Map - Granada

Granada is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Darro, the Genil, the Monachil and the Beiro. Ascribed to the Vega de Granada comarca, the city sits at an average elevation of 738 m above sea level, yet is only one hour by car from the Mediterranean coast, the Costa Tropical. Nearby is the Sierra Nevada Ski Station, where the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996 were held.

In the 2021 national census, the population of the city of Granada proper was 227,383, and the population of the entire municipal area was estimated to be 231,775, ranking as the 20th-largest urban area of Spain. About 3.3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenship, the largest number of these people (31%; or 1% of the total population) coming from South America. Its nearest airport is Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport.

The area was settled since ancient times by Iberians, Romans, and Visigoths. The current settlement became a major city of Al-Andalus in the 11th century during the Zirid Taifa of Granada. In the 13th century it became the capital of the Emirate of Granada under Nasrid rule, the last Muslim-ruled state in the Iberian Peninsula. Granada was conquered in 1492 by the Catholic Monarchs and progressively transformed into a Christian city over the course of the 16th century.

The Alhambra, a medieval Nasrid citadel and palace, is located in Granada. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the most visited tourist sites in Spain. Islamic-period influence and Moorish architecture are also preserved in the Albaicín neighborhood and other medieval monuments in the city. The 16th century also saw a flourishing of Mudéjar architecture and Renaissance architecture, followed later by Baroque and Churrigueresque styles. The University of Granada has an estimated 47,000 undergraduate students spread over five different campuses in the city. The pomegranate (in Spanish, granada) is the heraldic device of Granada.

Granada's historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة (Ġarnāṭa). Both the name's meaning and origin are uncertain and have been debated. The toponym definitely existed prior to the Zirid period in the 11th century. It probably first appeared in the 9th century and it is found in Arabic sources from the 10th century.

The word Gárnata (or Karnata) possibly meant "hill of strangers". Another meaning might be "hill of pilgrims". It could even have been of Berber origin. Another theory is that it derived from Latin (or its plural ), meaning "seed", "beads", or a "scarlet color", which would have been adapted into Arabic as Ġarnāṭa or Iġranāṭa. The Arab chronicler Al-Maqqari believed that it came from the Latin word for pomegranate,. In either case, the Latin word may have been used not in its primary sense, but in the more derived sense of "red", referring to the color of the area's soil and its buildings. This would also mirror the etymology of the name of the Alhambra.