This fact-filled series can help elementary social studies students learn about the diverse countries and cultures of the world. Correlated directly to the social studies curriculum, each volume includes social, political, geographic, economic, and historic characteristics of the featured country. Primary source images, documents, and artifacts bring the world's unique nations and people into your students' world and offer an invaluable resource for country research and reports. Spain, a land of many mountains, is the second-largest country in western Europe. Spain became a mighty1 world power in the 1500s, thanks to explorers such as Francisco Pizarro and Hernan Cortes, who set up Spanish colonies in the Americas Readers will he introduced to Spain's government, which is a parliamentary monarchy, its economy, and its Semana Santa religious festival. Popular with tourists. Spain has been an important member of the European Union since 1986.