Geography and maps

Overview

The region of La Rioja is in the central north of Spain and is the smallest of Spain’s autonomous regions (5000 k2). It has borders with 4 other autonomous regions: Basque Country, Navarra, Aragón and Castilla y León. The main features of the landscape are the Ebro Valley and the mountains in the Sistema Ibérico sierras. Geographically the province can be divided into two main areas the mountainous west and south west which is part of the Iberian mountain system and the east and north east, large flat plains and low lying hills formed by the river Ebro which by volume is the largest river in Spain, (the Tagus is the longest but has much less water).

Most of the population lives in the main towns of the Ebro valley, the capital being Logroño. Other large towns are Haro and Calahorra.
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The mountainous area of La Rioja is crossed by seven rivers which all flow north east parallel to each other and join the Ebro in the valley. Many small villages dot the landscape and there is a main town at the foot of each of the valleys.

High Rioja or Mountainous Rioja

For such a small autonomous community there couldn’t be a more varied geology. This is a land heavily affected by major geological events (earthquakes, rock folding and glaciers) in its history, which tens of millions of years ago gave rise to the abrupt, impressive cliffs, mountains over 2000m and steep valleys cut by rushing rivers.

In more recent times man has had a serious influence on the Riojan landscape. A few thousand years ago this was an area of dense deciduous forest, with oak, ash, beech and other varieties completely covering the landscape. Deforestation in the area has been very severe leaving the higher peaks and plains exposed to the elements. This means that much of the soil has been washed away from the upper mountain slopes, leaving dramatically barren mountains, snow covered in winter. Today many pockets of beautiful forest remain in la Rioja, but they are mainly beech or pine forests in the upper valleys and few trees are more than 100 years old.

The mountain ranges are increasingly higher the further north in the province and are shared with Burgos and Soria provinces the dividing line being the numerous passes and high ridges.