The inland part of the territory is craggy, with some of the highest peaks in the Valencia and Castellón provinces forming part of the
Iberian Mountain Range. The mountains in the Province of Alicante are in turn a part of the
Subbaetic Range. The most emblematic mountain of the Valencian Community is the
Penyagolosa, in the
Alcalatén area. It is widely thought to be the highest peak with 1,813 m, but actually the highest peak is the
Calderón (1,839 m) located in the
Rincón de Ademuz, a Valencian
exclave between
Aragon and
Castilla–La Mancha. The most emblematic mountain in the southern part of the territory is the
Aitana (1,558 m). The rather thin coastal strip is a very
fertile plain without remarkable mountains except those around the
Cap de la Nau area in northern Alicante province and the
Peñíscola area in the Castellón province. Typical of this coastal area are wetlands and marshlands such as ''
L'Albufera close to Valencia, El Fondo in Elche and Crevillent, La Marjal
near Pego, Albufera of Gayanes in Gayanes or El Prat'' in
Cabanes, also the former wetlands and
salt evaporation ponds in the
Santa Pola and
Torrevieja area. All of them are key
Ramsar sites which make Valencia of high relevance for both migratory and resident seabirds and waterbirds. There are many important
coastal dunes in the
Saler area near the Albufera and in the
Guardamar area, both of them were planted with thousands of trees during the 19th century in order to fix the dunes, thus forming now protected areas of remarkable ecologic value. In addition to mainland Valencia, the Valencian territory administers the tiny
Columbretes Islands and the coastal inhabited islet of
Tabarca.
Climate Valencia has a generally pleasant climate, with mild winters and hot summers, heavily influenced by the neighbouring Mediterranean sea. Still, there are important differences between areas: • Typical
Mediterranean climate (
Köppen Csa). It roughly goes along the coastal plain from the northernmost border through the
Benidorm area (cities included here are, amongst others,
Castellón de la Plana,
Gandia and
Valencia). It covers in various grades the lower inland areas. In this area, winters are mild, summers are long, dry and hot; rainfall occurs mostly during spring and autumn, usually totalling around 600 mm. with a remarkably wetter
micro climate in the
Marina Alta and the
Safor comarques just north of
Cap de la Nau cape, which accumulates an average of up to 1000 mm. due to an
orographic lift phenomenon. •
Mediterranean climate with continental influences (
Köppen Csa) and Mediterranean
highland climate (
Köppen Csb). These are the innermost lands and those at a higher elevation (cities included here are, amongst others,
Alcoy,
Morella,
Requena and
Villena). Here winters are cool to cold, especially at night (a few days of snow are not unusual), summers mild to hot and rainfall more evenly distributed through the year. The lower registered temperatures in the Valencian Community were in these inland areas during the cold wave of 1956. Temperatures plunged to nearly −20 °C; as in
Vistabella del Maestrat (−19 °C) and Castellfort (–17 °C). •
Hot semi-arid climate (
Köppen BSh), although in higher altitude zones at the interior the average temperatures are lower, being BSk in the
Köppen climate classification. It roughly goes along the coastal plain from
Villajoyosa through the southernmost border of the territory (cities included here are, amongst others,
Alicante,
Benidorm,
Elche,
Orihuela and
Torrevieja). Summers are hot and dry, winters are mild and its most prominent feature is a very scarce precipitation, typically below 300 mm. per year which is most likely to happen during spring and autumn. The reason for this lack of precipitation is the marked
rain shadow effect caused by hills to the west of the Alicante province (and, to a lesser degree, those in the northern part of the province which, in turn, enhance the inverse orographic lift effect around
Cap de la Nau). The
warm-summer Mediterranean climate (
Köppen Csb),
humid subtropical climate (
Köppen Cfa),
oceanic climate (
Köppen Cfb) and the
desertic climate (
Köppen BWh) are also found in the Valencian Community. The
Csb climate is more common and is found in inland, high altitude areas (generally starting above ) across the 3 provinces of the Valencian Community, especially in the interior of
Castellón but also in
El Rincón de Ademuz and the north of
Los Serranos comarcas in the province of
Valencia. In the province of
Alicante this climate is only found in the highest altitudes of
Serra de Mariola and
Sierra de Aitana. Both
Cfa and
Cfb climates can be only found in the interior of the province of Castellón, with marginal presence in the Valencian province, only in the Rincón de Ademuz comarca. The presence of the desertic climates (
BWh) is marginal to scarcely populated areas south of
Elche.
Hydrography There are only two major rivers: the
Segura in the province of Alicante, whose source is in
Andalusia, and the
Júcar (or
Xúquer) in the province of Valencia, whose source is in
Castilla–La Mancha. Both are subjected to very intense human regulation for cities, industries and, especially, agricultural consumption. The river
Turia (or
Túria) is the third largest and has its source in
Aragon. Most
rivers in the area, such as the
Vinalopó, are usually short, have little current (due to agricultural usage, climatic reasons or both) and are often completely dry during the summer. Other Valencian rivers are the
Serpis and
Sénia. File:Assut d'Antella.JPG|
Xúquer river with irrigated
orange orchards near
Antella File:2. Assut de Cullera (entre Sueca i Fortaleny, País Valencià).jpg|Cullera
weir of the
Xúquer river, between
Sueca and
Fortaleny File:2f. Pont damunt del riu Xúquer (Cullera, País Valencià).jpg|Bridge over the
Xúquer river == Demographics ==