The Catalan Coastal Depression, ca, Depressió Litoral Catalana, is a natural depression between the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System.

Geography

The Catalan Coastal Depression runs roughly in a NE-SW direction along parts of the following

comarques This is a list of the 42 ''comarques'' (singular ''comarca'', , ) into which Catalonia is divided. A ''comarca'' is a group of municipalities, roughly equivalent to a county in the US or a district or council in the UK. However, in the context ...

Empordà Emporda (from the official name in ca, Empordà, , name in es, Ampurdán, ) is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain, divided since 1936 into two ''comarques'', Alt Empordà and Baix Empordà. The city of Figueres, an important ...

Gironès Gironès (; es, Gironés) is a comarca (county) in eastern Catalonia, Spain, bordering Selva, Baix Empordà, Alt Empordà, Pla de l'Estany and Garrotxa. , more than half of the comarca's 175,148 inhabitants live in the capital, Girona, which ...

Selva Selva () is a coastal comarque (county) in Catalonia, Spain, located between the mountain range known as the Serralada Transversal or Puigsacalm and the Costa Brava (part of the Mediterranean coast). Unusually, it is divided between the provinc ...

Maresme Maresme () is a '' comarca'' (county) located along the Catalan Mediterranean coast in Spain, between the ''comarques'' of Barcelonès (at the Southwest) and Selva (at the Northeast), and also bordering with Vallès Oriental (at the west). It ...

Vallès El Vallès (or simply Vallès) is a historical county in Catalonia, Spain, located in the center of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. It is nowadays represented by two separate administrative divisions ( ''comarques'') which are part of the Barcel ...

Barcelonès Barcelonès () is the most economically important comarca (county) of Catalonia, Spain. It contains Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of ...

, Baix Llobregat,

Penedès Penedès () is a natural and historical region of Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the south of the Principality of Catalonia between the pre-coastal mountain range (''Serralada Pre-litoral'') and the Mediterranean Sea. The comarcal division of ...

Tarragonès Tarragonès () is a comarca (county) in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of the three comarques formed in the 1936 comarcal division of Camp de Tarragona. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, between the comarques of Baix Penedès to the northeast an ...

Baix Camp Baix Camp () is a comarca of Catalonia. It is one of the three comarques into which Camp de Tarragona was divided in the comarcal division of 1936. Baix Camp is located on the coast, between Tarragonès to the northeast and Baix Ebre to the sout ...

and

Baix Ebre Baix Ebre (, "Lower Ebre") is a comarca (county), on the coast in southern Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by ...

. The Catalan Coastal Depression is about 300 km long and 20 km wide on average. Some of the main Catalan cities are located in this area.

Ecology

Much of the surface of the Catalan Coastal Depression is subject to severe

land degradation Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by a combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land. It is viewed as any change or disturbance to the land perceived to be deleterious o ...

, owing mainly to

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

References

External links

La formació d'un paisatge: el procés d'especialització vitícola a la Catalunya PrelitoralPublications related to the Catalan Coastal Depression
{{coord, 41, 28, 58, N, 02, 16, 54, E, type:mountain_region:ES-CT, display=title Landforms of Catalonia Valleys of Spain

Geography

Ecology

See also

References

External links