MundoAndino Home : Colombia Guide at Mundo Andino
Antioquia Department
Antioquia is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is 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 Colombian Constitution of 1886, Antioquia and the other states were sovereign governments in their own right.
The department covers an area of 63,612 km , and has a population of 5,819,358 (2006 estimate). Antioquia borders with the Cordoba Department and the Caribbean Sea to the north, Choco 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.
Antioquia has tourist visitors from all over the world.
Medellin is Antioquia's capital city, and the second largest city in the country. Other important towns are Santa Fe de Antioquia, the old capital located on the Cauca, and Puerto Berrio on the Magdalena.
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 Aburra valley, in which the capital Medellin 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 Uraba. This area has a tropical climate and is of high strategical importance due to its location.
History
The aboriginal peoples of Antioquia
Before Spanish colonization (a time referred to as the prehispanic era), two large tribes, the Caribs and the Muiscas, inhabited this part of modern day Colombia. There is still much uncertainty regarding the origin of these tribes–historical evidence suggests that both groups migrated from Brazil.
Antioquia was primarily populated by Caribs, although some scattered groups of Muiscas were present in the Darien region (in modern day Panama), a coastal region in the far north of Antioquia. However, there are no historical records for these groups of Muiscas in Antioquia.
The Caribs present in Antioquia were further classified into smaller groups, called families. Some of the most prominent indigenous families in the region include the Catias, Nutabes and Tahamies, which all inhabited the central region of Antioquia.
An important group that inhabited southern Antioquia was the Quimbaya.
There were other groups, but the Quimbaya, Carib and Muisca tribes were the most prominent groupings that were found by the conquistadors upon their arrival in Antioquia. The Quimbayas had little to do with the evolution of the department, because Jorge Robledo, the main conquistador of Antioquia, quickly subjected the few Quimbaya that he found, and the rest disappeared quickly.
The history was centered then in the turbulent relationships of the Spaniards with the Caribs. Despite the number of Caribs and their well-known warring culture, they would end up dominated or exterminated by the Spaniards in the process of conquest and colonization.
During these processes bloody confrontations were presented that caused the surviving natives to disperse, and even commit suicide, before they were subjected. Many of the survivors fled to the department of Choco. Thus, in Antioquia, the natives disappeared almost completely. At present, the indigenous population of the department of Antioquia scarcely reaches 0.5% of the total population.
The Spaniards in Antioquia
The first Spaniard that came to Antioquia was Rodrigo de Bastidas who was in Darien in the year 1500. Ten years later, Alonso de Ojeda founded San Sebastian de Uraba, 2 km from the present-day town of Necocli, which would be destroyed later by the natives. However, the first Spanish incursion in Antioquia only took place in 1537, when an expedition commanded by Francisco Cesar traveled the lands of Indian chief Dabeiba, arriving at the Cauca River and taking an important treasure from the indigenous tombs. However, men of chief Nutibara harassed the Spaniards, forcing them to return to Uraba.
In 1541, Marshal Jorge Robledo left the now-gone Spanish establishment of Arma, a little below Aguadas in the south of Antioquia, for an expedition toward the north on the Cauca River.
Farther north, in 1541, Robledo would found Santa Fe de Antioquia. In 1813, Santa Fe de Antioquia was declared the capital of the County of Antioquia, and this lasted until 1826 when Medellin was made the capital.
Toponymy
The reason behind the chosen name for the Department is not historically clear. The most accepted explanation is that the name for the, then Syrian (now Turkish), Hellenistic city of Antioch on the Orontes was used, as the region known as the Coffee Zone in Colombia, in which many towns and cities are named after cities in the middle east, has a very strong Judeo-Arabic influence, both demographically and culturally; Additionally the city in mention played a significant role in the development of early christian communities thus religiously important for Roman Catholic Spaniard conquerors. Others state that it is named after some of the other many Hellenistic ancient cities in the middle east named Antiochia which were founded as well by some of the Antiochus Kings during the Seleucid Empire (312-63 BC).
History of Antioquia from the 16th to the 21st centuries
Due to its geographical isolation (as it is located among mountains), Antioquia suffered supply problems. Its topography did not allow for much agriculture, so Antioquia became dependent upon trade, especially of gold and gin for the colonization of new land, although much of this trade was due to reformations passed after a visit from an inspector of the Spanish crown, Juan Antonio Mon y Velarde in 1785. The Antioquia became colonizers and traders, contributing to the Antioquian culture.
Administrative divisions
Regions and Municipalities
Antioquia is divided into 9 subregions [*] to facilitate the Department's administration. These 9 regions contain a total of 126 municipalities. The 9 subregions with their municipalities are:
Demography
The population of Antioquia is 5,819,358 (2005 estimate), of which more than half live in the metropolitan area of Medellin. The racial composition is:
White
Mestizos Mixed Indigenous
Black or Afro-Colombian (10.83%)
Amerindian or Indigenous (0.51%)
Gypsies (7.00%)
The local inhabitants of Antioquia are known as antioquenos. 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 Quindio.
See also
List of municipalities in Antioquia
Postage stamps of Antioquia
References
Secretary of Education - Government of Colombia
The article is available here
External links
Portal de Musica tradicional del gusto popular paisa
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Departments of Colombia or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Antioquia Department
