Guadalquivir

Guadalquivir
River
Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río
Name origin: from al-wad al-kabir, "great river" in Arabic
Country	Spain
Region	Andalusia
Tributaries
- left	Guadiana Menor, Guadalbullón, Guadajoz, Genil, Corbones, Guadaira
- right	Guadalimar, Jándula, Yeguas, Guadalmellato, Guadiato, Bembézar, Viar, Rivera de Huelva, Guadiamar
Cities	Córdoba, Seville
Source	Cañada de las Fuentes
- location	Cazorla Mountains, Jaén
Mouth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	36°47′N 6°21′W / 36.783°N 6.35°W / 36.783; -6.35
Length	657 km (408 mi)
Basin	56,978 km2 (21,999 sq mi)
Discharge	for Seville
- average	164.3 m3/s (5,802 cu ft/s)
Localisation of the Guadalquivir
Website: Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir

The Guadalquivir (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaðalkiˈβir]) is the second longest river in Spain (fifth after the Tagus, Ebro, Duero and Guadiana), and the longest in Andalusia. The Guadalquivir is 657 kilometers long and drains an area of about 58,000 square kilometers. It begins at Cañada de las Fuentes in the Cazorla mountain range (Jaén), passes through Córdoba and Seville and ends at the fishing village of Bonanza, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, flowing into the Gulf of Cádiz, in the Atlantic Ocean. The marshy lowlands at the river's end are known as "Las Marismas". It borders Doñana National Park reserve.

The Guadalquivir river is the only great navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable up as far as Seville, but in Roman times it was navigable to Córdoba.

The ancient city of Tartessos was said to be have been located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, although its site has not yet been found. Tartessos in Basque language means between seas ((Atlantic and Mediterranean))

Name

The name comes from the Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr (الوادي الكبير), 'The Great Valley'. Classical Arabic Wadi is pronounced in present-day Maghreb as Oued. The Phoenicians named the river Baits, later Betis (or Baetis) from Pre-Roman times to the Al-Andalus period, giving its name to the Hispania Baetica Roman province. An older Celtiberian name was Oba (gold river), leading to the assumption that etymologically Córdoba means city on the Oba (Cart-Oba).

Image gallery

This section looks like an image gallery. Wikipedia policy discourages galleries of random images of the article subject; please edit or remove the section accordingly, moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons if not already hosted there.

Guadalquivir river, Córdoba	Guadalquivir and old Roman Bridge, Córdoba	Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río, Seville (navigable)	Guadalquivir and Quinto Centenario Bridge, Seville
Cormorants in lower Guadalquivir (Doñana National Park)	Guadalquivir river basin	A restored Islamic water wheel on the Guadalquivir, Córdoba.

External links

• More information from the United Nations Environmental Program.

This article about a location in Andalusia, Spain, is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e