Iberian Peninsula - Definition and Overview

topographic map of the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe. It is bordered on the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea, and on the north and west by the Atlantic Ocean. The Pyrenees form the northeast edge of the peninsula, connecting it to the rest of Europe. At Gibraltar in the south, it approaches Africa.

Countries & Territories

• Spain, occupying the majority of Iberia
• Portugal, the western most part
• Andorra, a microstate bordering France and Spain in the Pyrenees
• Gibraltar, British territory in the southern-most tip

Languages

The following official languages are spoken in the Iberian peninsula:

• Andorra:
  • Catalan
• Gibraltar:
  • English
• Portugal:
  • Portuguese
  • Mirandese (official recognition)
• Spain:
  • Basque
  • Spanish (also called Castilian)
  • Catalan (called Valencian in the Valencian Country)
  • Galician
  • Asturian (official recognition)
  • Occitan (locally called Aranese, official recognition)

Pre-Roman languages

The following languages were spoken in the Iberian peninsula before the Roman occupation:

• Lusitan
• Aquitan (Basque)
• Iberian
• Celtiberian
• Tartessian

History

In medieval times the peninsula housed many small states. However these amalgamated over time, until the end of the Napoleonic Wars (including the Peninsular War) in 1815. At that point the modern position was reached and the peninsula now consists of the countries of Spain and Portugal (excluding their islands and Ceuta and Melilla), Andorra, and the territory of Gibraltar.