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Geography
The country of Spain is located at the Iberian Peninsula, of which
it occupies approximately 80% (the remaining 20% are occupied
by Portugal), in the southwest of Europe. In the North Spain
borders on France and Andorra, with the Pyrenees as a natural frontier.
Additionally the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza)in
the Mediterranean Sea, Canary Islands in Atlantic Ocean close to
the Moroccian coast, and Ceuta and Melilla, located in northern
Africa, are Spanish territory. Spain is the 3rd country of Europe
in extension and the 5th in population.
There are five big mountain ranges crossing the country, and about
50% of it are located at an elevated plain. Landscapes are extremely
varied, some almost desert-like, others green and fertile, and of
course there are the long coasts, in the east along Mediterranean
Sea from Pyrenees to Gibraltar, and in the west the major part (of
the Iberian peninsula's western coast is occupied by Portugal)
along the Atlantic Ocean and Cantabrian Sea.
Climate
The Country of Spain experiences three climatic types that are continental,
maritime, and Mediterranean.
The locally generated continental climate covers the majority of
peninsular Spain, influencing the Meseta Central, the adjoining
mountains to the east and the south, and the Ebro Basin.
Continental climate is characterized by wide diurnal and seasonal
variations in temperature and by low, irregular rainfall with high
rates of evaporation that leave the land arid.
Annual rainfall generally is thirty to sixty-four centimeters; most
of the Meseta region receives about fifty centimeters.
The northern Meseta, the Sistema Central, and the Ebro Basin have
two rainy seasons, one in spring (April-June) and the other in autumn
(October to November ), with late spring being the wettest time
of the year.
In the southern Meseta, the wet seasons are spring and autumn, but
the spring one is earlier in (March), and autumn is the wetter season
of the year. Even during the wet seasons, rain is irregular and
unreliable.
Continental winters are cold, with strong winds and high humidity,
despite the low precipitation. Except for mountain areas, the northern
foothills of the Sistema Iberico are the coldest areas, and frost
is common.
Summers are warm and cloudless, producing an average daytime temperatures
that reaches 21° C in the northern Meseta and 24 to 27° C in the
southern Meseta; nighttime temperatures range from 7 to 10 C.
The Ebro Basin, at a lower altitude, is extremely hot during the
summer, and temperatures can exceed 43 C. Summer humidities are
low in the Meseta Central and in the Ebro Basin, except right along
the shores of in the Rio Ebro where humidity is high.
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