Chocó Department

Coordinates: 5°42′N 76°40′W / 5.700°N 76.667°W / 5.700; -76.667
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Department of Chocó
Departamento del Chocó
Department
Flag of Department of Chocó
Flag
Coat of arms of Department of Chocó
Coat of arms
Chocó shown in red
Chocó shown in red
Topography of the department
Topography of the department
Coordinates: 5°42′N 76°40′W / 5.700°N 76.667°W / 5.700; -76.667
Country Colombia
RegionPacific Region
EstablishedNovember 3, 1947
CapitalQuibdó
Government
 • GovernorJhoany Carlos Alberto Palacios Mosquera(2016-2019)
Area
[1][2]
 • Total46,530 km2 (17,970 sq mi)
 • Rank9th
Population
 (2013)[3]
 • Total490,327
 • Rank23rd
 • Density11/km2 (27/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-05
ISO 3166 codeCO-CHO
Municipalities30

Chocó Department (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃoˈko], Spanish: Departamento del Chocó) is a department of Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It also has all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.

Chocó has a diverse geography, unique ecosystems and unexploited natural resources. However, its population has one of the lowest standards of living of all Departments in Colombia. In March 2007 Colombian media reported that some 50 children starved in less than three months, creating awareness of the grave condition Chocó inhabitants are facing. Infrastructure problems were also revealed. For example, despite its status as the world's rainiest lowland, with close to 400 inches (10,000 mm) of annual precipitation,[4] Chocó's capital Quibdó was left without drinking water.[5]

Map of the Darién Gap and the break in the Pan-American Highway between Yaviza, Panama and Turbo, Colombia

History

The Department was created in 1944 being speaker at House of Representatives Pedro Yances Salcedo, but it was never legally established.[5] Due to its low population, inhospitable topography, and distance from Bogotá, Chocó has received little attention from the Colombian government. During the government of military dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Chocó was to be eliminated as a department and divided between Antioquia department and Valle del Cauca department, but Pinilla's intentions were thwarted by the 1957 coup d'état of General Gabriel París Gordillo.

Geography

The Chocó Department is covered mostly by the Baudó Mountains.

The Chocó Department makes up most of the ecoregion known as El Chocó that extends from Panama to Ecuador.

The municipality of Lloró holds the Highest Average Annual Precipitation record measured at 523.6 inches (13,300 mm) which makes it the wettest place in the world.[6] Three large rivers drain the Chocó Department, the Atrato, the San Juan and the Baudó, and each has many tributaries. The Baudó Mountains on the coast and the Cordillera Occidental are cut by low valleys with an altitude less than 1,000 meters that form most of the territory. Most of the Chocó is thick rainforest. Much of Colombia's internal consumption of wood come from the Chocó, with a small percentage harvested for export. Choco Department produces the majority of Colombia significant platinum output (28,359 ounces of platinum in 2011). Choco is also Colombia top gold-producing region (653,625 ounces in 2011).

Demographics

Chocó is inhabited predominantly by descendants of African slaves brought by the Spanish colonizers after conquering the Americas. The second race/ethnic group are the Emberá, the remaining Native American people, with more than half of their total population in Colombia living in Chocó, some 35,500. They practice hunting and artisan fishing and live near rivers.[7]

The total population as of 2005 was less than half a million, with more than half living in the Quibdó valley. According to a 2005 census[8] the ethnic composition of the department is:

Towns and municipalities

Quibdó is the largest city with a population of almost 100,000. Other important cities and towns include Istmina, Condoto, Nóvita and El Carmen in the interior, Acandí on the Caribbean coast, and Solano on the Pacific coast. Resorts include Capurganá on the Caribbean coast, and Jurado, Nuquí, and Bahía Solano on the west coast.

Municipalities

  1. Acandí
  2. Alto Baudó
  3. Atrato
  4. Bagado
  5. Bahía Solano
  6. Bajo Baudó
  7. Belen de Bajira
  8. Bojayá
  9. Cértegui
  10. Condoto
  11. El Cantón de San Pablo
  12. El Carmen de Atrato
  13. El Carmen del Darién
  14. Istmina
  15. Juradó
  16. Litoral del San Juan
  17. Lloró
  18. Medio Atrato
  19. Medio Baudó
  20. Medio San Juan
  21. Nóvita
  22. Nuquí
  23. Quibdó
  24. Río Iró
  25. Río Quito
  26. Riosucio
  27. San José del Palmar
  28. Sipí
  29. Tadó
  30. Unguía
  31. Unión Panamericana

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Meyer, Irina Marún; et al. (2012). Chocó: La dimensión territorial y el logro de los ODM (PDF). Fondo para el Logro de los Objetivos del Milenio, United Nations Development Programme. p. 11.
  2. ^ Kline, Harvey F. (2012). "Chocó, Department of". Historical Dictionary of Colombia. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8108-7813-6.
  3. ^ "DANE". Archived from the original on November 13, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dead-url= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ James J. Parsons (November 1978), "Review of Slavery on the Spanish Frontier: The Colombian Chocó, 1680-1810 by William Frederick Sharp", The Hispanic American Historical Review, 58 (4), Duke University Press: 717–718, JSTOR 2513352
  5. ^ a b "¿Se debe acabar Chocó?". Semana (in Spanish). Bogotá: Semana.com. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  6. ^ NOAA Satellite and Information Service Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation
  7. ^ "86 tribus subsisten en Colombia". El País (in Spanish). Cali, Colombia: elpais.com. 23 March 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved 7 February 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "La visibilización estadística de los grupos étnicos colombianos" (PDF) (in Spanish).

References

External links

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