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Spain was first called
Iberia a name given to it by its Iberian inhabitants (from North
Africa). The name was supposedly based on the Iberian word for
river, Iber. They reached Spain around 6000 b.c. When the Greeks
arrived on Spanish soil around 600 b.c. they referred to the peninsula as
Hesperia, meaning "land of the setting sun." When the
Carthaginians came around 300 b.c. they called the country Ispania
(from Sphan, "rabbit"), which means "land of the rabbits." The
Romans arrived a century later and adopted the Carthaginian name of the
country, calling it Hispania. Later, this became the present
day Spanish name for the country, Espaņa. Thus, because of
the Romans and their language, the rabbits won over the sunset and over
the river. |
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