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Riohacha

Coordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°W / 11.54417; -72.90694
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Riohacha
City and municipality
From top to bottom: View of Riohacha beachfront, Canyon Park, Camellon.
Flag of Riohacha
Flag
Official seal of Riohacha
Seal
Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot).
Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot).
Riohacha is located in Colombia
Riohacha
Riohacha
Coordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°W / 11.54417; -72.90694
Country Colombia
RegionCaribbean
DepartmentLa Guajira
Foundation1545
Founded byNikolaus Federmann
Government
 • MayorRafael Ceballos Sierra (L)[1]
Area
 • City and municipality
3,120 km2 (1,200 sq mi)
Elevation
5 m (16 ft)
Population
 (2018 Census)[2]
 • City and municipality
188,014
 • Density60/km2 (160/sq mi)
 • Urban
126,103
Time zoneUTC-05 (Eastern Time Zone)
Postal code
440001
Area code57 + 5
ClimateBSh
WebsiteOfficial website (in Spanish)
*Riohacha metropolitan area is yet to be determined.

Riohacha[a] (Spanish pronunciation: [rjoˈa.tʃa]; Wayuu: Süchiimma[b]) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterfront.

Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named after a local legend, "The legend of the Axe". Because of the powerful rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the area is mostly desertic. It is inhabited primarily by Amerindians, predominantly the Wayuu ethnic group. During colonial times, Riohacha was a very important port, as divers could retrieve vast numbers of pearls from the harbor.

In the second half of the 20th century, the city developed as one of Colombia's medium important, maritime commercial ports. It is also a multicultural center for La Guajira Department. The city is mentioned several times in novels written by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his important works are One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Place Name

The place name Riohacha has existed since the same period of the Spanish land conquest and colonization in La Guajira (1526-1536). There are three different hypotheses about its origin, all of them related to the exploration of the area of the mouth of a river in the middle part of the La Guajira Peninsula. The first hypothesis recounts the rescue that a young indigenous man makes of a lost and thirsty Spanish battalion, guiding them towards the encounter with the river; as a reward, the captain gives the native an axe and baptizes the place as El Río de La Hacha. The second hypothesis speaks of the same Spanish battalion whose Captain loses his emblematic axe when crossing said river; as a consolation he baptizes it Río de La Hacha. The third hypothesis documents the discovery of a beautiful axe buried on the river bank by a battalion of European explorers, who until now believed they were the first to arrive at that place. In this way, they called it Río de la Hacha.

The word Süchiimma means, in the Wayuunaiki language, Land of the River: Süchii (river) and Mma (land). The city is also known as Portal de Perlas (alluding to its pearl origin), the Capital of the Magical Arreboles (the most beautiful sunsets in the Colombian Caribbean) and the Mestiza del Nordeste (for its rich multiculturalism and the Trade Winds of the Northeast).

History

Cathedral of Riohacha

The Riohacha area was long inhabited by American Indians of the Wayuu culture, part of the larger Arawak group. The first European to visit the area was the Spanish sailor Alonso de Ojeda in 1498, though he never landed. A short time later, Juan de la Cosa, another Spanish explorer, landed on what is today called Cabo de la Vela (Cape of the Sail, so called because of its shape). In 1535, the German explorer Nikolaus Federmann founded a city with the name Nuestra Señora Santa Maria de los Remedios del Cabo de la Vela (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies of the Cape of the Sail) at the place where de la Cosa had landed.

The Spanish discovered a vast amount of pearls in the city's area. This treasure frequently attracted raids by pirates. After the city was destroyed by a pirate raid, the city government relocated the city to the mouth of the Ranchería River, in order to confuse the pirates, and to give the city time to rebuild before the next attack. The new city, named Nuestra Señora de los Remedios del Río de la Hacha (Our Lady of the Remedies), expanded peacefully for a short time in its new location. Pirate attacks soon resumed. The next major attack, led by the famous English privateer Francis Drake, took place in 1569, when Drake pillaged the city searching for gold and pearls.

In the 18th century, Riohacha was incorporated to the Viceroyalty of New Granada as part of the province of Santa Marta. During the battles for independence from Spain, the port of Riohacha served many vessels fighting for Colombian and Venezuelan independence. Many Riohachans also served in the revolutionary navy, most notably Admiral José Prudencio Padilla, who would come to be considered a hero in the revolutions of Colombia and Venezuela.

In 1954, Riohacha City acquired municipality status, and in 1964 was declared capital of the new La Guajira Department.

  • The Almirante Padilla Plaza in downtown Riohacha.
    The Almirante Padilla Plaza in downtown Riohacha.
  • Riohacha Beach.
    Riohacha Beach.

Culture

Transportation

Riohacha has one airport, the Almirante Padilla Airport. It serves airlines covering the route to and from the Colombian capital city Bogotá, the near cities of Valledupar and Santa Marta, and the Caribbean resort island of Aruba. In September 2016 the low-cost carrier Easy Fly initiated service between Riohacha and Barranquilla.[4]

Climate

Riohacha, owing to the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), which owing to the extremely torrid temperatures is not that far above an arid climate despite receiving as much as 546 millimetres (21.50 in) of rainfall per year. This rain falls almost exclusively in May and between August and November, and for the rest of the year there are a mere thirteen wet days out of 212 in an average year. Despite the lack of rainfall, humidity is high year round and adds to the uncomfortable heat.

Climate data for Aeropuerto de Riohacha
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 39.2
(102.6) 		36.7
(98.1) 		39.8
(103.6) 		38.4
(101.1) 		38.0
(100.4) 		38.6
(101.5) 		38.1
(100.6) 		38.8
(101.8) 		39.4
(102.9) 		36.6
(97.9) 		35.8
(96.4) 		38.6
(101.5) 		39.4
(102.9)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 32.4
(90.3) 		32.5
(90.5) 		32.5
(90.5) 		32.6
(90.7) 		33.2
(91.8) 		34.2
(93.6) 		34.8
(94.6) 		34.8
(94.6) 		33.4
(92.1) 		32.4
(90.3) 		32.1
(89.8) 		32.3
(90.1) 		33.1
(91.6)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 21.8
(71.2) 		21.9
(71.4) 		22.9
(73.2) 		24.2
(75.6) 		24.8
(76.6) 		25.3
(77.5) 		25.2
(77.4) 		25.0
(77.0) 		24.4
(75.9) 		23.7
(74.7) 		23.3
(73.9) 		22.5
(72.5) 		23.8
(74.7)
Record low °C (°F) 17.2
(63.0) 		17.0
(62.6) 		17.0
(62.6) 		17.2
(63.0) 		20.8
(69.4) 		20.0
(68.0) 		17.2
(63.0) 		19.8
(67.6) 		19.2
(66.6) 		20.0
(68.0) 		18.8
(65.8) 		16.8
(62.2) 		16.8
(62.2)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.5
(0.02) 		0.8
(0.03) 		2.6
(0.10) 		25.8
(1.02) 		75.5
(2.97) 		37.1
(1.46) 		16.2
(0.64) 		52.3
(2.06) 		115.9
(4.56) 		142.8
(5.62) 		59.2
(2.33) 		17.3
(0.68) 		546
(21.49)
Average rainy days 1 1 1 3 7 3 2 5 9 10 5 2 49
Average relative humidity (%) 70 70 71 74 75 68 66 71 76 79 79 74 73
Mean monthly sunshine hours 259.3 229.8 235.4 195.0 193.5 230.3 249.4 236.5 198.1 211.7 217.5 238.2 2,694.7
Source: INSTITUTO DE HIDROLOGIA METEOROLOGIA Y ESTUDIOS AMBIENTALES[5]

Notable people

  • View of the beachfront
    View of the beachfront
  • Malecon Beach
    Malecon Beach
  • Typical building
    Typical building
  • Colombian Wayuu craft on Avenida Primera (1st Ave.)
    Colombian Wayuu craft on Avenida Primera (1st Ave.)
  • Riohacha's Touristic Dock
    Riohacha's Touristic Dock
  • Riohacha's Sunrise at a house roof
    Riohacha's Sunrise at a house roof
  • Ranchería River empties into Riohacha
    Ranchería River empties into Riohacha
  • Cañones Park
    Cañones Park
  • One of the areas of the historic center of the city
    One of the areas of the historic center of the city
  • Identidad Monument, erected in 2010
    Identidad Monument, erected in 2010
  • Departmental Cultural Center seen from the beach
    Departmental Cultural Center seen from the beach
  • Late Nineteen Century Building in Riohacha
    Late Nineteen Century Building in Riohacha
  • House where Gabriel García Márquez was conceived, according to his autobiography Living to Tell the Tale (2002)
    House where Gabriel García Márquez was conceived, according to his autobiography Living to Tell the Tale (2002)
  • La Guajira University, located in Riohacha
    La Guajira University, located in Riohacha
  • Fishing between Alijuna and Wayú Caribbean coast, Riohacha
    Fishing between Alijuna and Wayú Caribbean coast, Riohacha

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ Also Rio Hacha and Rio de la Hacha (English: "river of the axe").
  2. ^ English: "river land".

References

  1. ^ (In Spanish) Colombian Registry of the Civil State: 2007 election results
  2. ^ https://www.dane.gov.co/files/varios/informacion-capital-DANE-2019.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ (in Spanish) National System for Cultural Information: National Festival of the Dividivi
  4. ^ "Easy Fly inicia nueva ruta Barranquilla a Riohacha".
  5. ^ Clima: Climatografía de la principales ciudades
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