Geographic notes for "The Labored Works of Man Overthrown"
These are the geographic notes for "The Labored Works of Man Overthrown."
See maps of the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.
Map Europe Political North
The Tattered Sea (Norwegian Sea) reaches between Tatterland (Norway) and the Land of Fire and Ice (Iceland). The North Sea (same) lies between the White Island and the Northmarch (the Kalmar Union including Denmark, Sweden/Finland, Norway). The Bog Sea (Baltic Sea) and the Belts (Danish Straits) lie between Scandinavia and the mainland. This protected waterway is the heart of Europe, and in this setting serves much the same purpose as the Mediterranean in historic Europe. The Bobtail Sea (Irish Sea) around Bobtail Island (the Isle of Man) separates the Green Island (Ireland) from the White Island (Great Britain). It is named for the short-tailed or tailless cats living there, as well as the custom of its people, the Bobtails, attaching short tails to their belts. The Minch (same) separates the Isles of the Horses (Hebrides) from the Highlands of Fogland (Scotland) on the White Island (Great Britain). The Narrow Sea (English Channel) separates the White Island (Great Britain) from Vinyard (France). The Black Sea (same) lies just north of the Burning Land (Turkey). The Strangle Sea (Caspian Sea) lies just east of the Burning Land (Turkey). Both are largely toxic, especially toward their southern ends.
Bog Sea (Baltic Sea) and the Belts (Danish Straits)
From Latin Balticus, from Latin Balthae (“dwellers near the Baltic sea”). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but possibilities are:
• From North Germanic *balta (“straight”), in reference to the narrow entranceway of the sea
• Related to Lithuanian baltas (“white”) and Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, bog, mud”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“white”)
• Related to Latin balteus (“belt”) (compare Proto-Germanic *baltijaz), referring to the Danish straits, "the Belts". This is suggested by Adam of Bremen, who in the 11th century first recorded the name (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam).
The Minch (Scottish Gaelic: An Cuan Sgitheanach, An Cuan Sgìth, Cuan na Hearadh, An Cuan Leòdhasach), also called North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as Skotlandsfjörð ("Scotland's fjord/firth") in Old Norse.[1]
Narrow Sea (English Channel)
Known colloquially to the English as the Narrow Sea, until the 18th century, the English Channel had no fixed name either in English or in French. It was never defined as a political border, and the names were more or less descriptive.
Bobtail Sea (Irish Sea) around Bobtail Island (the Isle of Man)
The Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin [ˈmanɪnʲ], also Ellan Vannin [ˈɛlʲan ˈvanɪnʲ]), also known as Mann (/mæn/), is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a lieutenant governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence.
Humans have lived on the island since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD, and the Manx language, a branch of the Goidelic languages, emerged. In 627, King Edwin of Northumbria conquered the Isle of Man along with most of Mercia. In the 9th century, Norsemen established the thalassocratic Kingdom of the Isles, which included the Isle of Man. Magnus III, King of Norway from 1093 to 1103, reigned as King of Mann and the Isles between 1099 and 1103.[4]
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Insurance and online gambling each generate 17% of the GNP, followed by information and communications technology and banking with 9% each.[8] Internationally, the Isle of Man is known for the TT motorcycle races,[9] and the Manx cat, a breed with short or no tails.[10] The Manx are a Celtic nation.[11]
Strangle Sea (Caspian Sea)
Hyrcania (/hərˈkeɪniə/) (Greek: Ὑρκανία Hyrkania,[1] Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 Varkâna,[2] Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 Gurgān, Akkadian: Urqananu)[2] is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea in modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan, bound in the south by the Alborz mountain range and the Kopet Dag in the east.[3]
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Hyrcania (Ὑρκανία) is the Greek name for the region, a borrowing from the Old Persian Verkâna as recorded in Darius the Great's Behistun Inscription (522 BC), as well as in other Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions. Verkā means "wolf" in Old Iranian, cf. Avestan vəhrkō, Gilaki and Mazandarani verk, Modern Persian gorg, and Sanskrit vŗka (वृक). Consequently, Hyrcania means "Wolf-land". The name was extended to the Caspian Sea and underlies the name of the city Sari (Zadracarta), the then-largest city and the capital of ancient Hyrcania.
Another archaic name, Dahistān (not to be confused with dehestan - a modern Iranian word for "district" or "county") is sometimes used interchangeably with Hyrcania. Dahistān refers, strictly speaking to the "place of the Dahae": an extinct people who lived immediately north of Hyrcania, as early as the 5th century BC.[4] Apart from the geographical proximity of the Dahae, their ethnonym may have etymological similarities to "Hyrcanians"; for example, religious historian David Gordon White, reiterating a point made by previous scholars, suggests that Dahae resembles the Proto-Indo-European *dhau "strangle", which was apparently also a euphemism for "wolf".[5]
Map Europe Mountains
The Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains) separate Westerland (Spain) from Vinyard (France) and the rest of Europe. The Midmount (Massif Central) inside Vinyard is a patch of quakeland surrounding fumeland. The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel) limit the northern edge of Vinyard (France). The Wood Mountains (Jura and Vosges Mountains) limit part of the western edge of Vinyard. The White Heights (Alps) are mostly quakelands, separating the rather better lands north from the fumelands of the southern coasts. They connect with part of the southeast edge of Vinyard. The Snowy Mountains (Carpathian Mountains) extend in a curve from the end of the White Heights (Alps) bending southward toward the Boiling Sea (Mediterranean Sea). The Big Nose Mountains (Karkonosze / Sudetes / Giant Mountains) in Lendfield (Poland-Lithuania) create a patch of quakeland in central Europe. The Keel (Kjolen Mountains) runs through the Tatterland (Norway) and spills over into other parts of Scandinavia. The Backbone (Pennine Hills) runs down the middle of the White Island (Great Britain).
Map Europe France Mountains
Map Europe British Isles Mountains
The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel)
Ardennes and Eifel are mountain ranges in Europe that form part of the same volcanic field and also of the Rhenish Massif. These are mountains and hills composed of slate and limestone, and of an average altitude of 400 to 500 meters, with several summits reaching the 700 meters.
These mountain ranges are situated in western Europe. Their western starting point roughly begins where the Meuse river crosses the French-Belgian border. They stretch in a northeastern direction, covering eastern Belgium (Wallonia), northern Luxembourg and western Germany as far as the Rhine river between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz, and are bordered by the Moselle river on the south.
The very eastern part of Belgium (Belgian Eifel) and also the north of Luxembourg (Oesling) form a transitional area between the Ardennes on the left (French speaking) and the Eifel on the right (German speaking).
Ardennes and Eifel are thinly populated, abundant with forests, wildlife, and rivers carving deep valleys.
Wood Mountains (Jura and Vosges Mountains)
The Jura Mountain range extends over 225 miles (360 km) in both France and Switzerland, stretching from the Rhône River to the Rhine. Much of the western sector is in France. The highest peaks are in the south around Geneva, with the Crêt de la Neige in Ain at 5,636 feet (1,718 meters) and Le Reculet at 5,633 feet (1,717 meters) in France.
The range is formed from fossil-bearing limestone. It was called Jura Limestone by the explorer, naturalist, and geographer Alexander von Humboldt and from this came the name Jurassic period, referring to rocks formed at the same time, 200 to 145 million years ago. Because of the limestone soil, the area is ideal for vineyards, and wine-tasting in the Jura area is popular with visitors.
The Jura covers most of Franche-Comté and further south into some of the Rhône-Alpes, ending in the Savoie. To the north, the Jura extends into southern Alsace. A large part is conserved by the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park.
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The gentle rounded Vosges mountains are divided into the High Vosges (where the rounded summits are called ballons, or balloons), the Middle Vosges and the Low Vosges. The mountains lie in the east of France, near the border with Germany in Lorraine. They run along the west side of the Rhine valley from Belfort to Saverne.
To the north, the red sandstone outcroppings were quarried for building materials through the centuries, producing the attractive cathedrals, castles, and churches of the region. Glacial lakes fill the area and forests cover the slopes while the Hautes Chaumes are rich pasturelands.
Jura
Origin and meaning of name Jura English Etymology : From French, from Latin *iuris, a Latinized form of Gaulish *iuris (“wooded mountain”), from Proto-Celtic *jor (“forest”).
The White Heights (the Alps)
alp (n.)
"high, snow-capped mountain," especially in Switzerland, 1590s, from Alps, from French Alpes, from Latin Alpes "the Alps," perhaps from altus "high," or albus "white" or from a Celtic word (according to Maurus Servius Honoratus the grammarian), or a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language. Alps, the central European mountain range, attested by that name in English from late 14c.
Snowy Mountains (Carpathian Mountains)
In modern times, the range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish and Slovak and Карпати (Karpaty) in Ukrainian, Карпати / Karpati in Serbian, Carpați [karˈpat͡sʲ] ( listen) in Romanian, Карпаты in Rusyn, Karpaten in German and Kárpátok in Hungarian.[15][16] Although the toponym was recorded already by Ptolemy in the second century of the Christian era, [17] the modern form of the name is a neologism in most languages.[15] For instance, Havasok ("Snowy Mountains") was its medieval Hungarian name; Russian chronicles referred to it as "Hungarian Mountains". [16][15] Later sources, such as Dimitrie Cantemir and the Italian chronicler Giovanandrea Gromo, referred to the range as "Transylvania's Mountains", while the 17th-century historian Constantin Cantacuzino translated the name of the mountains in an Italian-Romanian glossary to "Rumanian Mountains". [15]
Big Nose Mountains (Karkonosze / Sudetes / Giant Mountains) in Lendfield (Poland-Lithuania)
The Krkonoše, Karkonosze or Giant Mountains[2] (Czech: [ˈkr̩konoʃɛ] ( listen), Polish: [karkɔˈnɔʂɛ], German: Riesengebirge, Silesian German: Riesageberge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech-Polish border, which divides the historic regions of Bohemia and Silesia, runs along the main ridge. The highest peak, Sněžka (Polish: Śnieżka, German: Schneekoppe), is the Czech Republic's highest point with an elevation of 1,603 metres (5,259 ft).
The Keel (Kjolen Mountains)
Names in Scandinavia[edit]
Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skandinaviska fjällkedjan, Skanderna (encyclopedic and professional usage), Fjällen ("The Fells", common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ("The Keel"), and in Norwegian Den skandinaviske fjellkjede, Skandesfjellene, Kjølen ("The Keel") or Nordryggen ("The North Ridge", name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In South Norway there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such as Dovrefjell, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, and Rondane.[4][5][6][7]
The Backbone (Pennine Hills) on the White Island (Great Britain)
Often described as the "backbone of England",[2][3][4] the Pennine Hills form a more-or-less continuous range in most of Northern England. The range stretches northwards from the Peak District at the southern end, through the South Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border (some definitions include the Cheviot Hills).
Map Germany Earthquake Areas
Earthquakes in Germany are relatively weak but occur several times a year, some of them in coal mining areas where blasting sets them off. Following a 4.0 quake, attributed to mining and centered in Saarwellingen, around 1,000 demonstrators protested on 24 February 2008, demanding an end to mining work. Reportedly, the tremor knocked over chimneys and caused power outages.[1]
Most of the quakes occur in a seismically active zone associated with the Rhine Rift Valley that extends from Basel, Switzerland, into the Benelux countries, in particular in the "Cologne Bight". There are also earthquake zones on the northern edge of the Alps, around Lake Constance, in the Vogtland, around Gera and in the Leipzig plain.[2] [3]
Laacher See or Laach Lake (in English) is a crater lake or more exactly a caldera lake in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated close to the cities of Koblenz, Mayen (11 km), and Andernach (14 km). It fills a volcanic caldera in the Eifel mountain range, the only caldera in Central Europe. It is part of the area of the "east Eifel volcanic field".
Map France Physical
Vinyard (France); Ivory Towers (Paris)
Map France Paris Basin
The Great Basin (Paris Basin) is one of the most stable and hospitable places in Europe. Its largest city, the Ivory Towers (Paris), has buildings ranging 6-7 stories tall. The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel) include quakelands and a few fumelands that limit travel along the northern edge of Vinyard (France).
Paris, 200 Ma - today
Paris is located at the heart of the Paris Basin, a NW-SE trending oval feature that measures over 140.000 km2 and extends into the United Kingdom (Figure 1). The basin is positioned on top of a Palaeozoic crystalline basement. The lower lithologies are marine and continental sediments of Permian and Mesozoic age. A major subaerial, Palaeocene erosion event was followed by the deposition of Eocene limestones that is known now as ‘Parisian limestone’. The beige-white rocks are among the most famous building materials that is nowadays exported all over the world, but they used to be the main building material that characterizes the city of Paris. Of course, it is no coincidence that these rocks are of ‘Lutetian’ age, as Lutetia was the Latin name for Paris. The Lutetian is followed by the Bartonian stage, in which gypsum was deposited in the Paris basin, the second most important material that was mined in the Paris region. Oligocene, Miocene and Neogene successions consist of sands, marls and clays and cover all older sediments.
The familiar light-coloured, 6-7 stories high buildings, decorated with balconies and ornaments are Paris’ most famous selling point. Throughout the 20 districts all kinds of structures can be found that are made from these rocks; from regular houses to famous sights, such as the Notre Dame and the Louvre Museum. The rocks do not come from far. Scattered through the city, old quarries can be found above and below the ground (Figure 2). They were intensively mined from 2000 years ago until the 17th century to provide building material for the city of Paris.
Lutetian limestone (in French, calcaire lutécien, and formerly calcaire grossier) - also known as “Paris stone” - is a variety of limestone particular to the Paris, France, area. It has been a source of wealth as an economic and versatile building material since ancient Roman times (see Mines of Paris) and has contributed markedly to the unique visual appeal of the “City of Light”. (It has been hailed as “the warm, elusive, cream-grey stone of the French capital”.[1]) Its formation dates to the Eocene epoch's Lutetian age (between 47.8 and 41.2 Ma). The name "Lutetian" derives from Lutetia (French, Lutèce) which was the city's name in ancient times.
The Chaîne des Puys in the Massif Central of southern France is one of Europe's youngest volcanic fields. It consists of numerous cinder cones and maars roughly arranged on a N-S trending line. The last activity occurred only about 6000 years ago, which is why the volcanoes should be considered still active although there are no signs at present of any new activity to be expected in any near future.
France Volcanoes
The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel)
Ardennes and Eifel are mountain ranges in Europe that form part of the same volcanic field and also of the Rhenish Massif. These are mountains and hills composed of slate and limestone, and of an average altitude of 400 to 500 meters, with several summits reaching the 700 meters.
These mountain ranges are situated in western Europe. Their western starting point roughly begins where the Meuse river crosses the French-Belgian border. They stretch in a northeastern direction, covering eastern Belgium (Wallonia), northern Luxembourg and western Germany as far as the Rhine river between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz, and are bordered by the Moselle river on the south.
The very eastern part of Belgium (Belgian Eifel) and also the north of Luxembourg (Oesling) form a transitional area between the Ardennes on the left (French speaking) and the Eifel on the right (German speaking).
Ardennes and Eifel are thinly populated, abundant with forests, wildlife, and rivers carving deep valleys.
The White Heights (the Alps)
alp (n.)
"high, snow-capped mountain," especially in Switzerland, 1590s, from Alps, from French Alpes, from Latin Alpes "the Alps," perhaps from altus "high," or albus "white" or from a Celtic word (according to Maurus Servius Honoratus the grammarian), or a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language. Alps, the central European mountain range, attested by that name in English from late 14c.
Map Spain Physical
Westerland (Spain) is completely cut off from mainland Europe by the Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains), which have quakelands throughout the range and fumelands in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone to the east. Brave Harbor (La Coruña) is a major port on the northwest coast. Old Cove (Bilbao) is a port on the north central coast. The Peaceful Plateau (Inner Plateau) is relatively stable, with Calatrava showing the the only patch of quakeland and fumeland in the interior; its capital is Waterford (Madrid). Long Valley (the Ebro River Basin) is also fairly stable, but even more isolated as it only faces the Boiling Sea. The Rock of the Gate (Gibraltar) lies at the southern tip facing the Rock of the Water (Jebel Musa) in Seabridge (Morocco, Africa). The East Rift (Xarq al-Andalus) is the Muslim territory along the southeast coast. The Canary Islands are violently active and inhospitable.
Map Spain Minerals
Map Spain Hazards
This map shows the volcanic and seismic hotspots in Spain: the Canary Islands, Calatraba, Sureste, Columbretes, and Olot.
Spain: Natural Hazards in the Country
Author links open overlay panelM.-A.Torres-Vera
This article presents a review of all available data on natural hazards occurring in Spain. The description includes the conditions favoring the presence of natural hazards and the existing data on the most documented events. The hazards were selected according to their frequency of occurrence, and hurricanes and snow floods were left out of the discussion as they have occurred only once and cannot be considered a regular threat.
According to their origin, the hazards have been presented as two groups: hydrometeorological and geological. The hydrometeorological hazards described are fire, flood, landslide, and tornadoes. Seismic and volcanic risks are related to the tectonic regime of the Iberian Peninsula and the intense volcanic activity of the Canary Islands.
The included data show that there is a zoning in the recurrence of hazards in Spain, and the most frequently affected areas are the northern part of the peninsula that includes Galicia, Basque Country, Aragon, and Catalonia, where earthquakes, recent volcanic activity, floods, and fires occur regularly or have occurred in historic time. The southern zone (Andalucia) is also affected by earthquakes, floods, and fire, but additionally it is struck by tornadoes. The Canary Islands are included in a third hazard zone, where volcanic and seismic risk is high in addition to frequent floods and fires.
Fire, Flood, Landslide, Natural hazards, Seismic, Spain, Tornadoes, Volcanic
List of Volcanoes in Spain with Map
Geology of the Pyrenees
Neogene sediments have been preserved in the Pyrenees mainly in small grabens close to the Mediterranean (near Cerdagne). The grabens have also repeatedly been flooded by the Mediterranean, examples being the graben near Ampurdan and grabens in the Roussillon containing a Pliocene fauna. These extensional structures most likely owe their existence to renewed movements on Variscan fractures. The very young volcanic area near Olot probably has a similar cause.
Olot (Catalan pronunciation: [uˈlɔt]) is the capital city of the comarca of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipality is part of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park.
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Geography and climate[edit]
Olot is located on a plain surrounded by the mountain ranges of Valentí, Aiguanegra, the plateau of Batet, Marboleny and Sant Valentí de la Pinya. The plain is crossed by the Fluvià river and the Riudaura stream. There are four volcanoes in the city of Olot, called Montolivet, Montsacopa, Garrinada and Bisaroques.
The Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park (Catalan: Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa) is a natural park area covering a Holocene volcanic field (also known as the Olot volcanic field) in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The volcanos, of which there are about forty within the park, are no longer active, with the last eruption (Croscat) occurring about 11,000 years ago.[1] However, the region is still seismically active, and a large earthquake in 1428 caused damage to buildings and twenty deaths in Barcelona, 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the south.[2] More recent earthquakes in 1901 and 1902 caused shaking but little damage.[2]
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The Garrotxa field is a monogenetic volcanic field, with each volcano representing a single period of eruption. The field became active about 700,000 years ago,[4] and is the most recent expression of volcanic activity in northeastern Catalonia, which dates back 10 million years.
The Campo de Calatrava volcanic field is a volcanic field in Spain. The volcanic field is in the centre of the province of Ciudad Real, in a region known as Campo de Calatrava.
The volcanic field has an area of more than 5000 km2 and more than 300 individual structures and contains pyroclastic cones, lava domes and maars. The field erupted basaltic to foiditic lavas from the Pliocene to the Holocene in Columba volcano with phreatomagmatic activity, and fumaroles were observed in the 16th-18th centuries in the Sierra de Valenzuela territory.[1] Earlier activity has been subdivided in several phases. The first affecting mostly the centre of the field is K-Ar dated between 8.7 and 6.4 Ma. A second phase occurred in the Pleistocene 1.3 Ma and 0.7 Ma. The maars involve both hard-substrate maars formed in metasediments of the basement and soft-substrate maars in Pliocene unconsolidated sediments. Both types of maars are distributed in NE-SW and NW-SE directions following faults established during the Miocene.[2] During the lower Pliocene, the system underwent uplift and erosion. Some maars contain sediments including travertine possibly related to carbon dioxide emissions. Gas emissions, sometimes increased following earthquake activity, are common in the field and include hydrogen sulfide, CO2 and water.[3]
The Columbretes Islands (Valencian: Les Columbretes, IPA: [les kolumˈbɾetes] or Els Columbrets[a] (IPA: [els kolumˈbɾets]), are a group of small uninhabited islets of volcanic origin, in the Mediterranean Sea, 49 kilometres (30 miles) off Orpesa. Administratively they belong to Castelló de la Plana in the Valencian Country.
Map Iberian Climate Types
Map Iberian Precipitation
Westerland (Spain)
The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word Hispania evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis, meaning "city of the western world".
Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains)
chain of mountains between France and Spain, 1550s, from French Pyrénées, from Latin Pyrenæi montes, from Greek Pyrēnē, name of a daughter of Bebryx/Bebrycius who was beloved of Herakles; she is said to be buried in these mountains (or that the mountains are the tomb Herakles reared over her corpse).
The name is said to mean literally "fruit-stone," but Room says it might be Greek pyr "fire" + eneos "dumb, speechless," which perhaps translates or folk-etymologizes a Celtic goddess name. "In medieval times there was no overall name for the range and local people would have known only the names of individual mountains and valleys" [Adrian Room, "Place Names of the World," 2nd ed., 2006]. Related: Pyrenean.
Brave Harbor (La Coruña)
La Coruña ([la koˈɾuɲa]) or A Coruña (Galician: [ɐ koˈɾuɲɐ];[a] historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second most populated city and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country. The city is the provincial capital of the province of the same name, having also served as political capital of the Kingdom of Galicia[5][6] from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and as a regional administrative centre between 1833 and 1982, before being replaced by Santiago de Compostela.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Coru%C3%B1a
• From Scottish Gaelic cork orrunach (literally “harbor of the brave men”): Celtic settlers had been known to explore the coast;
Old Cove (Bilbao)
There is no consensus among historians about the origin of the name. Generally accepted accounts state that prior to the 12th century the independent rulers of the territory, named Lords of Zubialdea, were also known as Lords of Bilbao la Vieja ("Old Bilbao"). The symbols of their patrimony are the tower and church used in the shield of Bilbao to this day.[28] One possible origin was suggested by the engineer Evaristo de Churruca. He said that it was a Basque custom to name a place after its location. For Bilbao this would be the result of the union of the Basque words for river and cove: Bil-Ibaia-Bao.
Waterford (Madrid)
Etymology
There are three established theories regarding the origin of the toponym "Madrid" (all of them with problems when it comes to fully explain the phonetic evolution of the toponym along history), namely:[29]
• A Celtic origin (Madrid < * Magetoritum;[30] with the root "-ritu" meaning "ford").
• From the Arabic maǧrà (meaning "water stream").[30]
• A Mozarabic variant of the Latin matrix, matricis (also meaning "water stream").[30]
The Rock of the Gate (Gibraltar)
The Rock of Gibraltar, also known as the Jabel-al-Tariq (named after the Berber commander who conquered Spain), is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.[3] It is 426 m (1,398 ft) high. Most of the Rock's upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 300 Barbary macaques. These macaques, as well as a labyrinthine network of tunnels, attract many tourists each year.
The Rock of the Water (Jebel Musa) in Seabridge (Morocco, Africa)
Jebel Musa (Arabic: جبل موسى, Jabal Mūsā, in Berber languages: Adrar n Moussa; meaning Mount Moses) is a mountain in the northernmost part of Morocco, on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. It is part of the Rif mountain chain. The mountain is generally identified as the southern Pillar of Hercules, Abila Mons.
Musa (Arabic: مُوسَىٰ), corresponding to Moses (see also Musa in Islam), originally is a word in the Egyptian and Arabic language. There is no absolute definition for the name in Arabic; however, in the ancient Egyptian languages, the name is Musa translated as, "Newborn" and/or "saved by the water". Also sometimes spelled Mosa, Moosa, Mousa, or Moussa. The most common spelling is "Musa".
•Hebrew meaning: Drawn out of the water
•Arabic meaning: Drawn out of the water
Map of Europe 700AD
World History Maps Timeline
See maps of the Eastern Hemisphere and Western Hemisphere.
Map Europe Political North
The Tattered Sea (Norwegian Sea) reaches between Tatterland (Norway) and the Land of Fire and Ice (Iceland). The North Sea (same) lies between the White Island and the Northmarch (the Kalmar Union including Denmark, Sweden/Finland, Norway). The Bog Sea (Baltic Sea) and the Belts (Danish Straits) lie between Scandinavia and the mainland. This protected waterway is the heart of Europe, and in this setting serves much the same purpose as the Mediterranean in historic Europe. The Bobtail Sea (Irish Sea) around Bobtail Island (the Isle of Man) separates the Green Island (Ireland) from the White Island (Great Britain). It is named for the short-tailed or tailless cats living there, as well as the custom of its people, the Bobtails, attaching short tails to their belts. The Minch (same) separates the Isles of the Horses (Hebrides) from the Highlands of Fogland (Scotland) on the White Island (Great Britain). The Narrow Sea (English Channel) separates the White Island (Great Britain) from Vinyard (France). The Black Sea (same) lies just north of the Burning Land (Turkey). The Strangle Sea (Caspian Sea) lies just east of the Burning Land (Turkey). Both are largely toxic, especially toward their southern ends.
Bog Sea (Baltic Sea) and the Belts (Danish Straits)
From Latin Balticus, from Latin Balthae (“dwellers near the Baltic sea”). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but possibilities are:
• From North Germanic *balta (“straight”), in reference to the narrow entranceway of the sea
• Related to Lithuanian baltas (“white”) and Proto-Slavic *bolto (“swamp, bog, mud”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“white”)
• Related to Latin balteus (“belt”) (compare Proto-Germanic *baltijaz), referring to the Danish straits, "the Belts". This is suggested by Adam of Bremen, who in the 11th century first recorded the name (Balticus, eo quod in modum baltei longo tractu per Scithicas regiones tendatur usque in Greciam).
The Minch (Scottish Gaelic: An Cuan Sgitheanach, An Cuan Sgìth, Cuan na Hearadh, An Cuan Leòdhasach), also called North Minch, is a strait in north-west Scotland, separating the north-west Highlands and the northern Inner Hebrides from Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. It was known as Skotlandsfjörð ("Scotland's fjord/firth") in Old Norse.[1]
Narrow Sea (English Channel)
Known colloquially to the English as the Narrow Sea, until the 18th century, the English Channel had no fixed name either in English or in French. It was never defined as a political border, and the names were more or less descriptive.
Bobtail Sea (Irish Sea) around Bobtail Island (the Isle of Man)
The Isle of Man (Manx: Mannin [ˈmanɪnʲ], also Ellan Vannin [ˈɛlʲan ˈvanɪnʲ]), also known as Mann (/mæn/), is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a lieutenant governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the isle's military defence.
Humans have lived on the island since before 6500 BC. Gaelic cultural influence began in the 5th century AD, and the Manx language, a branch of the Goidelic languages, emerged. In 627, King Edwin of Northumbria conquered the Isle of Man along with most of Mercia. In the 9th century, Norsemen established the thalassocratic Kingdom of the Isles, which included the Isle of Man. Magnus III, King of Norway from 1093 to 1103, reigned as King of Mann and the Isles between 1099 and 1103.[4]
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Insurance and online gambling each generate 17% of the GNP, followed by information and communications technology and banking with 9% each.[8] Internationally, the Isle of Man is known for the TT motorcycle races,[9] and the Manx cat, a breed with short or no tails.[10] The Manx are a Celtic nation.[11]
Strangle Sea (Caspian Sea)
Hyrcania (/hərˈkeɪniə/) (Greek: Ὑρκανία Hyrkania,[1] Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 Varkâna,[2] Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 Gurgān, Akkadian: Urqananu)[2] is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea in modern-day Iran and Turkmenistan, bound in the south by the Alborz mountain range and the Kopet Dag in the east.[3]
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Hyrcania (Ὑρκανία) is the Greek name for the region, a borrowing from the Old Persian Verkâna as recorded in Darius the Great's Behistun Inscription (522 BC), as well as in other Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions. Verkā means "wolf" in Old Iranian, cf. Avestan vəhrkō, Gilaki and Mazandarani verk, Modern Persian gorg, and Sanskrit vŗka (वृक). Consequently, Hyrcania means "Wolf-land". The name was extended to the Caspian Sea and underlies the name of the city Sari (Zadracarta), the then-largest city and the capital of ancient Hyrcania.
Another archaic name, Dahistān (not to be confused with dehestan - a modern Iranian word for "district" or "county") is sometimes used interchangeably with Hyrcania. Dahistān refers, strictly speaking to the "place of the Dahae": an extinct people who lived immediately north of Hyrcania, as early as the 5th century BC.[4] Apart from the geographical proximity of the Dahae, their ethnonym may have etymological similarities to "Hyrcanians"; for example, religious historian David Gordon White, reiterating a point made by previous scholars, suggests that Dahae resembles the Proto-Indo-European *dhau "strangle", which was apparently also a euphemism for "wolf".[5]
Map Europe Mountains
The Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains) separate Westerland (Spain) from Vinyard (France) and the rest of Europe. The Midmount (Massif Central) inside Vinyard is a patch of quakeland surrounding fumeland. The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel) limit the northern edge of Vinyard (France). The Wood Mountains (Jura and Vosges Mountains) limit part of the western edge of Vinyard. The White Heights (Alps) are mostly quakelands, separating the rather better lands north from the fumelands of the southern coasts. They connect with part of the southeast edge of Vinyard. The Snowy Mountains (Carpathian Mountains) extend in a curve from the end of the White Heights (Alps) bending southward toward the Boiling Sea (Mediterranean Sea). The Big Nose Mountains (Karkonosze / Sudetes / Giant Mountains) in Lendfield (Poland-Lithuania) create a patch of quakeland in central Europe. The Keel (Kjolen Mountains) runs through the Tatterland (Norway) and spills over into other parts of Scandinavia. The Backbone (Pennine Hills) runs down the middle of the White Island (Great Britain).
Map Europe France Mountains
Map Europe British Isles Mountains
The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel)
Ardennes and Eifel are mountain ranges in Europe that form part of the same volcanic field and also of the Rhenish Massif. These are mountains and hills composed of slate and limestone, and of an average altitude of 400 to 500 meters, with several summits reaching the 700 meters.
These mountain ranges are situated in western Europe. Their western starting point roughly begins where the Meuse river crosses the French-Belgian border. They stretch in a northeastern direction, covering eastern Belgium (Wallonia), northern Luxembourg and western Germany as far as the Rhine river between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz, and are bordered by the Moselle river on the south.
The very eastern part of Belgium (Belgian Eifel) and also the north of Luxembourg (Oesling) form a transitional area between the Ardennes on the left (French speaking) and the Eifel on the right (German speaking).
Ardennes and Eifel are thinly populated, abundant with forests, wildlife, and rivers carving deep valleys.
Wood Mountains (Jura and Vosges Mountains)
The Jura Mountain range extends over 225 miles (360 km) in both France and Switzerland, stretching from the Rhône River to the Rhine. Much of the western sector is in France. The highest peaks are in the south around Geneva, with the Crêt de la Neige in Ain at 5,636 feet (1,718 meters) and Le Reculet at 5,633 feet (1,717 meters) in France.
The range is formed from fossil-bearing limestone. It was called Jura Limestone by the explorer, naturalist, and geographer Alexander von Humboldt and from this came the name Jurassic period, referring to rocks formed at the same time, 200 to 145 million years ago. Because of the limestone soil, the area is ideal for vineyards, and wine-tasting in the Jura area is popular with visitors.
The Jura covers most of Franche-Comté and further south into some of the Rhône-Alpes, ending in the Savoie. To the north, the Jura extends into southern Alsace. A large part is conserved by the Jura Mountains Regional Natural Park.
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The gentle rounded Vosges mountains are divided into the High Vosges (where the rounded summits are called ballons, or balloons), the Middle Vosges and the Low Vosges. The mountains lie in the east of France, near the border with Germany in Lorraine. They run along the west side of the Rhine valley from Belfort to Saverne.
To the north, the red sandstone outcroppings were quarried for building materials through the centuries, producing the attractive cathedrals, castles, and churches of the region. Glacial lakes fill the area and forests cover the slopes while the Hautes Chaumes are rich pasturelands.
Jura
Origin and meaning of name Jura English Etymology : From French, from Latin *iuris, a Latinized form of Gaulish *iuris (“wooded mountain”), from Proto-Celtic *jor (“forest”).
The White Heights (the Alps)
alp (n.)
"high, snow-capped mountain," especially in Switzerland, 1590s, from Alps, from French Alpes, from Latin Alpes "the Alps," perhaps from altus "high," or albus "white" or from a Celtic word (according to Maurus Servius Honoratus the grammarian), or a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language. Alps, the central European mountain range, attested by that name in English from late 14c.
Snowy Mountains (Carpathian Mountains)
In modern times, the range is called Karpaty in Czech, Polish and Slovak and Карпати (Karpaty) in Ukrainian, Карпати / Karpati in Serbian, Carpați [karˈpat͡sʲ] ( listen) in Romanian, Карпаты in Rusyn, Karpaten in German and Kárpátok in Hungarian.[15][16] Although the toponym was recorded already by Ptolemy in the second century of the Christian era, [17] the modern form of the name is a neologism in most languages.[15] For instance, Havasok ("Snowy Mountains") was its medieval Hungarian name; Russian chronicles referred to it as "Hungarian Mountains". [16][15] Later sources, such as Dimitrie Cantemir and the Italian chronicler Giovanandrea Gromo, referred to the range as "Transylvania's Mountains", while the 17th-century historian Constantin Cantacuzino translated the name of the mountains in an Italian-Romanian glossary to "Rumanian Mountains". [15]
Big Nose Mountains (Karkonosze / Sudetes / Giant Mountains) in Lendfield (Poland-Lithuania)
The Krkonoše, Karkonosze or Giant Mountains[2] (Czech: [ˈkr̩konoʃɛ] ( listen), Polish: [karkɔˈnɔʂɛ], German: Riesengebirge, Silesian German: Riesageberge) are a mountain range located in the north of the Czech Republic and the south-west of Poland, part of the Sudetes mountain system (part of the Bohemian Massif). The Czech-Polish border, which divides the historic regions of Bohemia and Silesia, runs along the main ridge. The highest peak, Sněžka (Polish: Śnieżka, German: Schneekoppe), is the Czech Republic's highest point with an elevation of 1,603 metres (5,259 ft).
The Keel (Kjolen Mountains)
Names in Scandinavia[edit]
Its names in the Scandinavian languages are, in Swedish Skandinaviska fjällkedjan, Skanderna (encyclopedic and professional usage), Fjällen ("The Fells", common in colloquial speech) or Kölen ("The Keel"), and in Norwegian Den skandinaviske fjellkjede, Skandesfjellene, Kjølen ("The Keel") or Nordryggen ("The North Ridge", name coined in 2013). The names Kölen and Kjølen are often preferentially used for the northern part, where the mountains form a narrow range near the border region of Norway and Sweden. In South Norway there is a broad scatter of mountain regions with individual names, such as Dovrefjell, Hardangervidda, Jotunheimen, and Rondane.[4][5][6][7]
The Backbone (Pennine Hills) on the White Island (Great Britain)
Often described as the "backbone of England",[2][3][4] the Pennine Hills form a more-or-less continuous range in most of Northern England. The range stretches northwards from the Peak District at the southern end, through the South Pennines, the Yorkshire Dales and North Pennines to the Tyne Gap, which separates the range from the Cheviot Hills across the Anglo-Scottish border (some definitions include the Cheviot Hills).
Map Germany Earthquake Areas
Earthquakes in Germany are relatively weak but occur several times a year, some of them in coal mining areas where blasting sets them off. Following a 4.0 quake, attributed to mining and centered in Saarwellingen, around 1,000 demonstrators protested on 24 February 2008, demanding an end to mining work. Reportedly, the tremor knocked over chimneys and caused power outages.[1]
Most of the quakes occur in a seismically active zone associated with the Rhine Rift Valley that extends from Basel, Switzerland, into the Benelux countries, in particular in the "Cologne Bight". There are also earthquake zones on the northern edge of the Alps, around Lake Constance, in the Vogtland, around Gera and in the Leipzig plain.[2] [3]
Laacher See or Laach Lake (in English) is a crater lake or more exactly a caldera lake in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated close to the cities of Koblenz, Mayen (11 km), and Andernach (14 km). It fills a volcanic caldera in the Eifel mountain range, the only caldera in Central Europe. It is part of the area of the "east Eifel volcanic field".
Map France Physical
Vinyard (France); Ivory Towers (Paris)
Map France Paris Basin
The Great Basin (Paris Basin) is one of the most stable and hospitable places in Europe. Its largest city, the Ivory Towers (Paris), has buildings ranging 6-7 stories tall. The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel) include quakelands and a few fumelands that limit travel along the northern edge of Vinyard (France).
Paris, 200 Ma - today
Paris is located at the heart of the Paris Basin, a NW-SE trending oval feature that measures over 140.000 km2 and extends into the United Kingdom (Figure 1). The basin is positioned on top of a Palaeozoic crystalline basement. The lower lithologies are marine and continental sediments of Permian and Mesozoic age. A major subaerial, Palaeocene erosion event was followed by the deposition of Eocene limestones that is known now as ‘Parisian limestone’. The beige-white rocks are among the most famous building materials that is nowadays exported all over the world, but they used to be the main building material that characterizes the city of Paris. Of course, it is no coincidence that these rocks are of ‘Lutetian’ age, as Lutetia was the Latin name for Paris. The Lutetian is followed by the Bartonian stage, in which gypsum was deposited in the Paris basin, the second most important material that was mined in the Paris region. Oligocene, Miocene and Neogene successions consist of sands, marls and clays and cover all older sediments.
The familiar light-coloured, 6-7 stories high buildings, decorated with balconies and ornaments are Paris’ most famous selling point. Throughout the 20 districts all kinds of structures can be found that are made from these rocks; from regular houses to famous sights, such as the Notre Dame and the Louvre Museum. The rocks do not come from far. Scattered through the city, old quarries can be found above and below the ground (Figure 2). They were intensively mined from 2000 years ago until the 17th century to provide building material for the city of Paris.
Lutetian limestone (in French, calcaire lutécien, and formerly calcaire grossier) - also known as “Paris stone” - is a variety of limestone particular to the Paris, France, area. It has been a source of wealth as an economic and versatile building material since ancient Roman times (see Mines of Paris) and has contributed markedly to the unique visual appeal of the “City of Light”. (It has been hailed as “the warm, elusive, cream-grey stone of the French capital”.[1]) Its formation dates to the Eocene epoch's Lutetian age (between 47.8 and 41.2 Ma). The name "Lutetian" derives from Lutetia (French, Lutèce) which was the city's name in ancient times.
The Chaîne des Puys in the Massif Central of southern France is one of Europe's youngest volcanic fields. It consists of numerous cinder cones and maars roughly arranged on a N-S trending line. The last activity occurred only about 6000 years ago, which is why the volcanoes should be considered still active although there are no signs at present of any new activity to be expected in any near future.
France Volcanoes
The Green Mountains (Ardennes and Eifel)
Ardennes and Eifel are mountain ranges in Europe that form part of the same volcanic field and also of the Rhenish Massif. These are mountains and hills composed of slate and limestone, and of an average altitude of 400 to 500 meters, with several summits reaching the 700 meters.
These mountain ranges are situated in western Europe. Their western starting point roughly begins where the Meuse river crosses the French-Belgian border. They stretch in a northeastern direction, covering eastern Belgium (Wallonia), northern Luxembourg and western Germany as far as the Rhine river between the cities of Bonn and Koblenz, and are bordered by the Moselle river on the south.
The very eastern part of Belgium (Belgian Eifel) and also the north of Luxembourg (Oesling) form a transitional area between the Ardennes on the left (French speaking) and the Eifel on the right (German speaking).
Ardennes and Eifel are thinly populated, abundant with forests, wildlife, and rivers carving deep valleys.
The White Heights (the Alps)
alp (n.)
"high, snow-capped mountain," especially in Switzerland, 1590s, from Alps, from French Alpes, from Latin Alpes "the Alps," perhaps from altus "high," or albus "white" or from a Celtic word (according to Maurus Servius Honoratus the grammarian), or a borrowing from a non-Indo-European language. Alps, the central European mountain range, attested by that name in English from late 14c.
Map Spain Physical
Westerland (Spain) is completely cut off from mainland Europe by the Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains), which have quakelands throughout the range and fumelands in the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone to the east. Brave Harbor (La Coruña) is a major port on the northwest coast. Old Cove (Bilbao) is a port on the north central coast. The Peaceful Plateau (Inner Plateau) is relatively stable, with Calatrava showing the the only patch of quakeland and fumeland in the interior; its capital is Waterford (Madrid). Long Valley (the Ebro River Basin) is also fairly stable, but even more isolated as it only faces the Boiling Sea. The Rock of the Gate (Gibraltar) lies at the southern tip facing the Rock of the Water (Jebel Musa) in Seabridge (Morocco, Africa). The East Rift (Xarq al-Andalus) is the Muslim territory along the southeast coast. The Canary Islands are violently active and inhospitable.
Map Spain Minerals
Map Spain Hazards
This map shows the volcanic and seismic hotspots in Spain: the Canary Islands, Calatraba, Sureste, Columbretes, and Olot.
Spain: Natural Hazards in the Country
Author links open overlay panelM.-A.Torres-Vera
This article presents a review of all available data on natural hazards occurring in Spain. The description includes the conditions favoring the presence of natural hazards and the existing data on the most documented events. The hazards were selected according to their frequency of occurrence, and hurricanes and snow floods were left out of the discussion as they have occurred only once and cannot be considered a regular threat.
According to their origin, the hazards have been presented as two groups: hydrometeorological and geological. The hydrometeorological hazards described are fire, flood, landslide, and tornadoes. Seismic and volcanic risks are related to the tectonic regime of the Iberian Peninsula and the intense volcanic activity of the Canary Islands.
The included data show that there is a zoning in the recurrence of hazards in Spain, and the most frequently affected areas are the northern part of the peninsula that includes Galicia, Basque Country, Aragon, and Catalonia, where earthquakes, recent volcanic activity, floods, and fires occur regularly or have occurred in historic time. The southern zone (Andalucia) is also affected by earthquakes, floods, and fire, but additionally it is struck by tornadoes. The Canary Islands are included in a third hazard zone, where volcanic and seismic risk is high in addition to frequent floods and fires.
Fire, Flood, Landslide, Natural hazards, Seismic, Spain, Tornadoes, Volcanic
List of Volcanoes in Spain with Map
Geology of the Pyrenees
Neogene sediments have been preserved in the Pyrenees mainly in small grabens close to the Mediterranean (near Cerdagne). The grabens have also repeatedly been flooded by the Mediterranean, examples being the graben near Ampurdan and grabens in the Roussillon containing a Pliocene fauna. These extensional structures most likely owe their existence to renewed movements on Variscan fractures. The very young volcanic area near Olot probably has a similar cause.
Olot (Catalan pronunciation: [uˈlɔt]) is the capital city of the comarca of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipality is part of the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park.
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Geography and climate[edit]
Olot is located on a plain surrounded by the mountain ranges of Valentí, Aiguanegra, the plateau of Batet, Marboleny and Sant Valentí de la Pinya. The plain is crossed by the Fluvià river and the Riudaura stream. There are four volcanoes in the city of Olot, called Montolivet, Montsacopa, Garrinada and Bisaroques.
The Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park (Catalan: Parc Natural de la Zona Volcànica de la Garrotxa) is a natural park area covering a Holocene volcanic field (also known as the Olot volcanic field) in Catalonia, northeastern Spain. The volcanos, of which there are about forty within the park, are no longer active, with the last eruption (Croscat) occurring about 11,000 years ago.[1] However, the region is still seismically active, and a large earthquake in 1428 caused damage to buildings and twenty deaths in Barcelona, 90 kilometres (56 mi) to the south.[2] More recent earthquakes in 1901 and 1902 caused shaking but little damage.[2]
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The Garrotxa field is a monogenetic volcanic field, with each volcano representing a single period of eruption. The field became active about 700,000 years ago,[4] and is the most recent expression of volcanic activity in northeastern Catalonia, which dates back 10 million years.
The Campo de Calatrava volcanic field is a volcanic field in Spain. The volcanic field is in the centre of the province of Ciudad Real, in a region known as Campo de Calatrava.
The volcanic field has an area of more than 5000 km2 and more than 300 individual structures and contains pyroclastic cones, lava domes and maars. The field erupted basaltic to foiditic lavas from the Pliocene to the Holocene in Columba volcano with phreatomagmatic activity, and fumaroles were observed in the 16th-18th centuries in the Sierra de Valenzuela territory.[1] Earlier activity has been subdivided in several phases. The first affecting mostly the centre of the field is K-Ar dated between 8.7 and 6.4 Ma. A second phase occurred in the Pleistocene 1.3 Ma and 0.7 Ma. The maars involve both hard-substrate maars formed in metasediments of the basement and soft-substrate maars in Pliocene unconsolidated sediments. Both types of maars are distributed in NE-SW and NW-SE directions following faults established during the Miocene.[2] During the lower Pliocene, the system underwent uplift and erosion. Some maars contain sediments including travertine possibly related to carbon dioxide emissions. Gas emissions, sometimes increased following earthquake activity, are common in the field and include hydrogen sulfide, CO2 and water.[3]
The Columbretes Islands (Valencian: Les Columbretes, IPA: [les kolumˈbɾetes] or Els Columbrets[a] (IPA: [els kolumˈbɾets]), are a group of small uninhabited islets of volcanic origin, in the Mediterranean Sea, 49 kilometres (30 miles) off Orpesa. Administratively they belong to Castelló de la Plana in the Valencian Country.
Map Iberian Climate Types
Map Iberian Precipitation
Westerland (Spain)
The Renaissance scholar Antonio de Nebrija proposed that the word Hispania evolved from the Iberian word Hispalis, meaning "city of the western world".
Firestone Mountains (Pyrenees Mountains)
chain of mountains between France and Spain, 1550s, from French Pyrénées, from Latin Pyrenæi montes, from Greek Pyrēnē, name of a daughter of Bebryx/Bebrycius who was beloved of Herakles; she is said to be buried in these mountains (or that the mountains are the tomb Herakles reared over her corpse).
The name is said to mean literally "fruit-stone," but Room says it might be Greek pyr "fire" + eneos "dumb, speechless," which perhaps translates or folk-etymologizes a Celtic goddess name. "In medieval times there was no overall name for the range and local people would have known only the names of individual mountains and valleys" [Adrian Room, "Place Names of the World," 2nd ed., 2006]. Related: Pyrenean.
Brave Harbor (La Coruña)
La Coruña ([la koˈɾuɲa]) or A Coruña (Galician: [ɐ koˈɾuɲɐ];[a] historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second most populated city and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country. The city is the provincial capital of the province of the same name, having also served as political capital of the Kingdom of Galicia[5][6] from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and as a regional administrative centre between 1833 and 1982, before being replaced by Santiago de Compostela.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Coru%C3%B1a
• From Scottish Gaelic cork orrunach (literally “harbor of the brave men”): Celtic settlers had been known to explore the coast;
Old Cove (Bilbao)
There is no consensus among historians about the origin of the name. Generally accepted accounts state that prior to the 12th century the independent rulers of the territory, named Lords of Zubialdea, were also known as Lords of Bilbao la Vieja ("Old Bilbao"). The symbols of their patrimony are the tower and church used in the shield of Bilbao to this day.[28] One possible origin was suggested by the engineer Evaristo de Churruca. He said that it was a Basque custom to name a place after its location. For Bilbao this would be the result of the union of the Basque words for river and cove: Bil-Ibaia-Bao.
Waterford (Madrid)
Etymology
There are three established theories regarding the origin of the toponym "Madrid" (all of them with problems when it comes to fully explain the phonetic evolution of the toponym along history), namely:[29]
• A Celtic origin (Madrid < * Magetoritum;[30] with the root "-ritu" meaning "ford").
• From the Arabic maǧrà (meaning "water stream").[30]
• A Mozarabic variant of the Latin matrix, matricis (also meaning "water stream").[30]
The Rock of the Gate (Gibraltar)
The Rock of Gibraltar, also known as the Jabel-al-Tariq (named after the Berber commander who conquered Spain), is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.[3] It is 426 m (1,398 ft) high. Most of the Rock's upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 300 Barbary macaques. These macaques, as well as a labyrinthine network of tunnels, attract many tourists each year.
The Rock of the Water (Jebel Musa) in Seabridge (Morocco, Africa)
Jebel Musa (Arabic: جبل موسى, Jabal Mūsā, in Berber languages: Adrar n Moussa; meaning Mount Moses) is a mountain in the northernmost part of Morocco, on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. It is part of the Rif mountain chain. The mountain is generally identified as the southern Pillar of Hercules, Abila Mons.
Musa (Arabic: مُوسَىٰ), corresponding to Moses (see also Musa in Islam), originally is a word in the Egyptian and Arabic language. There is no absolute definition for the name in Arabic; however, in the ancient Egyptian languages, the name is Musa translated as, "Newborn" and/or "saved by the water". Also sometimes spelled Mosa, Moosa, Mousa, or Moussa. The most common spelling is "Musa".
•Hebrew meaning: Drawn out of the water
•Arabic meaning: Drawn out of the water
Map of Europe 700AD
World History Maps Timeline