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 Iberian Peninsula
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| This MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) image shows the Iberian Peninsula, consisting of Spain and Portugal. The Mediterranean Sea washes the shores of the east coast, and the Atlantic Ocean forms its western shoreline. The Iberian Peninsula is separated from the rest of Europe by the long, unbroken mountain chain of the Pyrenees seen in the image covered in snow. The name, Iberia, is derived from Iberus the latin word for one of the peninsula's majors rivers flowing into the Mediterranean Sea - the Ebro, in northeast Spain. Other rivers such as Douro, Minho, Tagus, and Guadiana rise in Spain and flow through Portugal to the Atlantic. The central plateau, Meseta Central with an average elevation of about 600 metres above sea level is divided into northern and southern sections by irregular mountain ranges, or sierras, of which the more prominent are the Guadarrama Mountains, the Gredos Mountains, and the Toledo Mountains. |
| Technical Information: | |
Satellite: Envisat
Instrument: MERIS
Acquistion: 06-Apr-2003
Orbit nr: 05745
Centre coordinates: lat. 37.69, lon. -2.63
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| Credit: European Space Agency. All rights reserved. |
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