Departments of Colombia

Capital district and departments of Colombia
Distrito Capital y los Departamentos de Colombia (Spanish)
Capital district and departments of Colombia; Distrito Capital y los Departamentos de Colombia (Spanish)
Category	Unitary state
Location	Republic of Colombia
Number	32 Departments; 1 Capital District
Populations	(Departments only):33,152 (Vaupés) – 5,750,478 (Antioquia)
Areas	(Departments only):50 km2 (19.3 sq mi) (San Andrés) – 109,665.0 km2 (42,341.89 sq mi) (Amazonas)
Government	Department government, National government;
Subdivisions	Municipality;

Colombia is a unitary republic formed by thirty-two departments (Spanish: departamentos, sing. departamento) and a Capital District (Distrito Capital).^[1] Each department has a Governor (gobernador) and a Department Assembly (Asamblea Departamental), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods. Departments are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy.

Departments are formed by a grouping of municipalities (municipios, sing. municipio). Municipal government is headed by mayor (alcalde) and administered by a Municipal Council (concejo municipal), both of which are elected for four-year periods.

Chart of departments

Each one of the departments of Colombia in the map below links to a corresponding article.

	Department	Capital	Area (km²)	Population	Date of establishment
-	Bogotá, Capital District	-	1,587	8,254,722	1538-08-06
01	Amazonas	Leticia	109,665	80,360	1991-10-05
02	Antioquia	Medellín	63,612	5,750,478	1826-??-??
03	Arauca	Arauca	23,818	282,302	1991-07-04
04	Atlántico	Barranquilla	3,388	2,365,663	1910-07-14
05	Bolívar	Cartagena	25,978	2,229,967	1857-06-15
06	Boyacá	Tunja	23,189	1,411,239	1539-??-??
07	Caldas	Manizales	7,888	1,170,187	1905-??-??
08	Caquetá	Florencia	88,965	463,333	1982-??-??
09	Casanare	Yopal	44,640	325,713	1991-07-04
10	Cauca	Popayán	29,308	1,363,054	1857-06-15
11	Cesar	Valledupar	22,905	1,050,303	1967-12-21^[2]
12	Chocó	Quibdó	46,530	413,173	1947-11-03
13	Córdoba	Montería	25,020	1,392,905	1952-06-18
14	Cundinamarca	Bogotá	24,210	2,680,041	1857-06-15
15	Guainía	Inirida	72,238	43,314	1963-06-13
16	Guaviare	San José del Guaviare	53,460	133,236	1991-07-04
17	Huila	Neiva	19,890	994,218	1905-??-??
18	La Guajira	Riohacha	20,848	524,619	1965-07-01
19	Magdalena	Santa Marta	23,188	1,403,318	1824-07-25
20	Meta	Villavicencio	85,635	771,089	1960-07-01
21	Nariño	Pasto	33,268	1,775,139	1904-08-06
22	Norte de Santander	Cúcuta	21,658	1,493,932	1910-07-25
23	Putumayo	Mocoa	24,885	378,483	1991-??-??
24	Quindío	Armenia	1,845	613,375	1966-07-01
25	Risaralda	Pereira	4,140	1,024,362	1966-07-01
26	San Andrés y Providencia	San Andrés	52	83,491	1991-07-04
27	Santander	Bucaramanga	30,537	2,085,084	1857-05-13
28	Sucre	Sincelejo	10,917	868,648	1966-08-18
29	Tolima	Ibagué	23,562	1,312,972	1886-08-04
30	Valle del Cauca	Cali	22,140	4,524,678	1910-04-16
31	Vaupés	Mitú	54,135	33,152	1991-07-04
32	Vichada	Puerto Carreño	100,242	97,276	1991-07-05

Estimate for Cundinamarca includes the country's capital, Bogotá.

Territorios indígenas

The indigenous territories are at the third level of administrative division in Colombia, as are the municipalities. Indigenous territories are created by agreement between the government and indigenous communities. In cases where indigenous territories covering more than one department or municipality, local governments jointly administer them with the indigenous councils, as set out in Articles 329 and 330 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991. Also indigenous territories may achieve local autonomy if they meet the requirements of the law.

Article 329 of the 1991 constitution recognizes the collective indigenous ownership of indigenous territories and repeats that are inalienable. Law 160 of 1994 created the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Campesino, and replaced Law 135 of 1961 on Agrarian Social Reform; it establishes and sets out the functions of INCORA, one of the most important being to declare which territories will acquire the status of indigenous protection and what extension of existing ones will be allowed. Decree 2164 of 1995 interprets Law 160 of 1994, providing, among other things, a legal definition of indigenous territories.^[3]

Indigenous territories in Colombia are mostly in the departments of Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Guaviare and Vaupés.^[1]

History

República de la Gran Colombia

When it was first established in 1819, República de la Gran Colombia had three departments. Venezuela, Cundinmarca (now Colombia) and Quito (now Ecuador).^[4] In 1824 the Distrito del Centro (which became Colombia) was divided into five departments, and further divided into seventeen provices. One department, Istmo Department, consisting of two provinces later became Panama.^[5]

República de la Nueva Granada

With the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1826 by the Revolution of the Morrocoyes (La Cosiata), New Granada kept its 17 provinces. In 1832 the provinces of Vélez and Barbacoas were created, and in 1835 those of Buenaventura and Pasto were added. In 1843 those of Cauca, Mompós and Túquerres were created. At this time the cantons (cantones) and parish districts were created, which provided the basis for the present-day municipalities.^[5]^[6]

By 1853 the number of provinces had increased to thirty-six, namely:Antioquia, Azuero, Barbacoas, Bogotá, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Casanare, Cauca, Chiriquí, Chocó, Córdova, Cundinamarca, García Rovira, Mariquita, Medellín, Mompós, Neiva, Ocaña, Pamplona, Panamá, Pasto, Popayán, Riohacha, Sabanilla, Santa Marta, Santander, Socorro, Soto, Tequendama, Tunja, Tundama, Túquerres, Valle de Upar, Veraguas, Vélez and Zipaquirá.^[6] However, the new constitution of 1853 introduced federalism, which lead to the consolidation of provinces into states. By 1858 this process was complete, with a resulting eight federal states: Panamá was formed in 1855, Antioquia in 1856, Santander in May 1857, and Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Magdalena were formed in June 1858. 1861 saw the creation of the final federal state of Tolima.^[7]

República de Colombia

The Colombian Constitution of 1886 converted the states of Colombia into departments, with the state presidents renamed as governors. The states formed the following original departments:

Maps gallery

Map of the departments of Colombia with Municipalities.
Map of departments of Colombia with names overlaid.
Map of Colombia with numbered departments
Political map of Colombia
Topography of Colombia, highly variable per department

References

^ ^a ^b "Division Política de Colombia" (in Spanish). Portal ColombiaYA.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ "History of Cesar" (in Spanish). Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute. Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ Decree 2164 of 1995 provides "Reserva Indígena. Es un globo de terreno baldío ocupado por una o varias comunidades indígenas que fué delimitado y legalmente asignado por el INCORA a aquellas para que ejerzan en él los derechos de uso y usufructo con exclusión de terceros. Las reservas indígenas constituyen tierras comunales de grupos étnicos, para los fines previstos en el artículo 63 de la Constitución Política y la ley 21 de 1991. […] Territorios Indígenas. Son las áreas poseidas en forma regular y permanente por una comunidad, parcialidad o grupo indígena y aquellas que, aunque no se encuentren poseidas en esa forma, constituyen el ámbito tradicional de sus actividades sociales, económicas y culturales. " Art. 21: "Los resguardos son una institución legal y sociopolítica de carácter especial, conformada por una o más comunidades indígenas, que con un título de propiedad colectiva que goza de las garantías de la propiedad privada, poseen su territorio y se rigen para el manejo de éste y su vida interna por una organización autónoma amparada por el fuero indígena y su sistema normativo propio."
^ Guhl Nannetti, Ernesto (1991). "Capítulo XII: División Política de la Gran Colombia". Las fronteras políticas y los límites naturales: escritos geograficos [Political Boundaries and Their Natural Limits: Geographic writings] (in Spanish). Bogotá: Fondo FEN. ISBN 978-958-9129-22-7.
^ ^a ^b Aguilera Peña, Mario (January 2002). "División política administrativa de Colombia". Credential Historia (in Spanish). Bogotá: Banco de la República. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
^ ^a ^b Oficina Nacional de Estadística (Office of National Statistics) (1876). "Estadística de Colombia" [Colombian Statistics] (PDF) (in Spanish). Bogotá: Oficina Nacional de Estadística. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
^ Domínguez, Camilo; Chaparro, Jeffer; Gómez, Carla (2006). "Construcción y deconstrucción territorial del Caribe Colombiano durante el siglo XIX". Scripta Nova (Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales). 10 (218 (75)).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

Template:Fr icon List of Colombian departments governors
"Departments of Colombia". Statoids.

[Portal-Co-1] "Division Política de Colombia" (in Spanish). Portal ColombiaYA.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[2] "History of Cesar" (in Spanish). Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute. Archived from the original on 24 October 2003. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[3] Decree 2164 of 1995 provides "Reserva Indígena. Es un globo de terreno baldío ocupado por una o varias comunidades indígenas que fué delimitado y legalmente asignado por el INCORA a aquellas para que ejerzan en él los derechos de uso y usufructo con exclusión de terceros. Las reservas indígenas constituyen tierras comunales de grupos étnicos, para los fines previstos en el artículo 63 de la Constitución Política y la ley 21 de 1991. […] Territorios Indígenas. Son las áreas poseidas en forma regular y permanente por una comunidad, parcialidad o grupo indígena y aquellas que, aunque no se encuentren poseidas en esa forma, constituyen el ámbito tradicional de sus actividades sociales, económicas y culturales. " Art. 21: "Los resguardos son una institución legal y sociopolítica de carácter especial, conformada por una o más comunidades indígenas, que con un título de propiedad colectiva que goza de las garantías de la propiedad privada, poseen su territorio y se rigen para el manejo de éste y su vida interna por una organización autónoma amparada por el fuero indígena y su sistema normativo propio."

[Guhl-4] Guhl Nannetti, Ernesto (1991). "Capítulo XII: División Política de la Gran Colombia". Las fronteras políticas y los límites naturales: escritos geograficos [Political Boundaries and Their Natural Limits: Geographic writings] (in Spanish). Bogotá: Fondo FEN. ISBN 978-958-9129-22-7.

[Aguilera-Pena-5] Aguilera Peña, Mario (January 2002). "División política administrativa de Colombia". Credential Historia (in Spanish). Bogotá: Banco de la República. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

[Estadística-6] Oficina Nacional de Estadística (Office of National Statistics) (1876). "Estadística de Colombia" [Colombian Statistics] (PDF) (in Spanish). Bogotá: Oficina Nacional de Estadística. Retrieved 23 November 2016.

[Domínguez-7] Domínguez, Camilo; Chaparro, Jeffer; Gómez, Carla (2006). "Construcción y deconstrucción territorial del Caribe Colombiano durante el siglo XIX". Scripta Nova (Revista Electrónica de Geografía y Ciencias Sociales). 10 (218 (75)).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

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