Huelva

Port and capital of Huelva province in Andalusia, southwest Spain, situated on the Atlantic coast, on a small peninsula formed by the junction of the Tinto and the Odiel rivers; population (2001) 142,300. Industries include shipbuilding and oil refining; there is a large petrochemical complex here which produces fertilizers, sulphuric acid, and explosives, as well as petrol and oil products. There are also fisheries, and a trade in ores from the Río Tinto mines.

Columbus, who had studied maps and manuscripts at the nearby monastery of La Rábida, began and ended his first voyage to America at nearby Palos de la Frontera.

Huelva

Province of southwest Spain in western Andalusia autonomous community; area 10,100 sq km/3,900 sq mi; population (1995 est) 458,700. Huelva borders the Portuguese frontier to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Much of the province is occupied by spurs of the Sierra Morena mountain range, and the rivers Tinto and Odiel (as well as tributaries of the Guadiana and Guadalquivir rivers) flow through it. There are rich deposits of iron and copper pyrites (naturally occurring iron sulphides and double sulphides of iron and copper), which have been mined since prehistoric times. The provincial capital is Huelva.