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Introduction: Presents the first bibliometric study on the evolution of the fuzzy sets theory field. It is specially focused on the research carried out by the Spanish community. Method. The CoPalRed software, for network analysis, and the co-word analysis technique are used. Analysis: Bibliometric maps showing the main associations among the main concepts in the field are provided for the periods 1965-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2003 and 2004-2008. Results: The bibliometric maps obtained provide insight into the structure of the fuzzy sets theory research in the Spanish community, visualize the research subfields, and show the existing relationships between those subfields. Furthermore, we compare the Spanish community with other countries (the USA and Canada; the UK and Germany; and Japan and Peoples Republic of China). Conclusions: As a result of the analysis, a complete study of the evolution of the Spanish fuzzy sets community and an analysis of its international importance are presented. (Contains 12 tables and 21 figures.)