Spanish Geography and
Natural Resources
The Geography of Spain:
 Capital: Madrid
 Population: 46,736,776
 Borders: Portugal, Gibraltar, Morocco,
France, Andorra, Atlantic Ocean,
Mediterranean Sea
 Total Size: 504,782 square km
 Size Comparison: slightly more than twice
the size of Oregon
 Geographical Coordinates: 4000N, 400W
 Continent: Europe
 General Terrain: large, flat to dissected
plateau surrounded by rugged hills;
Pyrenees in north
 Geographical Low Point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
 Geographical High Point: Pico de Teide
(Tenerife) on Canary Islands 3,718 m
 Climate: temperate; clear, hot summers in
interior, more moderate and cloudy along
coast; cloudy, cold winters in interior, partly
cloudy and cool along coast.
 Major Cities: MADRID (capital) 5.762
million; Barcelona 5.029 million; Valencia
812,000 (2009), Seville, Zaragoza, Malaga
 Major Landforms: Spain is part of the
Iberian Peninsula.
 Major landforms include the Andalusian
Plain, Cantabrian Mountains, the Pyrenees,
Maseta Central Plateau, Sistema Central
Mountains, the Sierra de Guadalupe
Mountains, and the Canary Islands.
 Major Bodies of Water: Tagus River, Ebro
River, Duero River, Guadalquivir River, Lake
Sanabria, Lake Banyoles, Bay of Biscay,
Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea
 Famous Places: Alhambra fortress in
Granada, El Escorial, Sagrada Familia,
Aqueduct of Segovia, Pamplona, Palacio
Real, Costa del sol, Ibiza, Barcelona,
Mosque of Cordoba, Plaza Mayor in Madrid,
Montserrat
Spanish Geography:
 SPAIN occupies most of the Iberian
Peninsula, stretching south from the
Pyrenees Mountains to the Strait of
Gibraltar, which separates Spain from
Africa.
 The interior of Spain is a high, dry plateau
surrounded and crisscrossed by mountain
ranges. Rivers run to the coasts, creating
good farmland.
 With a land area of 504,782 square
kilometres (194,897 sq mi) in the Iberian
peninsula
 Spain is the largest country in Southern
Europe, the second largest country in
Western Europe (behind France), and the
fourth largest country in the European
continent (behind Russia, Ukraine, and
France).
 It has an average altitude of 650 m.
 Its total area including Spanish island
territories is 505,370 km2 (195,124 sq mi) of
which 499,542 km2 (192,874 sq mi) island
and 5,240 km2 (2,023 sq mi) is water.
 It has the 30th largest Exclusive Economic
Zone of 1,039,233 km2 (401,250 sq mi).
 Spain lies between latitudes 27° and 44° N,
and longitudes 19° W and 5° E. Its Atlantic
coast is 710 km (441 mi) long.
 The Pyrenees mountain range extends
435 km (270 mi) from the Mediterranean to
the Bay of Biscay. In the extreme south of
Spain's mainland lie the Straits of Gibraltar,
which separate the Iberian peninsula and
the rest of Europe from Ceuta and Morocco
in North Africa.
Topography
 Covering an area of 506,030 square
kilometres, Spain is among the fifty largest
countries in the world.
 The mainland territories cover an area of
493,514 square kilometres; the Balearic
Islands cover 4,992 square kilometres; the
Canary Islands cover 7,492 square
kilometres; and the cities of Ceuta and
Melilla cover 32 square kilometres.
 The geological history of the Iberian
Peninsula has given rise to mountains
forming large chains that surround a high
inland plateau situated at over 600 metres
above average sea level. As a result of this
geography, the peninsula is characterised
by a rich variety of unique enclaves and
natural environments. If there is one
characteristic that differentiates the surface
of the peninsula from the rest of Europe, it is
clearly the diversity.
 Due to its geographic location, Spain is
influenced by two very different bodies of
water: the vast and open Atlantic Ocean;
and the Mediterranean Sea, whose only
physical connection to the former is a
narrow channel called the Straits of
Gibraltar, which permits the exchange of
water between the two masses of very
different salinity and temperature. The
Spanish coastline is 5,755 kilometres long.
 The surface of Spain is extremely varied
and characterized by a relatively high
average altitude; over 600 metres above
sea level.
 As such, it is the second-highest country
in Europe, surpassed only by Switzerland
where the average altitude is 1,300
metres. This is due to the presence at the
 centre of the peninsula of a vast plateau,
known as the Meseta, divided into two
smaller plateaus by the Sistema Central
mountain range.
 A series of other mountain ranges around
the plateau and others located on the edges
of the peninsula complete the topographical
analysis. There are two depressions (the
Ebro and Guadalquivir river valleys) located
between the Meseta and the peripheral
ranges.
 The mountain ranges, which except for the
Sistema Ibérico [Iberian System] and the
Cordilleras Costero-Catalanas [Catalonian-
Coastal Ranges] generally run from west to Water boundaries
east, exert a tremendous influence on the  Most of Spain's boundaries are water: the
continental climate by creating natural Mediterranean Sea along the east from the
barriers against banks of moist air from the French border down to Gibraltar and the
Atlantic Ocean, which would otherwise Strait of Gibraltar, which can be divided into
temper inland temperatures. the Balearic Sea along the northern stretch,
 Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean, and the Alboran Sea in the southern sector,
Mediterranean Sea 0 m (0 ft) (Sea level) and the Atlantic Ocean on the northwest
 Highest point : Teide (Canary Islands) and southwest (in the south as the Golfo de
3,718 m (12,198 ft) Mulhacén (Iberian Cádiz or Gulf of Cádiz and in the north as
Peninsula) 3,477 m (11,407 ft) the Mar Cantábrico or Bay of Biscay).
 Longest river: Tagus  The Spanish autonomous cities of Ceuta
and Melilla are Spanish enclaves lying in
 Largest lake: Lago de Sanabria
mainland Africa in territory claimed by
 Exclusive economic zone: 1,039,233 km2
Morocco, are located on the coast of the
(401,250 sq mi)
Alboran Sea, with Ceuta at the very mouth
 The Spanish mainland is bordered to the of the Strait of Gibraltar, and Melillan closer
south and east almost entirely by the to the border with Algeria.
Mediterranean Sea (except for the small
 The Canary Islands, geographically and
 Largest lake Lago de Sanabria Exclusive geologically part of the African continent,
economic zone 1,039,233 km2 are washed by the Atlantic Ocean.
(401,250 sq mi)
 Spain also shares land boundaries with
 Map of Spain and Portugal, Corrected and France and Andorra along the Pyrenees in
Augmented from the Map Published by D. the northeast, with Portugal on the west,
Tomas Lopez. 1810. with the small British colonial Territory of
 British territory of Gibraltar); to the north by Gibraltar near the southernmost tip, and
France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and with Morocco in its autonomous cities of
to the west by the Atlantic Ocean and Ceuta and Melilla, and certain other small
Portugal. but uninhabited enclaves, mostly capes and
small isles.
Teide, the highest mountain in Spain (Tenerife,  The affiliation of Gibraltar has continued to
Canary Islands) be a contentious issue between Spain and
 Teide Peak, Spanish Pico del Teide, Britain, where as the sovereignty of Spain's
volcanic peak at the center of the island of enclaves, or plazas de soberanía, on the
Tenerife, in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Mediterranean coast of Morocco is disputed
provincia (province) of the Canary Islands by Morocco.
comunidad autónoma (autonomous
community), Spain.
 At 12,198 feet (3,718 metres), it is the
highest point on Spanish soil.
 Teide on the Canary Island Tenerife is the
highest mountain in Spain, and the third
tallest mountain in the world, if we count
from its base. It is 7500 meters down to the
seafloor. 

External boundaries and landform regions

 Spain also has a small exclave inside

France called Llívia, which is a mountain
village in the historical comarca of La
Cerdanya, forming part of the historical
territories of Catalonia.

Peninsular Region
 The majority of Spain's peninsular region
consists of the Meseta Central, a highland
plateau rimmed and dissected by mountain
ranges. Other landforms include narrow
coastal plains and some lowland river
valleys, the most prominent of which is the
Andalusian Plain in the southwest.
 The country can be divided into ten natural
regions or subregions: the dominant Meseta
Central, the Cantabrian Mountains
(Cordillera Cantabrica) and the northwest
region, the Ibérico region, the Pyrenees, the
Penibético region in the southeast, the
Andalusian Plain, the Ebro Basin, the
coastal plains, the Balearic Islands, and the
Canary Islands.
 These are commonly grouped into four
types: the Meseta Central and associated
mountains, other mountainous regions,
lowland regions, and islands.
The Inner Plateau and associated mountains
 The Meseta Central ("Inner Plateau") is a
vast plateau in the heart of peninsular
Spain, which has elevations that range from
610 to 760 m.
 Rimmed by mountains, the Meseta Central
slopes gently to the west and to the series
of rivers that form some of the border with
Portugal.
 The Sistema Central, described as the
"dorsal spine" of the Meseta Central, divides
the Meseta into northern and southern
subregions, the former higher in elevation
and smaller in area than the latter.
 The Sistema Central rims the capital city of
Madrid with peaks that rise to over 2,400 m
within the Madrid region. Southwest of
Madrid, the Sistema Central shows its
highest peak, Pico Almanzor, of 2,592 m.
 The mountains of the Sistema Central,
which continue westward into Portugal,
display some glacial features; the highest of
the peaks are snow-capped for most of the
year. Despite their height, however, the
mountain system does not create a major
barrier between the northern and the
southern portions of the Meseta Central
because several passes permit road and
railroad transportation to the northwest and
the northeast.
 The southern portion of the Meseta
(Spanish: Submeseta Sur) is further divided
by twin mountain ranges, the Montes de
Toledo running to the east with the Sierra de
Guadalupe, to the west.
 Their peaks do not rise much higher than
1,500 m. With many easy passes, including
those that connect the Meseta with the
Andalusian Plain, the Montes de Toledo do
not present an obstacle to transportation
and communication. This chain of lower
mountain ranges is separated from the
Sistema Central to the north by the longest
river in the Iberian Peninsula: the Tagus
River.
The Picos de Europa in Northern Spain
 The mountain regions that rim the Meseta
Central and are associated with it are the
Sierra Morena, the Cordillera Cantábrica,
and the Sistema Ibérico.
 Forming the southern edge of the Meseta
Central, the Sierra Morena merges in the
east with the southern extension of the
Sistema Iberico and reaches westward
along the northern edge of the Rio
Guadalquivir valley to join the mountains in
southern Portugal.
 The Picos de Europa in Northern Spain
massif of the Sierra Morena extends
northward to the Río Guadiana, which
separates it from the Sistema Central.
Despite their relatively low elevations,
seldom surpassing 1,300 m, the mountains
of the Sierra Morena are rugged at their
southern edge.
The Cordillera Cantábrica
 this range are often cut by deep, narrow
gorges. a limestone formation, runs parallel
to, and close to, the northern coast near the
Bay of Biscay.
 Its highest points are the Picos de Europa,
surpassing 2,600 m.
 The Cordillera Cantábrica extends 182 km
and abruptly drops 1,500 m some 30 km
from the coast. To the west lie the hills of
the northwest region and to the east the
Basque mountains that link them to the
Pyrenees.
 The Sistema Ibérico extends from the
Cordillera Cantábrica southeastward and,
close to the Mediterranean, spreads out
from the Río Ebro to the Río Júcar.
 The barren, rugged slopes of this mountain
range cover an area of close to 21,000
square kilometers. The mountains exceed
2,000 m in their northern region and reach a
maximum height of over 2,300 m east of the
headwaters of the Rio Duero. The extremely
steep mountain slopes in.
Lowland regions
 The major lowland regions are the
Andalusian Plain in the southwest, the Ebro
Basin in the northeast, and the coastal
plains.
 The Andalusian Plain is essentially a wide
river valley through which the Río
Guadalquivir flows. The river broadens out
along its course, reaching its widest point at
the Golfo de Cadiz.
 The Andalusian Plain is bounded on the
north by the Sierra Morena and on the south
by the Sistema Penibético; it narrows to an
apex in the east where these two mountain
chains meet.
 The Ebro Basin is formed by the Río Ebro
valley, contained by mountains on three
 sides—the Sistema Ibérico to the south and o Santander - Torrelavega 391,000
west, the Pyrenees to the north and east, o Córdoba 324,000
and their coastal extensions paralleling the o Pamplona-Iruña 309,631
shore to the east. Minor low-lying river
valleys close to the Portuguese border are  Apart from these main types, other subtypes
located on the Tagus and the Río Guadiana. can be found, like the desertic climate in
 The Coastal Plains regions are narrow parts of southeastern Spain, like in coastal
strips between the coastal mountains and Almería.
the seas. They are broadest along the Golfo  Humid continental,alpine and tundra
de Cádiz, where the coastal plain adjoins climates in the Pyrenees and Sierra
the Andalusian Plain, and along the Nevada, and a typical subtropical climate in
southern and central eastern coasts. The the Canary Islands, varying from humid
narrowest coastal plain runs along the Bay subtropical climates to desertic climates in
of Biscay, where the Cordillera Cantábrica most of the islands, and a tropical hot semi-
ends close to shore. arid climate in coastal parts, such as
Tenerife or Gran Canaria.
The Islands Largest cities by population
 The remaining regions of Spain are the ●Madrid 3,300,000
Balearic and the Canary Islands, the former ●Barcelona 1,582,000
located in the Mediterranean Sea Teide, the ●Valencia-València 798,000
highest mountain in Spain (Tenerife, Canary ●Sevilla 710,000
Islands) and the latter in the Atlantic Ocean. ●Zaragoza 626,081
 The Balearic Islands, encompassing a total ●Málaga 547,000
area of 5,000 square kilometers, lie 80 ● Murcia 447,000
kilometers off Spain's central eastern coast. ● Las Palmas 378,000
The mountains that rise up above the ● Palma 367,000
Mediterranean Sea to form these islands ● Bilbao-Bilbo 354,000
are an extension of the Sistema Penibetico.
The archipelago's highest points, which Spain’s Cities and Main Towns
reach 1,400 meters, are in northwestern ● Valladolid 321,000
Mallorca, close to the coast. The central ● Alicante-Alacant 306,000
portion of Majorca is a plain, bounded on ● Vigo 293,000
the east and the southeast by broken hills. ● Gijón-Xixón 271,000
 The Canary Islands, ninety kilometers off ● Hospitalet de Llobregat-L'Hospitalet de
the west coast of Africa, are of volcanic ● Llobregat 246,000
origin. The large central islands, Tenerife ● A Coruña-La Coruña 244,000
and Gran Canaria, have the highest peaks. ● Granada 238,000
Pico de Las Nieves, on Gran Canaria, rises ● Vitoria-Gasteiz 223,000
to 1,949 meters, and the Teide, on Tenerife, ● Santa Cruz de Tenerife 220,000
to 3,718 meters. Teide, a dormant volcano, ● Badalona 214,000
is the highest peak of Spain and the third ● Oviedo-Uviéu 208,000
largest volcano in the world from its base. ● Elche-Elx 207,000
● Móstoles 202,000
Islands ● Terrassa-Tarrasa 200,000
 Islander population: ● Pamplona-Iruña 199,000
o Mallorca 846,210 ● Córdoba 326,000
o Tenerife 886,033
o Gran Canaria 829,597 Biggest Metropolitan Areas
o Lanzarote 132,366
o Ibiza 113,908 - The largest metropolitan areas, based on 2007
o Fuerteventura 94,386 population, were:
o Menorca 86,697 1. Madrid 5,603,000
2. Barcelona 4,667,000
o La Palma 85,933
3. Valencia 1,671,000 4.
La Gomera 22,259 4. Sevilla 1,294,000 5.
o El Hierro 10,558 5. Bilbao 951,000
o Formentera 7,957 Main metropolitan areas in Spain
o Arousa 4,889 6. Málaga 898,000
o La Graciosa 658 7. Asturias (Gijón-Oviedo) 857,000
o Tabarca 105 8. Alicante-Elche 749,000
o Ons 61 9. Zaragoza 732,000
o Granada 473,000 10. Vigo 662,412
o San Sebastián 402,000 11. Las Palmas 617,000
o Tarragona 406,000 12. Bahía de Cádiz (Cádiz-Jerez de la
o A Coruña 403,000 Frontera) 615,000
o Valladolid 400,000 13. Santa Cruz de Tenerife 574,000
 14. Murcia 563,000
15. Palma de Mallorca 474,000

Resources and land use

 Natural resources of Spain. Metals are in
blue: Fe — iron ore, Cu — copper, Sn — tin,
Hg — mercury, W — tungsten, U —
uranium, PM for polymetals (Pb, Zn and
others), PY for pyrite.
 Fossil fuels are in red: C — coal, L —
lignite, O — oil, G — natural gas, OS — oil
shale.
 In yellow: K — potash, P — phosphorite.
 The key natural resources of Spain
include iron ore, coal, copper, lignite,
lead, uranium, tungsten,zinc, magnesite,
fluorspar, mercury, pyrites, gypsum, kaolin,
potash, sepiolite, hydropower, and arable
land

Land use:
●Arable land: 27.18%
●Permanent crops: 9.85%
●Other: 62.97%

 Irrigated land: 38,000 km2 (2003)

 Total renewable water resources: 111.1
cubic metres (2005)
 Total renewable water resources: 111.1
cubic metres (2005)