Pyrenees << PIHR uh `neez` >> is a mountain chain that forms a natural barrier between France and Spain. The mountains extend over a length of about 270 miles (435 kilometers), from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean Sea. They cover an area of over 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers). Their average height is 3,500 feet (1,070 meters), but many peaks in the central ranges rise over 10,000 feet (3,000 meters). The highest point is Pico de Aneto (11,168 feet, or 3,404 meters).
Glacier fields are found on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees. Minerals in the Pyrenees include cobalt, iron, lead, and silver. The iron mines near Bilbao, Spain, at the Biscay end of the Pyrenees, are a prosperous industry. There are forests of fir, oak, and pine on the mountains.
The Pyrenees chain is a barrier to overland commerce, and France and Spain had to trade with each other chiefly by sea for many years. Several roads now cut through the mountains. Two railways cross them. The first runs between Pau, France, and Saragossa, Spain, by way of the Canfranc Tunnel. The second runs between Toulouse, France, and Barcelona, Spain. This line climbs to a height of 5,200 feet (1,580 meters). There are more than 40 tunnels in a 57-mile (92-kilometer) central section of the Pyrenees. Several resorts are on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees. The small country of Andorra lies on the south slope of the eastern Pyrenees. The Basques live in northern Spain and the western Pyrenees.
