UNIT 1 SOCIAL SCIENCE: THE RELIEF OF SPAIN

Where is Spain?

Spain consists of most of the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands and the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla on the North of Africa.

Spanish borders:

• North: Cantabrian Sea, France and Andorra.
• South:  Mediterranean sea, Atlantic Ocean and Morocco. 
• East:  Mediterranean Sea.
• West: Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.

The landforms of Spain

The Inner Plateau is an extensive plain with an average altitude of 600 meters. We can find three different groups of mountains:

• In the inner plateau: Central Mountain Chain and Mountains of Toledo.
• Surrounding the Inner Plateau: the Mountains of Leon, the Cantabrian Range, the Iberian Mountain and Sierra Morena.
• Beyond the Inner Plateau: Galician Massif, the Basque Mountains, the Pyrenees, the Catalan Coastal Chain and Betic Mountain Chain.

There are two large river basins beyond the Inner Plateau: the Ebro river basin and the Guadalquivir river basin.

Spain has two archipelagos:

• The Balearic Islands lie to the east of the Iberian Peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Canary Islands lie to the west of Agrica in the Atlantic Ocean.

Spain has an extensive coastline. There are three different coasts:

• The Cantabrian coast, which is high and rocky with few beaches.
• The Atlantic coast, which is high and rocky in Galicia, low and sandy in Andalusia, and has may cliffs in the Canary Islands.
• The Mediterranean coast, which has extensive beaches that alternate with rocky areas. This is the longest coast in Spain.

The rivers of Spain:

Spain has three watershed:

• The Atlantic watershed: it is divided in three parts:
• The rivers of Galicia: these are short rivers with abundant flow.
• The rivers of the Inner Plateau: these are long rivers but have an irregular flow.
• The rivers of Andalusia: all of them are shorts with low and irregular flow, except for the Guadalquivir.
• The Mediterranean watershed: except for the Ebro, all rivers are short and carry little water because the flow through areas with low rainfall.
• The Cantabrian watershed: these rivers are short and have regular and abundant flow.