Topography and Climate
Arnold Toynbee
Macro-history
Theory of Challenge and Response
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Iberian Peninsula (Iberia) (Greek Name)
Hispania (Spain; España) (Roman name)
Mediterranean Sea
Three Mediterranean Peninsulas (Iberia, Italy, Greece):  Iberia is largest of the three
Bay of Biscay
Pyrenees
Straits of Gibraltar (Bab al-Zakak)
Pillars of Hercules (Rock of Gibraltar; Gebel Musa)
“North Africa begins at the Pyrenees.”
Balearic Islands (Majorca, Minorca, Iviza)
Andorra
meseta (high plain that covers 2/5 of Spain)
Pic d’Aneto (highest mountain in the Pyrenees)
Mulhacén (Spain’s highest mountain; located in the Sierra Nevada in the south)
Major Rivers:
Ebro:  northeast; largest flowing into the Mediterranean
Tagus: largest river; located in central Spain; enters the Atlantic at Lisbon
Guadalquivir:  Spain’s picturesque southern river; flows by Sevilla, Cordoba, and near Cadiz
Spain’s traditional regions:  Asturias, Galicia, Leon, Navarre, Old Castile (Castilla Vieja), New Castile (Castilla Nueva), Aragon, Cataluña (Catalonia), Valencia, Murcia, Estremadura, Andalucia (Granada)
Battle of Covadonga (718)
Battle of Tours (732)
Oviedo (First capital of Christian Spain following the Islamic Conquest; today capital of Asturias)
Reconquista
Two leading cities:  Madrid and Barcelona
Philip II (1556-1598):  the maker of Madrid
Other major cities:  Sevilla, Cordoba, Valencia, Zaragosa, Bilbao
Smaller regional cities:  Toledo, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Avila, Segovia, Granada, Cadiz, Santander, Coruna