Español — The article with geographic proper names
In Spanish most country names take no article (España, Francia), but some geographic names carry a fixed one: cities like La Habana or El Cairo, and always mountain ranges, rivers and seas — los Andes, el Amazonas, el Mediterráneo.
How it works
With most countries no article is used (España, Francia, México), but a few carry one obligatorily (el Reino Unido, los Estados Unidos, El Salvador), and cities, mountain ranges, rivers and seas keep it as part of their name: La Habana, El Cairo, los Andes, el Amazonas, el Mediterráneo.
Overview
| Example | Type | Article |
|---|---|---|
| España, Francia, México | most countries | no article |
| el Reino Unido, los Estados Unidos, El Salvador | countries with a fixed article | obligatory |
| (el) Perú, (la) Argentina, (el) Ecuador | countries admitting an article | optional |
| La Habana, El Cairo, La Haya | cities with the article in the name | part of the name, capitalized |
| los Andes, los Alpes, los Pirineos | mountain ranges | always with the plural article |
| el Amazonas, el Ebro, el Nilo | rivers | always with the article |
| el Mediterráneo, el Caribe, el Atlántico | seas and oceans | always with the article |
Good to know
The optional article on countries like (el) Perú, (la) Argentina, (el) Japón is now largely old-fashioned and usually dropped in everyday speech. When the article is part of the name (El Salvador, La Haya), it keeps its capital letter and does NOT contract with a or de: say voy a El Salvador and vengo de El Cairo, never *al Salvador or *del Cairo.