Guadalquivir

Geobox|River
name = Guadalquivir
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =
etymology = = from "al-wad al-kabir", "great river" in Arabic


image_size =
image_caption = Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río
country = Spain
country1 =
state =
state1 =
region = Andalusia
region1 =
district =
district1 =
city = Córdoba
city1 = Seville
length = 657
watershed = 56978
discharge_location = Seville
discharge_average = 164.3
discharge_max =
discharge_min =
discharge1_location =
discharge1_average =
source_name = Cañada de las Fuentes
source_location = Cazorla Mountains
source_district =
source_region =
source_state = Jaén
source_country =
source_lat_d =
source_lat_m =
source_lat_s =
source_lat_NS =
source_long_d =
source_long_m =
source_long_s =
source_long_EW =
source_elevation =
source_length =
mouth_name = Atlantic Ocean
mouth_location = Sanlúcar de Barrameda
mouth_district =
mouth_region =
mouth_state = Cádiz
mouth_country =
mouth_lat_d = 36
mouth_lat_m = 47
mouth_lat_s =
mouth_lat_NS = N
mouth_long_d = 6
mouth_long_m = 21
mouth_long_s =
mouth_long_EW = W
mouth_elevation = 0
tributary_left = Guadiana Menor
tributary_left1 = Guadalbullón
tributary_left2 = Guadajoz
tributary_left3 = Genil
tributary_left4 = Corbones
tributary_left5 = Guadaira
tributary_right = Guadalimar
tributary_right1 = Jándula
tributary_right2 = Yeguas
tributary_right3 = Guadalmellato
tributary_right4 = Guadiato
tributary_right5 = Bembézar
tributary_right6 = Viar
tributary_right7 = Rivera de Huelva
tributary_right8 = Guadiamar
free_name =
free_value =


map_size =
map_caption = Localisation of the Guadalquivir
website = [http://www.chguadalquivir.es Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir] The Guadalquivir is the fifth longest river in Spain (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". Etymologically, "wadi" coincides with Celtic "gwâ-dodh", (sediment, place to wade through a river) and the Dutch "Wad, Waddenzee" (wading through the sea at low tide). 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

External links

* [http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/freshwater_europe/guadalquivir.php More information from the United Nations Environmental Program.]