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GEOGRAPHY OF SPAIN, FAST FACTS, The interior of Spain is a high, dry…
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FAST FACTS
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OFFICIAL LANGUAGES: Spanish, Basque, Catalan and Galician
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AREA: 195,363 square miles (505,988 square kilometers)
MAIN MOUNTAIN POINTS: Pyrenees, Sierra de Guadarrama, Sierra de Gredos, Sierra Nevada
MAIN RIVERS: Guadalquivir, Ebro, Duero, Miño, Tajo and Guadiana
The interior of Spain is a high, dry plateau surrounded and crisscrossed by mountain ranges. Rivers run to the coasts, creating good farmland. Still, the interior of the country gets very hot in summer and very cold and dry in the winter. Droughts are common.
Settlers have migrated to Spain from Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean . The Phoenicians, who came in the 8th century B.C., called the peninsula "Span," or hidden land. By the first century B.C. the Romans had conquered Spain.
Spain occupies most [about 28 % ]of the Iberian Peninsula, stretching south from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain from Africa. To the east lies the Mediterranean Sea, including Spain's Balearic Islands. Spain also rules two cities in North Africa and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.
Spaniards are known for their love of life and for eating and drinking with family and friends. Traditional appetizers like tapas or pintxos, the Basque country equivalent, are popular. Regional dances and music are almost as important as soccer and religious festivals.
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Most of Spain's national territory is located on the Iberian Peninsula (which it shares with Portugal and Andorra) situated in the southwest corner of Europe. However the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, a few smaller islands and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa are also territories of Spain.
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.
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