The Region of Madrid has an extension of almost 8,000 square kilometres. It has 174 municipalities and a population of more than five million inhabitants of which around three million live in the capital. The lands of this region are formed basically by granite, gneiss, clay, sand, plaster and slate. In the northwest, the formations of granite silhouettes offer beautiful landscapes. These spectacular formations have been caused by wind erosion, which give them a unique appearance. The rest of the region of Madrid is formed mainly of clay, plaster and sand, which are good for the production of fine wines and oils.
They say that the main reason why King Felipe the 2nd moved the Royal Court to Madrid in 1561 was because of its geographical location which is the centre of the Peninsula. Another reason was the many places to practice hunting, which was one of the favourite hobbies of the Royal family.
The Guadarrama Mountain Range and the Tagus Valley are the natural borders of the Autonomous Region of Madrid, which has a large natural space with a great variety of landscapes.
Madrid is the political administrative, financial and technological centre of Spain . It is one of the most important industrial areas in the country with companies specialized in aeronautics, computer science, chemistry and telecommunications.
In Madrid there are more than 1.100 industrial areas, distributed throughout its towns. It is also the Spanish Financial Center. The capital is home to the headquarters of the main bank entities, the Stock Exchange and the Finance & Foreign Exchange Market.
