiastically and legally all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was then documented as Hispania.
In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north, lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada. This led to many wars during a long reconquering period across the Iberian Peninsula, which led to the creation of Kingdom of Leon, Kingdom of Castille, Kingdom of Aragon and Kingdom of Navarre as the main Christian kingdoms to face the invasion. Following the Moorish conquest, Europeans began a gradual process of retaking the region known as the Reconquista, which by the late 15th century culminated in the emergence of Spain as a unified country under the Catholic Monarchs.
In the early modern period, Spain became the world's first global empire and the most powerful country in the world, leaving a large cultural and linguistic legacy that includes +570 million Hispanophones, making Spanish the world's second-most spoken native language, after Mandarin Chinese. During the Golden Age there were also many advancements in the arts, with world-famous painters such as Diego Velázquez.
The most famous Spanish literary work, Don Quixote, was also published during the Golden Age. Spain hosts the world's third-largest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Spain is a secular parliamentary democracy and a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI as head of state. It is a major developed country and a high income country, with the world's fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP and sixteenth largest by purchasing power parity. It is a member of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the Eurozone, the Council of Europe (CoE), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the Union for the Mediterranean, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Or ...

Spain | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Spain


00:04:30 1 Etymology
00:07:07 2 History
00:09:00 2.1 Prehistory and pre-Roman peoples
00:10:46 2.2 Roman Hispania and the Visigothic Kingdom
00:13:46 2.3 Middle Ages: Muslim era and Reconquista
00:21:18 2.4 Spanish Empire
00:29:55 2.5 Liberalism, labour movement and nation state
00:34:42 2.6 Second Spanish Republic
00:36:53 2.7 Spanish Civil War and Francoist Spain
00:39:05 2.8 Restoration of democracy
00:45:14 3 Geography
00:46:47 3.1 Islands
00:47:40 3.2 Mountains and rivers
00:48:55 3.3 Climate
00:52:13 3.4 Fauna and flora
00:52:59 4 Politics
00:55:06 4.1 Government
00:57:29 4.2 Human rights
00:58:22 4.3 Administrative divisions
00:59:14 4.3.1 Autonomous communities
01:02:40 4.3.2 Provinces and municipalities
01:03:51 4.4 Foreign relations
01:08:04 4.5 Military
01:08:34 4.6 Ecology
01:09:49 5 Economy
01:12:51 5.1 Agriculture
01:15:33 5.2 Tourism
01:16:23 5.3 Energy
01:17:45 5.4 Transport
01:20:24 5.5 Science and technology
01:21:05 6 Demographics
01:24:08 6.1 Urbanisation
01:24:27 6.2 Peoples
01:25:30 6.3 Minority groups
01:26:38 6.4 Immigration
01:29:46 6.5 Languages
01:31:53 6.6 Education
01:33:09 6.7 Health
01:33:42 6.8 Religion
01:38:46 7 Culture
01:39:34 7.1 World Heritage Sites
01:45:31 7.2 Literature
01:51:15 7.3 Philosophy
01:52:24 7.4 Art
01:53:51 7.5 Sculpture
01:55:13 7.6 Cinema
01:56:18 7.7 Architecture
01:58:02 7.8 Music and dance
01:59:57 7.9 Fashion
02:00:22 7.10 Cuisine
02:01:52 7.11 Sport
02:03:55 7.12 Public holidays and festivals
02:05:29 8 See also



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Spain (Spanish: España [esˈpaɲa] (listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
With an area of 505,990 km2 (195,360 sq mi), Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth largest country in the European continent. By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid; other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Málaga and Bilbao.
Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago. Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician, Greek, Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE, after which the region was named Hispania, based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp(a)n or Spania. At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe, invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces, including the Suebi, Alans and Vandals. Eventually, the Visigoths would forcibly integrate all remaining independent territories in the peninsula, including Byzantine provinces, into the Kingdom of Toledo, which more or less unified politically, ecclesiastically and legally all the former Roman provinces or successor kingdoms of what was then documented as Hispania.
In the early eighth century the Visigothic Kingdom fell to the Moors, who arrived to rule most of the peninsula in the year 726, leaving only a handful of small Christian realms in the north, lasting up to seven centuries in the Kingdom of Granada. This led to many wars during a long reconqu ...

Portugal | Wikipedia audio article

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Portugal


00:03:51 1 Etymology
00:05:31 2 History
00:05:40 2.1 Prehistory
00:09:19 2.2 Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia
00:12:00 2.3 Germanic kingdoms: Suebi and Visigoths
00:17:14 2.4 Islamic period and the Reconquista
00:19:40 2.5 County of Portucale
00:22:59 2.6 Afonsine era
00:25:56 2.7 Joanine era and Age of Discoveries
00:29:37 2.8 Iberian Union, Restoration and early Brigantine era
00:32:44 2.9 Pombaline era and Enlightenment
00:37:45 2.10 Napoleonic era
00:40:57 2.11 Constitutional monarchy
00:44:35 2.12 First Republic and Estado Novo
00:48:00 2.13 Carnation Revolution and European integration
00:53:19 3 Geography
00:55:24 3.1 Climate
01:00:53 3.2 Biodiversity
01:05:19 4 Government and administration
01:07:04 4.1 Presidency of the Republic
01:08:04 4.2 Government
01:09:18 4.3 Parliament
01:10:13 4.4 Law and drug policy
01:12:19 4.5 LGBT+ rights in Portugal
01:13:16 4.6 Law enforcement
01:13:50 4.7 Administrative divisions
01:15:40 4.8 Foreign relations
01:18:34 4.9 Military
01:21:31 4.10 Government finance
01:25:00 5 Economy
01:30:23 5.1 Primary sector
01:34:26 5.2 Secondary sector
01:35:32 5.3 Tertiary sector
01:38:04 5.4 Quaternary sector
01:41:34 5.5 Transport
01:45:56 5.6 Energy
01:48:05 6 Demographics
01:53:14 6.1 Urbanization
01:53:22 6.2 Metropolitan areas and Functional Urban Area (FUA)
01:53:39 6.3 Immigration
01:55:58 6.4 Religion
01:58:03 6.5 Languages
02:00:04 6.6 Education
02:03:57 6.7 Health
02:07:32 7 Culture
02:08:28 7.1 Architecture
02:09:13 7.2 Cinema
02:09:57 7.3 Literature
02:11:08 7.4 Cuisine
02:13:25 7.5 Music
02:16:45 7.6 Visual arts
02:18:10 7.7 Sport
02:22:23 8 See also



Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.

Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain

Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.

You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:


You can upload your own Wikipedia articles through:




The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
- Socrates



SUMMARY
=======
Portugal (Portuguese: [puɾtuˈɣal]), officially the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: República Portuguesa [ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ puɾtuˈɣezɐ]), is a country located mostly on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost sovereign state of mainland Europe. It is bordered to the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and east by Spain. Its territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments.
Portugal is the oldest state on the Iberian Peninsula and one of the oldest in Europe, its territory having been continuously settled, invaded and fought over since prehistoric times. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigoths and Suebi Germanic peoples.
Portugal as a country was established during the Christian Reconquista against the Moors who had invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 711 AD. Despite attempts at independence since its foundation as a county in 868, only after the Battle of São Mamede in 1128, where Portuguese forces led by Afonso Henriques defeated forces led by his mother, Teresa, the County of Portugal affirmed its sovereignty and Afonso styled himself Prince of Portugal. He would later be proclaimed King of Portugal at the Battle of Ourique in 1139 and was recognised as such, by neighbouring kingdoms, on the Treaty of Zamora, in 1143.In the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the world's major economic, political and military powers. During this period, today referred to as the Age of Discovery, Portuguese explorers pioneered maritime exploration, notably under royal patronage of Prince Henry the Navigator and King John II, with such notable voyages as Bartolomeu Dias' sailing beyond the Cape of Good Hope (Cabo da Boa Esperança) (1488), Vasco da Gama's discovery of the sea route to India (1497–98) and the European discovery of Brazil (1500).
During this time Portugal monopolized the spice trade, and the empire expanded with military campaigns in Asia. However, events such as the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, the Industrial Revolution, the Seven Years' War, the country's occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of Bra ...