Madrid
Madrid (/məˈdrɪd/ mə-DRID, Spanish: [maˈðɾið] ⓘ)[n. 1] is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million[8] inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and its monocentric metropolitan area is the second-largest in the EU.[9][10][11] The municipality covers 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi) geographical area.[12] Madrid lies on the River Manzanares in the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at about 650 meters above mean sea level. The capital city of both Spain and the surrounding autonomous community of Madrid (since 1983),[13] it is also the political, economic, and cultural centre of the country.[14] The climate of Madrid features hot summers and cool winters.
This article is about the capital city of Spain. For the autonomous community, see Community of Madrid. For other uses, see Madrid (disambiguation).
The Madrid urban agglomeration has the second-largest GDP[15] in the European Union and its influence in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.[16][17] Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre[18] and the leading economic hub of the Iberian Peninsula and of Southern Europe.[19][20] The metropolitan area hosts major Spanish companies such as Telefónica, Iberia, BBVA and FCC.[21] It concentrates the bulk of banking operations in the country and it is the Spanish-speaking city generating the largest number of webpages.[21] For innovation, Madrid is ranked 19th in the world and 7th in Europe from 500 cities, in the 2022–2023 annual analysts Innovation Cities Index, published by 2ThinkNow.[22]
Madrid houses the headquarters of the UN's World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). It also hosts major international regulators and promoters of the Spanish language: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Instituto Cervantes and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish (FundéuRAE). Madrid organises fairs such as FITUR,[23] ARCO,[24] SIMO TCI[25] and the Madrid Fashion Week.[26] Madrid is home to two world-famous football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.
While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace of Madrid; the Royal Theatre with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631; the 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain's historical archives; many national museums,[27] and the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, a museum of modern art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which complements the holdings of the other two museums.[28] Cibeles Palace and Fountain has become one of the monument symbols of the city.[29][30] The mayor is José Luis Martínez-Almeida from the People's Party.[31]
The origin of the name is unknown. There are various theories regarding the origin of the toponym "Madrid" (all of them with problems when it comes to fully explain the phonetic evolution of the toponym along history), namely:[32]
International relations[edit]
Diplomacy[edit]
Madrid hosts 121 foreign embassies accredited before Spain,[254] comprising the totality of resident embassies in the country. The headquarters of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation and the Diplomatic School are also located in the city.
International organizations[edit]
Madrid hosts the seat of international organizations such as the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB), the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), the International Youth Organism for Iberoamerica (OIJ), the Ibero-American Organization of Social Security (OISS), the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the Club of Madrid and the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).
