Geography

The Spanish Pyrenees is the area of the following provinces from east to west such as Barcelona, Navarra, Girona, Lleida, Guipuzcoa and Huesca. The French Pyrenees is also the area of the following from east to west like Aude, Pyrenees-Orientales, Haute-Garome, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, Huates-Pyrenees and Ariege. The independent principality of Andora is sandwiched between the French Pyrenees and Spanish Pyrenees. 

Pyrenees is naturally separated into three divisions such as Central, the Eastern and Western or Atlantic. They form a different physiographic province of the bigger Alpine scheme division. Pico Del Anteo is the uppermost mountain of the Pyrenees. The Central Pyrenees expand eastward from the Somport pass into the Val d’Aran.

Geology

Pyrenees is older than Alps. Their sediments are deposited in the coastal basins throughout the Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras about 100 or 150 million years ago. The Bay of Biscay fined out approaching present-day of France against Spain and places a large layer of residue or sediment in a vise grip. The strong pressure and rousing of the Earth crust first affected Eastern Pyrenees and stretched increasingly to the entire chain culminating in the Eocene epoch.

The Eastern Pyrenees consists of large gneissose rocks and granite. In the western area, the granites are flaked by the limestone layers. The unworn and massive characters of the chain come from abundance of granite, which is mainly resistant to weak, glacial as well as erosion development.

Landscape

The highest waterfall in Pyrenees is called the “Gavarnie” which has a measurement of 462 meters or 1,515 feet at the top of the Gave de Pau the Cirque Gavarnie is the similar valley. Low passes are required between the two end of a range where the railways and principal roads run between Spain and France.

Some noticeable features of Pyrenees scenery are listed below.

• The absence of large lakes likes those that fill the side valleys of the Alps. 
• The great and rarity elevation of passes.
• The large amount of the mountain torrents that are natively called “Gaves” which often forms great waterfalls and stretches on to Europe. 
• The upper end of the valley assumes the form of a semicircle of a precipitous cliff known as the “cirque”.

Natural Resources

The metallic ores of Pyrenees is not much of importance although there are significant iron mines at the Vie de Sos in Ariege as well as at the foot of Canigpu in Pyrenees-Orientals.  Coal deposit is able to bring beneficial work for the townspeople. This coal deposit mine is located mainly in the Spanish slopes. The French side has many beds of lignite. The open pit of Trimoun is one of the sources of talc in the whole Europe.

Mineral springs or coils are plentiful and very amazing. Particularly, the most noteworthy are the hot springs in which the Alps, on the opposing are very deficient.  The hot springs in the area of Pyrenees are Lles, Panticosa, Eaux-Chaudes and Bagneres-de-Luchon is sulphurous and typically located highly near the contact of the granite with the stratified rocks. The lower springs of Bagneres-de-Bigorre, Campagne and Rennes-les-Biins is mostly not very warm.

Climate

The number of the rainfall, snow and rain are much better in the western than the Eastern Pyrenees that leads to a noticeable contrast between the sections of the chain in more than one aspect. The Eastern part of Pyrenees does not have glaciers and perhaps the amounts of snow falling there are being insufficient to lead their development. The glaciers are limited to the northern slopes of central Pyrenees and do not descend. In the central Europe, you can see great mountains, which are a much wider extension of the glaciers throughout the Ice age. The case of glacier in the valley of Argelbs in the department of Hautes-Pyrenees is the basically the best. The snow line varies in different areas of Pyrenees from about 2,700 meters to 2,800 meters above sea level. 

Flora

The lower mountains in the west are wooded but the degree of forest refuses to go eastward and the eastern Pyrenees is peculiarly wild and barren. In the west, Flora looks like central Europe while the east is definitely Mediterranean in character. The difference in latitude is merely 1 degree on both sides of the chain from the center whence; the Corbieres stretches to the northeastwards toward the central plateau of France.

Protected areas

Listed below are the main national parks and nature reserves.

• Aiguestortes Estany de Sant Mautici NationalPark
• Pyrenees National Park
• Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park

Demographics and Culture

The ethnology institutions, history and folklore of the Pyrenean area form an interesting study of Aragon, Andorra, Ariege, Bearn, Basque Country, Catalonia, Roussillion and Navarre and languages spoken in the region of Pyrenees such as French, Catalan and Spanish.

Sport and Leisure

Both sides of Pyrenees are famous for winter sports like mountaineering and alpine skiing.

In the autumn and summer, Pyrenees offers two cycling grand tour and the tour de France are held yearly in July as well as La Vuelta a Epana in September. 

Ski resort

The major ski resorts in Pyrenees are:

• Ax-les-Thermes
• Arette
• Astun
• Baqueira-Beret
• Artouste
• Bareges-La mongie
• Bourg d’Oueil
• Candanchu
• Cauterets
• Gerler
• Font-Romeu
• Formigal
• Gourette
• Guzet-neige
• La Molina
• Lap Pierre Saint Martin
• Le Mourtis
• Luz-Ardiden
• Les Angles
• Masella
• Luchon-Superbagnères
• Nistos cap nestes
• Panticosa-Los Lagos
• Peyragudes
• Pas de la Casa
• Piau-Engaly
• Port-Ainé
• Superbagnères
• Somport
• Tavascan
• Vall de Núria
• Vallter 2000
• Vallnord