Pyrenees: Encyclopedia II - Pyrenees - Geography

Pyrenees - Geography

The Pyrenees are part of the following French départements, from east to west: Pyrénées-Orientales, Aude, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Hautes-Pyrénées, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

The Pyrenees are also part of the following Spanish provinces, from east to west: Girona, Barcelona, Lleida, Huesca, Zaragoza, Navarre, and Guipúzcoa.

Finally, the Pyrenees are also part of the independent principality of Andorra.

The Pyrenees are typically divided into three sections: the Central, the Atlantic or Western, and the Eastern.

The Central Pyrenees extend eastward from the Port de Canfranc to the Val d'Aran, and include the highest summits of the range:

• Aneto or Pic de Néthou (3,404 m / 11,167.9 ft ) in the Maladetta ridge,
• Mont Posets (3,375 m / 11,072 ft),
• Mont Perdu or Monte Perdido or Mont Perdut (3,355 m / 11,007 ft).

In the Atlantic Pyrenees the average elevation gradually decreases from east to west. In the Eastern Pyrenees, with the exception of one break at the eastern extremity of the Pyrénées Ariégeoises, the mean elevation is maintained with remarkable uniformity until a sudden decline occurs in the portion of the chain known as the Albères.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Geography", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki