Geography 5- Penélope Cruz

Penélope Cruz is a Spanish actress, born in Madrid, 1974. Growing up, Penélope had no intentions of being an actress. She was more focused on dance. She had studied classical ballet for nine years at Spain's National Conservatory. Ballet instilled in her discipline that would be important in her future acting career. At the age of 15, she got signed by an agent. In 1989, at 15, she debuted and starred in the music video "La Fuerza del Destino" of the pop trio Mecano. Penélope had a lot of experience on television acting. She hosted the Spanish talk show, "La Quinta Marcha" , a program aimed at a teenage audience. In 1992, she made her first film debut, as the lead female role in the comedy drama, "Jamón, Jamón". She achieved recognition for her lead roles in "Vanilla Sky" and "Blow", which were very successful worldwide.
Penélope has appeared in a wide genre of movies, from Thrillers such as "Gothika" in 2003, to "G-Force", a family animation, and in the musical "Nine". Penélope is known for her role in "Volver", a Spanish movie about two sister's, who's parents have died. Sole, one of the two sisters, can see her mothers ghost, and agrees to let her stay with her. Meanwhile, Penélopes character deals with other issues. Her husband tries to rape her daughter, claiming he isnt her biologoical father, and Penélopes character stabs him in self-defense. The movie deals with a strong theme of death. Penélope's role in "Volver" earned Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. She received an Academy Award for her role in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Penélope was the first Spanish actress in history to receive an Academy Award, and she was the first Spanish actress to receive a star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Geography: The mainlands of Spain are very mountainous. The Pyrenees Mountains borderline Spain and France. It separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of continental Europe. Andorra, a Spanish country, lies between them. The Pyrenees Mountains are older then the Alps. They were formed about 100 to 150 million years ago. The eastern part of the mountains consist of mainly granite and gneissose rocks, where as the western side of the mountains mainly consist of limestone. The mountains are huge and unworn, because they are made of granite, which is resistant to erosion. The western side of the mountains recieves much more precipitation, then the eastern side, because of the moist air that blows in from the Atlantic Ocean over the Bay of Biscay. After dropping its moisture over the western and central Pyrenees, the air is usually dry over the eastern Pyrenees. The average climate is -2 degrees.