SPAIN (Span. a kingdom of Europe. occupying the larger portion of the great peninsula Wide]] forms the s.w. corner of the European continent, reaching further s. than any other European country, and further w. than any except Portugal. It is bounded on the rt. by the bay of Biscay and by France, from which it is separated by the mountain ridge of the Pyrenees; on the c and s. by the Mediterranean Atlantic; and on the w. by the Atlantic :Ind Portugal. Greatest length, from Filen terrabia on the n. to Tarifa on the a. 560 m.: greatest breadth, from cape Finisterrt (Land's End)• the extreme point on the w.. to cape Creuze. the extreme point on the e., about 650 miles; average breadth about 380 miles, Area, including the Balearic (q.v.' and Canary isles, 196.031 sq.m.: pop. '70, 16,835.506. The country, including the Balearic and Canary isles. was divided in 1834 into 49 modern provinces. though that former division, into 14 kingdoms, states, or provinces, is still sometimes used. The following is a table of the ancient states, and of the modern provinces into which they have been divided, with their areas and populations, according to the most recently published estimates—those of 1870: • entire perimeter of the country is 2,080 English m., and the coast line, exclusive of windings, is 1317 m. long. of which 712 m. are formed by the Mediter ranean, and 605 m. by the Atlantic. The n. coast, from Fuenterrabia w. to cape Orte gal, is unbroken by any considerable indehtation. A wall of rocks, varying in height from 30 to 300 ft., runs along this shore; but the water, which co4ainr c•yisiderable depth close to the beach, is not interrupted to any unusual extent by isle.ude of rocks.
The n.w. coast, from cape Ortegal s. to the mouth of the river Minho—which sepa rates the Spanish province of Galicia from Portueal—though rock-bound, is less ele vated, and is much more broken than the shores washed by the bay of Biscay; and the indentations, the chief of which are Arosa and Vigo bays, form secure and spa cious harbors. From the mouth of the Guadiana, on the s., to the strait of Gibraltar, the coast-line, though well-defined, is low, sandy, and occasionally swampy. From Gibraltar to cape Palos the shores, which are backed in part by the mountain-range of the Sierra Nevada, are rocky and high• (though fiats occur at intervals), are unbroken by indentations, and comprise only two harbors, those of Cartagena and Malaga, A low, and for the most part sandy, coast extends n. from cape Palos, rising into rocky
cliffs and bluffs in the vicinity of Denia, but extending in sandy fiats from Ocilla to the mouth of the Ebro. From the mouth of this river, n. to the frontier of France, the coast is alternately high and low, and its principal harbors are Barcelona and Roses.
Surface and Hydrography.—The compactness and the isolation of this country, and its position between two seas, the most famous, and commercially the most important in the world, are not more in its favor than the character of its surface, which is more diversified than that of any other country in Europe of equal extent. An immense pla teau, the loftiest in the continent, occupies the central regions of Spain, and is bounded on the n. and w. by mountainons tracts, and on the n.e. by the valley of the Ebro; on the e. by tracts of land frequently low, but in some parts traversed by hill-ranges; on the s. by the valley of the Guadalquivir, which intervenes between it and the Sierra Nevada (q.v.). This great plateau rises to the height of from 2,000 to 3,000 ft., and occupies upward of 90,000 sq.m., or about half of the entire area of the country. The whole of the Pyrenean peninsula is divided by Spanish geographers into 7 mountain ranges, of which the chief are: 1. The Cantabrian mountains (q.v.) and the Pyrenees (q.:7.), forming the most northern range; 2. The Sierra do Guadarrama, separating Leon and Old Castile from Estremadura and New Castile, and rising in the peak of Penalara 7,764 ft. above sea-level; 3. The Montes de Toledo, forming a part of the watershed between the Tagus and the Guadiana; 4. The Sierra Morena (q.v.), between the upper waters of the Guadiana and Guadalquivir; 5. The Sierra Nevada (q.v.), running paral lel,with the shores of the Mediterranean, through southern Murcia and Andalusia, and rising in its chief summits to loftier elevations than are found in any mountain-systein of Europe, except that of the Alps. The several mountain-ridges, or as they are called, Cordilleras of Spain, have a general e. and w. direction, and between them run, in the same direction, the nearly parallel valleys or basins of the great rivers of the country, the Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Gaudalquivir, each of which is described in its proper place.