Editing Iberian Peninsula (section)

== History ==

The peninsula was inhabited in antiquity by Iberian and Celtic peoples. Phoenician, Greek, and Carthaginian settlements developed along parts of the coast before Roman expansion brought most of the peninsula under the administration of Hispania.

After Roman rule ended, the Visigothic Kingdom controlled much of Iberia. Muslim forces entered the peninsula in 711 and established territories collectively known as [[Al-Andalus]]. Christian kingdoms developed in the north and gradually expanded southward over the following centuries.

Portugal emerged as an independent kingdom during the twelfth century. The union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon formed the basis of the later Spanish monarchy. The conquest of Granada in 1492 ended the last Muslim-ruled kingdom on the peninsula.<ref name="spain-history"/>

Spain and Portugal later established overseas empires supported by Atlantic ports and long-distance maritime routes. Lisbon, Seville, and other Iberian cities became centres of imperial administration, shipbuilding, finance, and overseas commerce.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the peninsula experienced changes of government, civil conflict, dictatorship, industrial development, urban growth, and later democratic transitions. Spain and Portugal developed closer political and economic relations with the rest of Europe during the late twentieth century.