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'Antioquia' is one of the 32
Departments of the
Republic of Colombia located in the central northwestern part of this country with a narrow section that borders the
Caribbean sea however, most of its territory is
mountainous with some important
valleys, part of the
Andes mountain range. Antioquia has been part of many territorial divisions of former countries created over the present day territory of Colombia and prior to the
constitution of
1886, Antioquia and the other states were sovereign governments in their own right.
The department covers an area of 63,612 km² (24,427 sq mi), and has an estimated population of 5,819,358 (
2006 estimate). Antioquia borders with the
Cordoba Department and the
Caribbean Sea to the north,
Chocó Department to the west, to the east it borders the
departments of
Bolivar,
Santander and
Boyaca, and to the south the
departments of
Caldas and
Risaralda.
Medellín is Antioquia's capital city, and the second largest in the country. Other important towns are
Santa Fe de Antioquia, the old capital located on the Cauca, and
Puerto Berrío on the Magdalena.
History
Pre-Columbian
The first inhabitants of today's Antioquia Department were believed to have arrived c. 10,500 years BC. At the time of the
Spanish conquerors in the
16th Century, Antioquia was populated by the
Indigenous peoples named
Caribs. According to archeological data tribes pertaining to this ethnic group began to extend through the
Caribbean coast near the
Gulf of Uraba and later extended to the south mainly living in the
basins of the rivers
Cauca and
Magdalena.
There is little clarity over the culture of the Caribs, since the Spaniards classified as Caribs any Indigenous ethnic group that showed violence resistance to them, using bows and poisoned arrows, and practiced cannibalism or sodomy. Two families descended from the Caribs inhabit the Anqioquia Department;
Catíos and
Nutabes, mainly living in the basin of the Cauca River and the
Aburra Valley (Now
Medellín), and the
Tahamíes that lived between the Porce River and the Magdalena River. In the Gulf of Uraba two sub-groups pertaining to the Caribs lived; the Urabáes and
Cunas (which spoke
Chibcha.
Colonization
Don Gaspar de Rodas, First Governor of Antioquia.
The first European to explore the area was the Spanish
Rodrigo de Bastidas who in
1500 explored the
Uraba region. Ten years later,
Alonso de Ojeda founded a village named
San Sebastián de Urabá, 2 km from the present-day town of
Necoclí), which would be destroyed later by the natives. The area of present day Antioquia would not be recolonized until c.
1536 onwards. A Spanish Captain named Jorge Robledo was the first one to arrive to the
Aburra Valley where he founded the village of Antioquia, but was not officially established until
1546 in what is now
Santa Fe de Antioquia.
Geography
Antioquia is the
6th largest Department of Colombia. It is predominantly mountainous, crossed by the
Cordillera Central and the
Cordillera Occidental of the
Andes. The
Cordillera Central, further divides to form the Aburrá valley, in which the capital
Medellín is located. The
Cordillera Central forms the plateaus of
Santa Rosa de Osos and
Rionegro.
Despite 80% of the department's territory being mountainous, Antioquia also has a coast on the
Caribbean Sea, in the lowland area of the
Urabá. This area has a tropical climate and is of high strategical importance due to its location.
Administrative divisions
Regions and Municipalities
Antioquia is divided into 9 subregions
[1] to facilitate the Department's administration. These 9 regions contain a total of 125 municipalities. The 9 subregions with their municipalities are:
Demographics
People
The local inhabitants of Antioquia are known as ''antioqueños''. Of the five main regional groups in
Colombia, the predominant group in Antioquia are known as ''paisa'', referring to those living in the
Paisa region, which covers most of Antioquia, as well as the departments of
Caldas,
Risaralda and
Quindío.
References
★
Secretary of Education - Government of Colombia
notes
1. http://www.dane.gov.co/files/censo2005/regiones/antioquia/antioquia.pdf
★ The article is available
here.
External links
★
Portal de Música tradicional del gusto popular paisa.
See also
★
List of municipalities in Antioquia
★
Postage stamps of Antioquia
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