The Pyrenees mountain range separates the Iberian Peninsula from France. The range extends roughly 500 kilometres from the Bay of Biscay in the west to the Mediterranean Sea in the east.
The Pyrenees form most of the land boundary between France and Spain, while the small country of Andorra lies within the range. Their highest summit is Aneto, which reaches about 3,404 metres in the Spanish Pyrenees.
The range contains varied environments, including Atlantic-influenced forests, alpine meadows, glaciated peaks, and Mediterranean landscapes. Several major rivers rise in or near the Pyrenees, and the mountains have long influenced travel, trade, language, and political boundaries.
The Pyrenees are not the same as Spain’s Cantabrian Mountains or Iberian System. Those ranges lie farther inside the Iberian Peninsula and do not form the principal international barrier with France.