With an area of 500,000 square kilometers, Spain is second in size in Europe after France. Spain occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic islands east of the Peninsula and the Canary Islands are in the Atlantic, off the African coast.
Several geographic and climatic factors combined to make Spain one of the European countries with a rich natural heritage. Its geographical situation of transition between continents and seas conditions the existence of types of ecosystems and organisms very different.
The mainly mountainous and semi-arid land of Spain is home to over 5,000 species of plants. Forests cover 28.8 % (2000) of the country, although these figures include formations of pine and eucalyptus trees for soil stabilization or to use its pulp used in papermaking.
Although, as in other physical or biogeographic aspects, heterogeneity is what predominates in Spanish soils in general they are not usually the most appropriate fit for agricultural use and need careful cultivation and irrigation systems.
Only a third of Spain's forest area, the domain of trees and shrubs. The forests are mostly found on the slopes of the mountains, being more abundant in the north and northwest.