Guadalcanal, Seville

Guadalcanal is a village in the province of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.The name was given to the island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1568. The name was chosen by Pedro de Ortega Valencia who had been born in the village. He was a subordinate of Spanish explorer and navigator, Álvaro de Mendaña de Neira.Location and populationIn 2006 there were 2,970 inhabitants. It has an area of 275 square kilometres and a population density of 10,6 people per square-km. It is at an altitude of 662 metres, in a valley between the Sierra del Agua and the Sierra del Viento, in the region of the North Mountains of Seville. Guadalcanal is 80 kilometres north of Seville, it depends to the judicial party of Cazalla de la SierraEtymologyThe name, etymologically, might come from the Arabic phrase Wadi al-Qanal, meaning "river of the stalls" or "valley of stalls", referring to the refreshment stalls set up there during the Muslim rule in Andalusia. But it is more likely to be a mixture of Arabic "Wad" and Spanish "del Canal" . Other names were Tereses or Tereja or Canani with the Iberians.HistoryIt was reconquered by the Order of Santiago in 1241 from the Moors, then Guadalcanal belonged to the León's province as well as other parts of Extremadura. In the ecclesiastical matter, it belonged to the Santa María de Tendudia vicary.