Guadalquivir | |
River | |
Guadalquivir River near Coria del Río Seville
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Name origin: from al-wadi al-kabir, "great valley" or "big wash" in Arabic | |
Country | Spain |
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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 Range, Quesada, Jaén |
Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
- location | Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz |
- elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
- coordinates | 36°47′N 6°21′W / 36.783°N 6.350°WCoordinates: 36°47′N 6°21′W / 36.783°N 6.350°W |
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) |
Location of the Guadalquivir
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Website: Confederación Hidrográfica del Guadalquivir | |
The Guadalquivir (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwaðalkiˈβir]) is the fifth longest river in the Iberian peninsula and the second longest river with its entire length in Spain.
The Guadalquivir river is the only great navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable to Seville, but in Roman times it was navigable to Córdoba.
The Guadalquivir is 657 km (408 mi) long and drains an area of about 58,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi). It begins at Cañada de las Fuentes (village of Quesada) 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". The river borders Doñana National Park reserve.
The modern name of Guadalquivir comes from the Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr (الوادي الكبير), 'great valley'. Classical Arabic Wadi is pronounced in present-day Maghrebi Arabic as Oued.
There were a variety of names for the Guadalquivir in Classical and pre-Classical times. Baetis was its name to the Romans, and Greek geographers sometimes called it the river of Tartessus. Before Phoenician, Greek, and Roman colonists arrived, two indigenous names for the river may have been Kertis/Certis and Rérkēs (Ρέρκης).