The vast majority of the inhabitants of Spain are natives of the country, the aliens being less numerous than in any other state of Europe. According to the census returns of December 31, 1877, there were at that date only 26,834 resident foreigners—' extrangeros residentes'-the mass of them in four provinces, namely, Barcelona, Cadiz, Gerona, and Madrid. The Spaniards are a mixture of Celts, Latins, Goths, Vandals, Moors, and Arabs. The Basques in the North, numbering 440,000, differ in race and language from the rest of Spain; there are 60,000 Morescoes in the South; 50,000 gipsies; and a very few Jews.

The progress of population did not amount to more than seventyfive per cent. in the course of the last hundred years. In 1789, the population was calculated to number 10,061,480; in 1820 it was 11,000,000, and in 1828 it was stated to be 13,698,029. At a census taken in 1846, the population was found to be 12,168,774, and it was at the census of 1860, 15,658,531. At the census of 1877 the population amounted to 16,625,860, being an increase of 967,329 in the course of seventeen years, or at the rate of about 35 per cent. per annum. At the end of 1883 the population was estimated at 17,034,915. The average density of the population is 85 per square mile; the greatest density is in the province of Barcelona, where it is 280, and 260 in Pontevedra; while it is higher than 200 per square mile in Vizcaya and Guipuzcoa; in several provinces it is only between 50 and 70 per square mile, falling to about 32 in Ciudad Real.

The births in Spain in 1882 were 493,817 (6·15 per cent. illegitimate), and deaths 435,477: surplus 58,340.

There were at the census of December 31, 1877, 14 towns in Spain with a population of over 50,000. The following is a list of these towns, with the number of their inhabitants :

The soil is subdivided among a very large number of proprietors. Of 3,426,083 recorded assessments to the property-tax, there are 624,920 properties which pay from 1 to 10 reales; 511,666 from 10 to 20 reales; 642,377 from 20 to 40 reales;. 788,184 from 40 to 100 reales; 416,546 from 100 to 200 reales; 165,202 from

200 to 500 reales; while the rest, to the number of 279,188, are larger estates charged from 500 to 10,000 reales and upwards. The subdivision of the soil is partly the work of recent years, for in 1800 the number of farms amounted only to 677,520, in the hands of 273,760 proprietors and 403,760 farmers.

Trade and Industry.

The total imports and exports of Spain were as follows in each of the five years 1878 to 1882 :

The leading imports in 1882 were as follows:

Among the importing countries, Great Britain and France stand first; but in exports, the former holds the first rank.

The commercial intercourse between Spain and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, which gives the total value of the exports of Spain to Great Britain and Ireland, and of the imports of British and Irish produce into Spain, in each of the ten years 1874 to 1883:—

One of the principal articles of export from Spain to the United Kingdom is wine, although there has been a considerable falling off in recent years. The quantities and value of wine exported to the United Kingdom were as follows in each of the ten years from 1874 to 1883 :

The following table exhibits the quantities and values of the total wine imports into the United Kingdom for 1874–83 :

Thus Spain contributes about one-third of the average quantity and value. Besides wine, the following were the leading exports from Spain to the United Kingdom in 1883:

The chief British imports into Spain are linen yarn and linens, of the value of 335,5031. in 1883; iron, wrought and unwrought, of the value of 569,9417.; coals, of the value of 629,8501.; machinery, 460,8147.; and cotton goods, of the value of 333,570l. in 1883.

Of the soil of Spain 79.65 is classed as productive, over 20-4 as unproductive, though only 34 per cent. of the area is under cultivation. Wheat, rye, barley, maize, and potatoes are the leading crops, and a considerable quantity of wheat flour is exported, to the amount of 500,000l. in 1882. The vine is the most important culture (3.7 per cent. of the whole area), while large quantities of oranges (377,4627. in 1881), raisins (933,2177. in 1881), nuts and olives (863,950l. of oil in 1881) are exported. Of animals, mules and asses and sheep are important; there were 890,982 asses, and

941,653 mules in 1878; in the same year there were 2,353,247 cattle, 16,939,288 sheep, 2,348,602 swine, and 3,813,000 goats. In 1880 12,000 cwt. and in 1882 21,000 cwt. of wool was imported, and 62,000 and 39,000 exported.

Lead, iron, and copper are the most important minerals; in 1881 the export of lead was valued at 2,109,7041.; of iron ore, 1,514,000l.; of copper ore, 1,304,9687. The bulk of these ores go to Great Britain.

The total value of cereal products in 1878 was estimated at 81,680,000l.; of wines, brandy and olive oil 39,452,000l.; of animals and animal products 23,840,0007.; and of all agricultural products 138,012,000l. The value of mining products and metal works was 5,600,000l.; of cotton manufactures 9,200,000l.; woollen manufactures 9,000,000l.; of all industrial products 40,060,000l.

The merchant navy of the kingdom consisted, on January 1, 1884, of 1,826 vessels, of a total burthen of 508,879 tons, comprising 282 steamers, of 200,100 tons. At the commencement of 1860, there were 6,715 vessels, of 449,436 tons burthen, and at the commencement of 1868 the number of vessels had fallen to 4,840, and the total tonnage to 367,790, showing a decrease in the eight years of 1,975 vessels, of an aggregate burthen of 81,696 tons.

In 1882 there entered 19,565 vessels of 2,681,569 tons, and cleared 19,925 of 6,234,833 tons.

The length of railways in Spain on the 1st January 1884, was 8,251 kilometros, or 5,157 English miles; and 2,795 kilometros, or 1,747 English miles, were in course of construction.

The whole of the Spanish railways belong to private companies, but nearly all have obtained guarantees, or subventions, from the Government. " The concessions, when a subvention is attached to them, are given by public adjudication. Any one who has made the stipulated deposit of 'caution money' may apply for a concession in sealed tenders, and whoever offers to make the railway with the lowest subvention becomes legally entitled to the concession. During the reign of Alfonso alone 1,075 miles of new lines have been opened. For the lines in construction in 1883 the subvention of the State amounts to 9,470,8301. The total subventions to the railway companies by the State up to the end of 1880 amounted to 26,000,000%. For the year 1880 the total receipts of the Spanish railways amounted to 5,568,7417., and the working expenses to 2,452,5317.

The Post-office carried 111,031,742 letters, post cards, and samples in the year 1882-3. There were 2,699 post-offices in 1883. The length of lines of state telegraphs of Spain on the 1st January 1883 was 17,173 kilometros, or 10,733 English miles, and the length of wire 41,850 kilometros, or 26,160 English miles. In the year

1883, the total number of telegraph messages was 3,019,831, onefourth of the whole international, and one-fifth of the remaining number administrative despatches.

Colonies

The colonial possessions of Spain, formerly embracing nearly the whole of America, are reduced at present to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands, with scattered settlements in the Atlantic and Indian archipelago, a small strip of territory in Northern Africa, and another strip on the west coast of Morocco. The total area of these possessions is 163,876 English square miles. The total population, according to the census returns mostly for 1877-82, numbered 7,991,894. These returns state the area and population of the various possessions as follows:

The population of Cuba in 1877 was distributed as follows:Spaniards, 977,992; foreign whites, 10,632; Chinese, 43,811; negroes, 489,249. The number of slaves from 1870 to 1877 decreased by 136,000. But the total number of inhabitants also decreased by 20,500 during the same period.

Spain is the only European state which still permits the existence of slavery in its colonies. A bill for the abolition of slavery in Porto Rico was passed by the National Assembly on the 23rd of March, 1873, while a bill for the gradual abolition of slavery in Cuba was laid before the Cortes in November 1879, supported by the government. The bill provides that on the promulgation of the law embodying it, all slaves from 55 and upwards shall become free.