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28-652: The top of the flow gage tower was reached by the Guadiana twice in 50 years. This Beja location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a protected area in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Guadiana River The Guadiana River ( / ˌ ɡ w ɑː d i ˈ ɑː n ə / GWAH -dee- AH -nə , US also / ɡ w ɑː d ˈ j ɑː n ə / gwahd- YAH -nə , Spanish: [ɡwaˈðjana] , Portuguese: [ɡwɐdiˈɐnɐ] )

56-479: A "pre-autonomous" region, the reorganization proposal finally took effect one week after the Statute of Autonomy of Castilla–La Mancha was approved on 10 August 1982. Under this new arrangement, Castilla-La Mancha was subdivided into five provinces, Albacete , Ciudad Real, Cuenca , Guadalajara , and Toledo , each named after its largest town and capital city. The province of Ciudad Real is located in central Spain and

84-519: A valued nature conservation character to the region. In Spain, three autonomous communities, (Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Andalusia) (comprising the provinces of Ciudad Real , Badajoz , and Huelva ) are crossed by the Guadiana. Meanwhile, in Portugal the river crosses the regions of Alentejo and Algarve , and the districts of Portalegre , Évora , Beja and Faro . There are over 30 dams on

112-632: Is semiarid with an average annual temperature of 14 to 16 °C (57 to 61 °F). The river empties into the Gulf of Cádiz between Ayamonte and Vila Real de Santo António, the two highly touristic regions of the Algarve and the sea-side of Andalusia . There it forms a saltmarsh estuary . The estuary has a maximum width of 550 metres (1,800 ft), and its depth ranges from 5 to 17 metres (16 to 56 ft). Tides are semi- diurnal , ranging from 0.8 to 3.5 metres (2.6 to 11.5 ft); their upriver propagation

140-640: Is a wetland area called La Mancha Húmeda. The lagoons and marshes have a resident population of wetland birds and are visited by migrating wildfowl in autumn and spring. The largest towns in the province are Ciudad Real , with a population of 74,960 at the 2014 census, Puertollano with 50,608, Tomelloso with 38,080, Alcázar de San Juan with 31,650, and Valdepeñas with 30,705. Other larger municipalities with over ten thousand inhabitants are Manzanares , Daimiel , La Solana , Miguelturra , Campo de Criptana , Socuéllamos , Bolaños de Calatrava and Villarrubia de los Ojos . The Tablas de Daimiel National Park

168-593: Is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border , separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from la Mancha and the eastern portion of Extremadura to the southern provinces of the Algarve; the river and its tributaries flow from east to west, then south through Portugal to the border towns of Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal) and Ayamonte (Spain), where it flows into

196-416: Is composed of pyroclastic cones , lava domes and maars , and rises to 1,117 m (3,665 ft). The last known eruption was around 3,600 BC. The historical population is given in the following chart: The province has good communications with other parts of Spain and is on the main route between Toledo and Andalusia. The A-4 route passes from north to south between Puerto Lápice and Almuradiel on

224-571: Is limited by falls situated 76 kilometres (47 mi) from the mouth at Moinho dos Canais. In the lower estuary there are nature reserves covering a total of 2,089 hectares (5,160 acres); in Spain, the Marismas de Isla Cristina and, in Portugal, the Reserva Natural do Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António (English: Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António Marsh Natural Reserve ); they give

252-512: Is located in the province of Ciudad Real. It is a wetland area on the La Mancha plain, an otherwise mainly arid region. It has an area of about 2,000 hectares and is the smallest of Spain's fifteen national parks. It is being expanded to include some of the neighbouring dryland farming areas. The Cabañeros National Park is shared with the neighbouring Province of Toledo . It has an area of 390 square kilometres (150 sq mi) and lies between

280-480: Is sandwiched between the Province of Badajoz and the Province of Toledo . The provincial capital is Ciudad Real . Part of the province is part of the plateau of La Mancha , an elevated but fertile area averaging 500 to 600 metres (1,600 to 2,000 ft) above sea level, the highest elevation being in the comarca of Campo de Montiel at 900 metres (2,950 ft). The main river, crossing the province from east to west,

308-449: Is the Guadiana , and its right bank tributary, the Cigüela . Most of the province is an arid plain, cool in summer and very cold in winter with wide daily fluctuations. The area is agricultural, with wheat, barley, oats, sugar beet, grapes and olives being grown. Cattle are raised here and there are large flocks of sheep. In the valleys formed by the upper reaches of the Guadiana and Cigüela

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336-511: Is the third largest province in the country with an area of 19,813 km (7,650 sq mi). To the north lies the Province of Toledo, to the northeast the Province of Cuenca, to the east the Province of Albacete, to the south lie the Provinces of Córdoba and Jaén , and to the west the Province of Badajoz . To the northwest of the province is a separate area, the exclave of Anchuras , which

364-725: The Gulf of Cádiz . With a course that covers a distance of 829 kilometres (515 mi), it is the fourth-longest in the Iberian Peninsula , and its hydrological basin extends over an area of approximately 68,000 square kilometres (26,000 sq mi) (the majority of which lies within Spain). Ptolemy's Geography recorded the Celtiberian name as Anas , meaning a marshy area or bayou . The Romans adapted this name as [Flumen Anās ] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |links= ( help ) , which

392-586: The Elder , was that the river originated from the Lagunas de Ruidera and divided into two branches: the Upper Guadiana (Spanish: Guadiana Viejo ) and the Guadiana, while separated by a subterranean course. This legend developed from a misguided belief (which persisted until the 19th century) that the river appeared and disappeared over time, because of its subterranean tributary. In fact, no subterranean course exists, and

420-658: The Estena and Bullaque rivers, extending into the Chorito and Miraflores mountain ranges. It contains remnants of the Iberian Mediterranean forest which used to clothe this part of Spain. In the centre of the province is the Campo de Calatrava , the geology of which is volcanic. The Campo de Calatrava Volcanic Field covers an area of 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) and has more than three hundred individual structures. It

448-413: The Guadiana is the highest waterfall is Southern Portugal called Pulo do Lobo . The ecosystem has Mediterranean hydrological characteristics, including high variation in intra- and inter-annual discharge, large floods and severe droughts. This variability is a consequence of considerable variation in rainwater supply averaging around an annual mean of 400 to 600 millimetres (16 to 24 in). The climate

476-456: The belief that the Lagunas de Ruidera is the source is also controversial. toponymically and traditionally the Upper Guadiana, which runs from Viveros ( Albacete ) until Argamasilla de Alba ( Ciudad Real ) had been identified as the main branch of the Guadiana. But even hydro-geological characteristics indicate that the Upper Guadiana may not be the principal river within the system. Another of

504-414: The historical province of La Mancha, which was part of the kingdom of Toledo. The Spanish government created the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha on 15 November 1978, as one of several autonomous regions. The new, hyphenated name was chosen to join the historic Castilla region , which extended beyond the new autonomous region, and that of the smaller historic province of La Mancha . Initially

532-450: The old natural region of La Mancha . Its capital is Ciudad Real . It is the third largest province by area in all of Spain , after Cáceres and Badajoz. The historic comarca Campo de Calatrava is located in the center of the province. Ciudad Real was one of the 49 provinces in which Spain was divided in the territorial reorganization of 1833 , taking its name from its largest city and capital. Its limits corresponded more or less to

560-565: The origin theories, postulated that the Cigüela and Záncara rivers were the sources of the Guadiana. Today, they are considered integral parts of the river's headwaters and important tributaries, but not necessarily the exact origin. The Ciguela's source is in Altos de Cabreras ( Cuenca ) and pertains to the Sistema Ibérico , at an elevation of 1,080 metres (3,540 ft). Its course is 225 kilometres (140 mi) long, receiving contributions from

588-715: The prefix guad- such as the hydronyms Guadalquivir , Guadalete , and Guadarrama . The Guadiana flows east to west through Spain and south through Portugal, then forms the Spanish-Portuguese border; it flows into the Gulf of Cádiz , part of the Atlantic Ocean, between Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal) and Ayamonte (Spain). It is 818 kilometres (508 mi) long, of which 578 kilometres (359 mi) are within Spanish territory, 140 kilometres (87 mi) within Portugal, while 100 kilometres (62 mi) are shared between

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616-416: The river basin. The following are the dams on the Guadiana river itself: Ciudad Real Province The province of Ciudad Real ( Spanish: [θjuˈðað reˈal] ) is a province in the southwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha , Spain . It is bordered by the provinces of Cuenca , Albacete , Jaén , Córdoba , Badajoz , and Toledo . It is partly located in

644-460: The rivers Jualón, Torrejón, Riánsares, Amarguillo and Záncara . The union of the rivers Ciguela and Záncara permits the replenishment of the waters in the Tablas de Daimiel National Park , a wetland that was designated for protection by the Spanish government in 1973 (situated in the municipalities of Villarrubia de los Ojos and Daimiel , in the province of Ciudad Real). From its origin/spring runs from

672-508: The southern Iberian plain in a direction east to west, to near the town of Badajoz , where it begins to track south leading to the Gulf of Cádiz. The Guadiana marks the border of Spain and Portugal twice as it runs to the ocean: first, between the River Caia and Ribeira de Cuncos , then later from the River Chança until its mouth. The river is not used to completely mark the boundary between

700-647: The two nations. About 82 percent, 55,444 square kilometres (21,407 sq mi), of its basin is in Spain, while about 17 percent, 11,560 square kilometres (4,460 sq mi) is in Portugal. The exact source of the river in Castilla-La Mancha is disputed, but it is generally believed to spring in the Ojos del Guadiana  [ es ] , Villarrubia de los Ojos municipal term, Ciudad Real Province , Castile–La Mancha, about 608 metres (1,995 ft) in elevation. A classic theory introduced by Pliny

728-503: The two states; between the Olivenza ravine and the Táliga ravine, the border still remains a disputed section claimed de jure by both countries and administered de facto by Spain (as part of the Spanish autonomous community of Extremadura ). For the most part, the Guadiana is navigable from the Atlantic Ocean until Mértola , a distance of 68 kilometres (42 mi). North of Mértola on

756-561: The way from Madrid to Andalusia. The capital, Puertollano , and other locations are linked to this road by the A-43 and A-41, and the Autovía de los Viñedos motorway passes through the northeastern part of the province. Railway communications are via the Madrid–Seville high-speed rail line which has stations in the towns of Ciudad Real and Puertollano. Air travel was enabled by the opening in 2008 of

784-585: Was etymolygised as the "River of Ducks." After the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula , the name was extended and referred to as Wadi Ana , later passed on to Portuguese and Spanish settlers as the Ouadiana , and later just Odiana . Since the 16th century, the name slowly evolved to take on the form Guadiana , a cognitive variation that developed from many Andalusi river place-names beginning in wadi using

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