Spain
covers a total of 504,782 square
kilometers (including 5240 sq
kms of water) and has 4964 kilometers
of coastline. Its highest point
is the Pico de Teide in Tenerife
on the Canary Islands at 3718m,
and on the mainland is the Mulhacén
(3478m) in the Sierra Nevada in
Andalucia. Spain is the highest
European country after Switzerland.
It is extremely diverse, ranging
from the near-deserts of Almeria
to the green countryside of the
north and the white sandy beaches
of the Mediterranean.
Spain
is divided into 19 autonomous
communities (see map), 15 on
the mainland, the Balearic and
Canary Islands, and two little-known
ones bordering Morocco (Ceuta
and Melilla).
In
addition to the national capital
of Madrid, each autonomous community
has a capital (e.g. Barcelona
for Catalunya), and within each
autonomous community there may
be more than one province (e.g.
Comunidad Valenciana consists
of 3 provinces - Valencia, Alicante
and Castellón) that also
has a capital and which may
be different to the community
capital. Confused? Have a look
at the map below:
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