SPAIN not important ; the most remarkable is that of Albufera, S. of Valencia. Spain is eminently a region of mountain ridges and broad eleva- ted plateaus. From near the Mediterranean to the Atlantic the whole peninsula is traversed by successive mountain belts, including be- tween them high lands watered by numerous small streams. As many as five distinct belts are traced across the peninsula, the most prom- inent of which, ranging along the northern border, has been described under the heads CANTABRIAN MOUNTAINS and PYRENEES. Each belt is marked by bold precipitous fronts facing the south and gentler slopes toward the north. The second belt, the Sierra de Guadarrama (with its continuations the Sierras de Gredos and de Gata), divides Leon and Old Castile from Estremadura and New Castile, and the waters of the Douro from those of the Tagus. Some of its peaks, as the Puerto del Pico in the province of Avila, and Pefialara on the border of Segovia and Madrid, rise to a height of about 8,000 ft. Toward the east, on the borders of Aragon, this belt is broken up into various irregular ranges which, under the name of the Iberian chain, including in this designa- tion the spur from the Cantabrians before re- ferred to, extend in a S. E. direction and spread over the E. coast. The third range, called the mountains of Toledo, separate the waters of the Tagus from those of the Guadiana. This range is less marked than the others. The next is the Sierra Morena, along the southern slopes of which flow the branches of the Guadalqui- vir. Under various names this important belt is traced from the province of La Mancha on the east to the S. W. extremity of Portugal at Cape St. Vincent. The name Morena, brown or dark-colored, is said to be given to the mountains from the dingy color of the forests of kermes oak along the southern edge. The southern coast range, of which the Sierra Nevada forms a part, and which is spoken of collectively by that name, runs close to the Mediterranean, through southern Murcia and Andalusia, from Cape Palos to Cadiz by one branch, and to the rock of Gibraltar by an- other. It contains the Cerro de Mulhacen, the highest point of the peninsula, and of Eu- rope except in the Alps and the Caucasus, being 11,654 ft. high, and the peak of Veleta, 11,876 ft. Besides these there are numerous minor ranges, which may be regarded as off- shoots or continuations of the principal chains. The geological formations of Spain range with the mountains E. and W. across the pen- insula, and consist in the mountains them- selves of metamorphic granites and crystalline schists, and on their tlniiks arc represented the Silurian, Devonian, and sometimes the carbon- iferous formations. In Asturias the last named are met with in highly tilted strata. The old- er palaeozoic rocks are frequently covered by groups of the tertiary, some of the most recent <>t hioh, as along the southern slopes of the Guadarrama, lie inclined from the uplifting of the mountains, and in Leon along the Canta- brian range they even stand in a vertical posi- tion; but back from the mountains over the great plains of Castile the same strata lie hori- zontally. The uplifting of the Sierra Morena appears to have been previous to the deposi- tion of the miocene, calcareous beds of which, filled with fresh-water shells, are seen on both sides of the mountains lying horizontally upon highly inclined Silurian slates. The Iberian chain is in great part made up of the newer secondary formations. Moncayo on the west- ern borders of Aragon, the highest mountain of this group, is referred to the Jura, and many other mountains in the eastern provinces more than 5,000 ft. high are composed of Jurassic or cretaceous rocks. These formations extend around on the S. coast, and the rock of Gibral- tar is Jurassic limestone. The trias also is traced from the Pyrenees to Andalusia, near the Mediterranean, in beds of conglomerates, sand- stones, limestones, clays, marl, gypsum, and salt. The mineral productions of Spain are vari- ous and rich, and its mines of lead, mercury, tin, iron, silver, copper, salt, &c., have been worked from the remotest times. Iron ores are very generally diffused, but the production of iron is comparatively small. Linares, in the province of Jaen, and the Sierra de Gador, a spur of the Nevada, possess rich mines of lead. The little copper produced in Spain is chiefly from the mines of Linares and that of Rio Tinto N. W. of Seville, all in Andalusia. Tin ores are found only in Galicia, and are worked to a very moderate extent. Lead and copper are also found here, and in ancient times silver and gold were produced in Galicia. Antimo- ny was formerly extracted from the mines of La Mancha. Near Cardona in Catalonia are famous mines of rock salt associated with beds of gypsum in the trias formation. Silver is now obtained only from the mines of Guadal- canal, in the province of Seville. The quick- silver mines of Almaden, in Ciudad Real, are the richest in Europe. Asturias and Aragon have important coal mines. The climate of Spain is divided into three greatly differing zones. The northern zone, which extends to the Ebro and the Minho, comprises Galicia, Asturias, the Basque provinces, Navarre, Ca- talonia and the northern part of Old Castile, and Aragon. The mountains which cover this zone, the almost perpetual snows of the Pyre- nees, together with the N. and N. E. winds, lower the temperature, increase the number and supply of the waters, and promote vegeta- tion. Agriculture is therefore the principal occupation, especially of the Basques and Cata-
lonians. The winters in this zone are general-
j ly cold, and the springs moist ; but the climate is on the whole temperate. The middle zone, which embraces northern Valencia, New Cas- tile, southern Old Castile, southern Aragon, Leon, and Estremadura, is composed of vast and elevated plateaus, the uniform and monot- onous surface of which is swept by the winds
