Which peninsula is shared by Portugal and Spain?

The Iberian Peninsula is shared primarily by Portugal and Spain. It occupies the southwestern corner of Europe and is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the Bay of Biscay and the Mediterranean Sea, while the Pyrenees separate it from the rest of continental Europe.

Spain covers most of the peninsula, while Portugal occupies its western side. The region also includes the independent country of Andorra, Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory, and a small portion of France. Because Portugal and Spain make up nearly all of the peninsula, quizzes often shorten the answer to “Iberian,” although “Iberian Peninsula” is the full geographic name.

The name comes from the ancient Greek and Roman terms for the region and its peoples. Iberia is not the same as the Caucasian Kingdom of Iberia, an ancient state in what is now Georgia. The peninsula is also a major linguistic crossroads, with Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Galician and Basque among its best-known languages.