Departments of Colombia explained

Departments of Colombia refer to the administrative divisions of Colombia., the unitary republic is made up of thirty-two departments. Each department has a governor and an assembly, elected by popular vote for a four-year period.

Current departments

Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments (Spanish: departamentos, sing.) and one Capital District (Distrito Capital).^[1] Each department has a governor (gobernador) and an 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 by popular vote for four-year periods.

Some departments have subdivisions above the level of municipalities, commonly known as provinces.

Departments of Colombia including governors serving four-year terms from 2024 to 2027, along with their respective political party or coalition^[2]

ID	Region	Governor	Party or Coalition	Capital	Area (km2)	Population (December 2022)[3]	Density per km2	Established as a department	Flag	Code
00		Carlos Fernando Galán	New Liberalism	Bogotá			4670.80	1861		DC
01		Óscar Enrique Sánchez Guerrero	Historic Pact for Colombia	Leticia			0.7	1991		AM
02		Andrés Julián Rendón Cardona	Por Antioquia Firme	Medellín			100.72	1886		AN
03		Manuel Alexander Pérez Rueda	Democratic Center	Arauca			11.01	1991		AR
04		Eduardo Verano de la Rosa	Colombian Liberal Party	Barranquilla			748.38	1910		AT
05		Yamil Hernando Arana Padaui	Bolivar Mejor	Cartagena			79.69	1886		BL
06		Carlos Andrés Amaya Rodriguez	Boyacá Grande	Tunja			52.50	1824		BY
07		Henry Gutiérrez Angel	Por El Caldas Que Quiere La Gente	Manizales			126.55	1905		CL
08		Luis Francisco Ruiz Aguilar	Coalición Revive Caqueta	Florencia			4.52	1981		CQ
09		César Augusto Ortiz Zorro	Coalición Por Casanare	Yopal			9.42	1991		CS
10		Jorge Octavio Guzmán Gutiérrez	La Fuerza Del Pueblo	Popayán			49.97	1824		CA
11		Elvia Milena Sanjuán Dávila	El Cesar En Marcha	Valledupar			52.42	1967		CE
12		Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi	Colombian Liberal Party	Quibdó			11.49	1947		CH
13		Erasmo Elías Zuleta Bechara	Cordoba Pr1mero	Montería			71.33	1951		CO
14		Jorge Emilio Rey Ángel	Caminando, Escuchando, Gobernando	Bogotá			120.57	1824		CU
15		Arnulfo Rivera Naranjo	Coalición Trabajemos Guainía	Inirida			0.67	1991		GN
16		Yeison Ferney Rojas Martínez	Guaviare Seguimos Avanzando	San José del Guaviare			1.55	1991		GV
17		Rodrigo Villaba Mosquera	Por Un Huila Grande	Neiva			55.32	1910		HU
18		Jairo Alfonso Aguilar Deluque	Union Party for the People, Radical Change, Independent Social Alliance, La Fuerza de la Paz and Partido Demócrata	Riohacha			42.24	1965		LG
19		Rafael Alejandro Martínez	Fuerza Ciudadana	Santa Marta			57.86	1824		MA
20	Meta	Rafaela Cortés Zambrano	Coalición Fe y Firmeza	Villavicencio			12.14	1959		ME
21		Luis Alfonso Escobar Jaramillo	Historic Pact for Colombia	Pasto			49.01	1910		NA
22		William Villamizar Laguado	Coalición Por Amor A Nuestra Gente Del Norte	Cúcuta			68.87	1910		NS
23		Carlos Andrés Marroquín Luna	Coalición Somos La Fuerza De La Gente	Mocoa			13.99	1991		PU
24		Juan Miguel Galvis Bedoya	Creemos Colombia	Armenia			292.63	1966		QD
25		Juan Diego Patiño Ochoa	Colombian Liberal Party	Pereira			227.87	1966		RI
26		Nicolas Iván Gallardo Vásquez	Coalición Avanzar es Posible	San Andrés			1178.46	1991		SA
27		Juvenal Díaz Mateus	Coalición Es Tiempo Juvenal Gobernador	Bucaramanga			71.55	1886		ST
28		Lucy Inés García Montes	Coalición Mujer de Resultados	Sincelejo			82.89	1966		SU
29		Adriana Magali Matiz Vargas	Coalición Con Seguridad en el Territorio	Ibagué			56.45	1886		TO
30		Dilian Francisca Toro Torres	Coalición Unidos por el Valle	Cali			202.16	1910		VC
31		Luis Alfredo Gutiérrez García	Gente en Movimiento	Mitú			0.75	1991		VP
32		Hecson Alexys Benito Castro	Union Party for the People	Puerto Carreño			1.08	1991		VD

Indigenous territories

See main article: article and Indigenous territory (Colombia). 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 cover 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.^[4]

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

History

Historical predecessors of current departments

Evolution of Colombian departments
none|100px1824	none|100px1886	none|100px1905	none|100px1908	none|100px1912	none|100px1916
none|100px1928	none|100px1942	none|100px1958	none|100px1966	none|100px1990	none|100pxPresent day

!Current name and flag!Established as a department!First established under the following name!Establishment of earliest territorial predecessor!Sovereign State that established the earliest territorial predecessor

	1991	Intendancy of Amazonas	1931
	1886	Province of Antioquia	1576
	1991	Commissary of Arauca	1911
	1910	Province of Sabanilla	1852
	1861	Federal District of Bogotá	1861
	1886	Province of Cartagena	1533
	1824	Province of Tunja	1539
	1905	Department of Caldas	1905
	1981	Intendancy of Caquetá	1905
	1991	Province of Casanare	1660
	1824	Province of Popayán	1537
	1967	Department of Cesar	1967
	1947	Province of Chocó	1726
	1951	Department of Córdoba	1951
	1824	Province of Santafé de Bogotá	1550
	1991	Commissary of Guainía	1963
	1991	Commissary of Guaviare	1977
	1910	Province of Neiva	1610
	1965	Province of Riohacha	1789
	1824	Province of Santa Marta	1533
	1959	Intendancy of Meta	1905
	1910	Province of Pasto	1823
	1910	Province of Pamplona	1555
	1991	Commissary of Putumayo	1912
	1966	Department of Quindío	1966
	1966	Department of Risaralda	1966
	1991	Providence Island Colony	1630
	1886	Province of Socorro	1795
	1966	Department of Sucre	1966
	1886	Province of Mariquita	1550
	1910	Province of Cauca	1835
	1991	Commissary of Vaupés	1910
	1991	Commissary of Vichada	1913

The Republic of Gran Colombia

See main article: article and Subdivisions of Gran Colombia. When it was first established in 1819, The Republic of Gran Colombia had three departments. Venezuela, Cundinamarca (now Colombia) and Quito (now Ecuador).^[5] In 1824, the Distrito del Centro (which became Colombia) was divided into five departments and further divided into seventeen provinces. One department, Isthmus Department, consisting of two provinces, later became the sovereign country of Panama.^[6]

Republic of New Granada

See main article: article and Republic of New 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.^[7]

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. 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.^[8]

Republic of 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:

• Antioquia Department
• Bolívar Department
• Boyacá Department
• Cauca Department
• Cundinamarca Department
• Magdalena Department
• Panamá Department
• Santander Department
• Tolima Department

Maps gallery

See also

• • List of Colombian flags
• List of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
• States of Colombia
• List of Colombian departments by Human Development Index

References

1. Web site: Division Política de Colombia. Portal ColombiaYA.com . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20090310072713/http://www.colombiaya.com/seccion-colombia/division-politica.html . 10 March 2009 . dead.
2. Web site: Elecciones Territoriales 2023 - Resultados Electorales . 2024-01-15 . La República . es.
3. Web site: Archive copy. https://web.archive.org/web/20110517163649/http://www.dane.gov.co/daneweb_V09/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=307&Itemid=124. 2011-05-17.
4. 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."
5. Book: Guhl Nannetti, Ernesto . 1991 . Las fronteras políticas y los límites naturales: escritos geograficos . Political Boundaries and Their Natural Limits: Geographic writings . Capítulo XII: División Política de la Gran Colombia . es . Fondo FEN . Bogotá . 978-958-9129-22-7.
6. Web site: Aguilera Peña . Mario . January 2002 . División política administrativa de Colombia . Credential Historia . 145 . Banco de la República . Bogotá . es . https://web.archive.org/web/20110216082657/http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/enero2002/division.htm . 16 February 2011 . live.
7. Web site: [ftp://ftp.colombiestad.gov.co/books/LD_70104_1876.PDF Estadística de Colombia ]. Colombian Statistics . Oficina Nacional de Estadística (Office of National Statistics) . es . Bogotá . Oficina Nacional de Estadística . 1876 . 23 November 2016 .
8. 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).