Guadalquivir
Guadalquivir is a mapped river in the YearMaps hydrographic index. River courses organise settlement, agriculture and frontier-making more durably than any political boundary, and this reach is indexed against the dams, lakes and cities within its catchment.
- Feature Class
- River
- Coordinates
- 37.95°, -4.48°
About Guadalquivir
The Guadalquivir (, also UK: , US: , Spanish: [ɡwaðalkiˈβiɾ]) is the fifth-longest river in the Iberian Peninsula and the second-longest river with its entire length in Spain. The Guadalquivir is the only major navigable river in Spain. Currently it is navigable from Seville to the Gulf of Cádiz, but in Roman times it was both navigable from as far inland as Córdoba and opened into a shallow, yet wide natural harbor at sea.
Encyclopedic summary adapted from Wikipedia: Guadalquivir (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Guadalquivir in Depth
Geography
The river is 657 km (408 mi) long and drains an area of about 58,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi). It flows through Córdoba and Seville and reaches the sea at Sanlúcar de Barrameda, flowing into the Gulf of Cádiz in the Atlantic Ocean.
The course of the Guadalquivir is divided into three parts. This division is based on the main course of the river and its confluence with other rivers.
The Guadalquivir originates at an elevation of about 1,350 meters above sea level in a place known as Cañada de las Fuentes, in the Sierra de Cazorla mountain range. The upper course of the river runs from the source of the Guadalquivir roughly to Mengíbar. It includes its junction with the Guadalimar, just east of Mengíbar.
The middle course curso medio starts near Mengíbar and ends near Palma del Río.
History
During a significant portion of the Holocene, the western Guadalquivir valley was occupied by an inland sea, the Tartessian Gulf.
The Phoenicians established the first anchorage grounds and dealt in precious metals. The ancient city of Tartessos (that gave its name to the Tartessian Civilization) was said to have been located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, although its site has not yet been found.
The Romans, whose name for the river was Baetis, settled in Hispalis (Seville), in the 2nd century BC, making it into an important river port. By the 1st century BC, Hispalis was a walled city with shipyards building longboats to carry wheat. In the 1st century AD the Hispalis was home to entire naval squadrons.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Guadalquivir (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Guadalquivir: Key Facts
| Length | 657 km |
|---|---|
| Average discharge | 164 m³/s |
| Drainage basin | 56,978 km² |
| Source | Sierra de Cazorla |
| Mouth | Gulf of Cádiz |
| Drainage system | Guadalquivir Basin |
| Tributaries | Genil, Guadiamar, Pudio, Guadalbullón, Jandulilla, Cuadros, Rivera de Huelva, Borosa River |
Facts from Wikidata Q14309 (CC0).
Major River Dossiers
Hand-written studies of the great river systems of history.
Connected Reaches
Nearby watercourses in the same drainage network.
Water Bodies in the Catchment
Settlements Along the Reach
Hydraulic Infrastructure Nearby
Surrounding Terrain
Guadalquivir: Quick Answers
- Where is Guadalquivir?
- Guadalquivir is located in Spain, at 37.9525° N, 4.4816° W.
- Are there dams on the Guadalquivir?
- No dam on the Guadalquivir is recorded in the YearMaps dam index, which covers major structures only.