Peninsular Spain

Map of peninsular Spain

Peninsular Spain refers to that part of Spanish territory located within the Iberian peninsula,[1] thus excluding other parts of Spain: the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta, Melilla, and a number of islets and crags off the coast of Morocco known collectively as plazas de soberanía (places of sovereignty). In Spain it is mostly known simply as "the Peninsula". It has land frontiers with France and Andorra to the north; Portugal to the west; and the British territory of Gibraltar to the south.

Many inhabitants of peninsular Spain tend to conflate that region with Spain as a whole, disregarding the other territories mentioned above.[2]

Characteristics

Peninsular Spain is the largest part of the country in area - 492,175 km² [3] - and in population - 43,731,572. [4] It contains 15 of the autonomous communities of Spain.

Occupying the central part of Spain, it possesses much greater resources and better interior and exterior communications than other parts of the country. To redress this imbalance, Spanish residents outside the peninsula receive a State subsidy for transport to and from the peninsula.[5]

Municipalities with the highest population

  1. Madrid 3,207,247
  2. Barcelona 1,611,822
  3. Valencia 792,303
  4. Sevilla 700,169
  5. Zaragoza 682,004
  6. Málaga 568,479
  7. Murcia 438,246
  8. Bilbao 349,356
  9. Alicante 335,052
  10. Córdoba 328,704

References

  1. ↑ List of publications, Google
  2. ↑ VV.AA (2009), De las naciones a las redes (En: From nations to networks). Barcelona: El cobre. pp. 38. ISBN 978-84-96501-56-0.
  3. ↑ INE (National Statistical Institute) Annual Statistical Report 2006, Part 1: physical and environmental context
  4. ↑ INE, 1 January 2013
  5. ↑ El PP "garantiza" la subvención al transporte extrapeninsular pero tumba el blindaje de las ayudas, RTVE, 19 February 2013
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