| Guadalquivir | |
| River | |
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Guadalquivir River in Coria del Río
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| Name origin: from al-wad al-kabir, "great river" 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 Mountains, Jaén |
| Mouth | Atlantic Ocean |
| - location | Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| - coordinates | |
| 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) |
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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 to be its whole length in Spain. 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 to Seville, but in Roman times it was navigable to Córdoba.
The ancient city of Tartessos was said to have been located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, although its site has not yet been found.
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The name comes from the Arabic al-wādi al-kabīr (الوادي الكبير), 'The Great River'. 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), but it's from Phoenician qorteb meaning "oil press".