NATURE RESERVES

Governments create nature reserves to protect flora and fauna.
We call these places National or Regional Parks.
An example is Cañadas del Teide in the Canary Islands.
Spain has many nature reserves.

FLORA AND FAUNA

Flora is all the vegetation and fauna is all the animal life in a specific area.
Plant and animal life varies according to the climate.
In the Subtropical climate of the canary Islands, there are endemic plants such as tabaiba and dragon trees.
In the Mediterranean climate of lowlandcatalonia, you can find holm oak and pine trees.
On the higher land, there are decidious forests of ash and oak.
The fauna of the Oceanic climate of northern Spain includes squirrels, wolves and foxes, as well as fish.
In the Mountain climates there are deer, wild boar and rabbits.
Typical trees are pine trees and holly.

CLIMATES IN SPAIN

Spain has four different types of climate:

• The Oceanic climate. This is the mild climate on the Cantabrian and Galician coasts. Rainfall is abundant all year.
• The Mediterranean climate. This is the climate of most of Spain. In inland Spain, summers are hot and winters are cold. Rainfall is irregular. Near the sea, summers are hot and winters are mild. Rainfall is light.
• The Mountain climate. This is the climate of the elevated areas. Summers are mild and winters are cold. Rainfall is irregular.
• The Subtropical climate. This is the climate of the Canary Islands. It is hot all year round. It only rains a few months of the year.

THE EARTH'S CLIMATE

The distance of an area fron the Equator determines how much heat it receives from the Sun.
The Earth has three climatic zones:

• The tropical zones. They are near the Equator. It is very hot all year round.
• The temperate zones. These are in both hemispheres. The summers are warm and the winters are cool. In some regions, it is rainy all year round. In other regions, it is dry and sunny in the summer.
• The polar zones. It is very cold all year round.

CLIMATE

Weather refers to temperature, wind and precipitation at a particular time and place.
Climate is the typical weather pattern in one area over a long time.

THE WATERSHEDS OF SPAIN

Watersheds are the dividing lines of mountain ranges.
They are areas of land which descend from high ridges.
Rivers on the same watershed flow into the same sea.
Spain has three main watersheds:

• The Cantabrian watershed has short, fast-flowing rivers. Their flow is abundant and regular: the Nervion, the Saja, the Navia and the Nalon.
• The Mediterranean watershed occupies about one third of Spain. The rivers are short, with the exception of the Ebro. Their flow is irregular: the Ebro, the Jucar and the Segura.
• The Atlantic watershed occupies over half of Spain. The flow of the rivers is abundant and regular: the Miño, the Duero, the Tagus, the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir. The Tagus is the longest river in Spain.

RIVERS (IN SPAIN)

Rivers are bodies of moving water.
They start in the mountains and flow into the sea, a lake or another river.
A tributary is a river that flows into a larger river.
The volume of water is called the flow.
The principal rivers os Spain are the Tagus, the Ebro, the Duero, the Miño, the Guadalquivir, the Guadiana, the Segura and the Jucar.

SPANISH COASTS

There are three different coastal areas:

• The Cantabrian coast has rocky cliffs, estuaries and gulfs.
• The Atlantic coast is very varied. In the northwest, it is high and rocky with many estuaries. In the south, the coast is low and sandy. In the Canary Islands varies considerably: Tenerife has rocky cliffs, while Gran Canaria has long, sandy beaches.
• The Mediterranean coast is low and sandy, with long beaches. In the Balearic Islands, high coasts alternate with long, sandy beaches.

RIVER BASINS IN SPAIN

The Iberian Peninsula has narrow coastal plains and two large, low-lying plains called river basins.

• The Ebro river basin is in the north.
• The Guadalquivir river basin is in the south.

MOUNTAINS (IN SPAIN)

• The Pyrenees is a mountain chain to the north of the Inner Plateau. It provides a natural border between Spain and France.
• The Baetic Chain is a mountain chain to the south of the Inner Plateau.

The highest mountains on the Iberian Peninsula are Mulhacen (3,478m) in the Baetic Chain and Aneto (3,404m) in the Pyrenees.
The highest mountain peak in Spain is Mount Teide (3,718m) on the island of Tenerife.

LANDSCAPES IN SPAIN

The Iberian Peninsula has many different landscapes.
Central Spain is dominated by a large plateau, called the Meseta Central or the Inner Plateau.
This is divided into two parts by the Central Mountain Chain.

REMEMBER

LANDSCAPES
Landscapes can be coastal or inland.
Inland landscapes consist of mountains and plains.
Mountains are areas of high land with steep slopes.
Plains are large areas of flat land.
Coastal landscapes are near the sea.
There are beaches and cliffs on the coast.

Clicking on the links you can remember what we studied last year:
Inland landscapes,  mountain landscapes,  flatland, features of landscapes, characteristics of coastal landscapes, costal features and people and coastal landscapes.

RIVERS
Rivers are large, flowing bodies of water.
The course of a river starts at its source in the mountains and flows into the sea at its mouth.

Clicking on the links you can remember what we studied last year:
What is a river and the course of a river.