Guadiana

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Guadiana river

Guadiana basin

The Guadiana near Serpa, Portugal.

Guadiana mouth, Portugal on the left, Spain on the right

Guadiana (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡwað̞iˈana], Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡwɐdiˈɐnɐ]), or Odiana, is one of the major rivers of Spain and Portugal. It forms part of the border between the two countries, separating Extremadura and Andalucia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal).

The etymology of the name is the Arabic: Wadi Ana‎, meaning "River Ana", where the word Ana is not Arabic but instead part of the original Latin name "Fluminus Anae" (or "Anas"), meaning "River of Ducks (/anae/)".

It is 742 kilometers long and drainage basin of about 67,000 square kilometers. It flows into the Gulf of Cadiz, part of the Atlantic Ocean, between Vila Real de Santo António (Portugal) and Ayamonte (Spain). In Spain the river flows east to west, then flows south through Portugal.

Badajoz and Mérida, Spain, are the largest cities on the river. The largest Portuguese cities along the Guadiana are: Elvas, Moura, Serpa and Vila Real de Santo António. The latter is 2 km from its mouth. There are over thirty dams on the river basin,^[1] the largest of which is the Alqueva dam, near Moura, in Beja district.