SPAIN'S PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND BIOCLIMATES. SPAIN, ITS LOCATION AND RELIEF.

Location and geographical extension.

Extension: Spain has a surface of 505.590 square kilometres. It covers:

• most of he Iberian Peninsula.
• the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
• the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean.
• the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa.

Location: Iberian Peninsula is located n the south-east of Europe. Its limits are:

• to the North, the Cantabrian Sea, Andorra and France.
• to the South, the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
• to the West, the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.

Relief.

The average height of the Iberian Peninsula is 660 metres above the sea level. In it we can find all the main landforms:

• Plateaus. The centre of the Iberian Peninsula is occupied by the Meseta Central a plateau of an average altitude of between 600 and 700 metres. The Meseta is crossed by two big mountain ranges:

1. The Sistema Central which divided the Meseta Central into the North and the South Sub-Mesetas.
2. The Montes de Toledo which runs throught the South Sub-Meseta.

Furthermore there are other mountain ranges that surrounds the Meseta:

1. In the North, the Macizo Galaico-leonés and the Cordillera Cantábrica.
2. in the Easth, the Iberian System.
3. In the South, the Sierra Morena.

Central plateau and surrounding mountain ranges

• Young mountain ranges outside the Meseta Central. The most important are:

1. the Montes Vascos.
2. The Pyrenees.
3. The Cordillera Costero-Catalana.
4. The Cordilleras Bética, in which is located the highest peak of the Peninsula: Mulhace (3478 m).

• Plains. We can distinguish two types:

1.  River basins located inside the Meseta Central; Duero, Tajo, Guadiana.
2. Exterior depressions: Ebro and Guadalquivir valleys.

 

 Coastal relief.

The main landforms of the peninsula's coastal relief are:

1. Capes: Palos, La Nao, Gata
2. Gulfs: Bizkaia, Valencia Bay of Cadiz.

Canary and Balearic islands.

Canary islands: volcanic relief with the highest peak in Spain: the Teide.
Balearic islands:

1. Formentor cape.
2. Bays of Palma and Alcudia.