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Tolima Department
Tolima is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the east by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the south by the department of Huila, and on the West by the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Quindio and Risaralda. Tolima has a surface area of 23,562 km, and its capital is Ibague. The department of Tolima was created in 1861 from a part of what was previously Cundinamarca.
History
Indigenous civilization
The Pijaos lived in Tolima during pre-Columbian times. The name of the department comes from the Pijao word for "snowed". The Panches, from the Pijao liguistic family, were also settled here, reaching the region beyond the Magdalena valleys. Renown as fiere warriors, the Panches are widely known for fighting the Muisca over the control of Emerald mining territories. They fought against a Spanish-Muisca coallition and were ultimately defeated in the Battle of Tocarema in 1537.
Spanish colonization
Spanish colonization of the region began in 1537 with Sebastian de Belalcazar travelling from the city of Cali to be with his colleague, Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, in Bogota. On its way, Belarcazar founds the first establishment that would become the present Ibague. Belarcazar traveled until he reached the site of Flandes in Tolima before arriving at Bogota. The definitive foundation began with Captain Andres Lopez de Galarza who founded the city of Ibague and site on which the municipality of Cajamarca would be based, in the west of the department. These two cities would become an important part of the "coffee axis".
Demographics
Mestizos & Whites (94.46%) * majority are racially mixed but there is a high percentage of whites
Amerindian or Indigenous (4.32%)
Black(1.22%)
Gypsys (0.00%)
Geography
Physiography
In the Tolima region, three great regions can be distinguished: a mountainous region, occupied by the Cordillera Central, a plain, that corresponds to the valleys of the rivers Magdalena and Saldana; and another region to the southeast which forms the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental, which contains the source of the Cabrera river.
Hydrography
The territory of Tolima is traversed from the south to north by the Magdalena River, of which the main rivers of the Tolima are tributary. Other rivers are the Saldana river, the Cabrera, Coello, the Tetuan, the Guali, the Rio Recio, and the Rio Prado. In this one last one is the dam of the same name, the largest fresh water lake of the center of the country and an important Colombian tourist center.
Economy
The economy of the Tolima is based on agriculture.
Industry in Tolima, as has been happening to the whole country, has been declining in its proportion of GDP, while services gain more importance, a phenomenon known as deindustrialization. Within the sector services Tolima excels in commerce, public administration, other services to the community and "reparaciones", which contribute respectively 11.2% and 9.1% of the GIP.
The GDP per inhabitant in Tolima, registered during 2002 a reduction of 0.4% in constant prices.
According to the results of the DANE census, the department of Tolima registered between the years of 2001 and 2002 a diminution, to constant prices, of 0.1% in its GDP, falling from Col$2.05 trillion in 2001 to Col$2.04 trillion in 2002. The result is explained by the fact that traditional sectors within the economic structure of the department such as the coffee registered a reduction of 22.4%, reducing 2 percentage points to the total variation, and others did not have important growth or presented/displayed diminutions in its added values. So it is the case of the activity branches: transport, commerce and repairs, industry and electricity gas and water, which jointly reduced 1.7 percentage points to the variation, whereas other services, rights and taxes, construction and farming rest, forestry and 3.6 percentage points fish were the branches with greater positive contribution to the variation of the GDP when contributing.
Culture
Music and the Arts
Music is the distinguishing cultural expression of Tolima. Its capital, Ibague, is well-known as "the musical city of Colombia", and is home to one of the nation's classic conservatoriums. The department also is famous for the Fiestas of San Pedro in Espinal, San Juan in Natagaima and in Ibague, the Colombian Folkloric Festival and the "Concurso de duetos garzon Y Collazos".
Tolima has produced many poets: Arturo Camacho Ramiez, Juan Lozano y Lozano, Diego Fallon, William Ospina, Martin Pomala, Luz Stella; painters: Dario Jimenez, Jorge Elias Triana, Dario Ortiz Robledo, Carlos Granada, Julio Fajardo; historians Eduardo Santa, Gonzalo Sanchez, Hermes Tovar Pinzon, Hernan Clavijo, Dario Ortiz Vidales.
Gastronomy
The department is also widely recognised for its autochthonous cuisine. Famous regional dishes include the Tamal Tolimense, a corn-and-yellow pea-based paste with pork, egg, chicken and vegetable filling, wrapped around a plantain leaf; the Lechona, a yellow pea-and-meat-stuffed pork; Empanadas, small potato, rice and meat stuffed pastries, made with corn dough; Achiras (although not exclusively from this deparmnent) and Bizcocho calentano, smaller flour pastries; and Quesillo, a type of cheese wrapped in a plantain leaf. Drinks include the Avena, a cold oatmea-based drink.
Other
Tolima gave to the country ten presidents: Domingo Caycedo, Jose Maria Melo, Manuel Murillo Toro, Jose Maria Rojas Garrido, Miguel Abadia Mendez, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, Dario Echandia, Carlos Lozano y Lozano, Gabriel Paris, and Deogracias Fonseca.
Government
Municipalities
The Departament of Tolima groups its municipalities into six provinces, Norte; Oriente, Sur, Ibague, Suroriente, and Nevados
Ibague
*Alvarado
*Anzoatequi
*Cajamarca
*Coello
*Espinal
*Flandes
*Ibague
*Piedras
*Rovira
*San Luis
*Valle de San Juan
Nevados
*Casabianca
*Herveo
*Lerida
*Libano
*Murillo
*Santa Isabel
*Venadillo
*Villahermosa
Northern
*Ambalema
*Armero (Guayabal)
*Falan
*Fresno
*Honda
*Mariquita
*Palocabildo
Eastern
*Carmen Apicala
*Cunday
*Icononzo
*Melgar
*Villarrica
Southern
*Ataco
*Chaparral
*Coyaima
*Natagaima
*Ortega
*Planadas
*Rioblanco
*Roncesvalles
*San Antonio
Southeastern
*Alpujarra
*Dolores
*Guamo
*Prado
*Purificacion
*Saldana
*Suarez
External links
Government of Tolima official website
Travel Site of Melgar, one of the most turistic places of Tolima
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Tolima Department
