Guajira Peninsula
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The Guajira Peninsula ( es, Península de La Guajira, links=no, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, guc, Hikükariby) is a
peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...
in northern
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and northwestern
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of extending from the Manaure Bay (Colombia) to the Calabozo Ensenada in the
Gulf of Venezuela The Gulf of Venezuela is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and by La Guajira Department, Colombia. The western side is formed by the Guajira Peninsula. A strait connects it with Maracaibo Lake to ...
(Venezuela), and from the Caribbean to the
Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), offici ...
mountains range. It was the subject of a historic dispute between Venezuela and Colombia in 1891, and on arbitration was awarded to the latter and joined to its Magdalena Department. Nowadays, most of the territory is part of Colombia, making it part of
La Guajira Department La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...
. The remaining strip is part of the Venezuelan
Zulia State Zulia State ( es, Estado Zulia, ; Wayuu language, Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the States of Venezuela, 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest popu ...
. The northernmost part of the peninsula is called Punta Gallinas (12° 28´ N) and is also considered the northernmost part of mainland South America.USGS: Caribbean Coast: Guajira Peninsula coast
USGS Accessed 24 August 2007.


Climate

The scenery of Guajira is very picturesque, with wide desert plains and green, foggy mountains. The daytime temperature in the plains is very high, but it is more temperate in the mountains. The region receives the flow of the
trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...
s from the northern hemisphere. The northeastern coast of Venezuela and the
Antilles The Antilles (; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Antiy; es, Antillas; french: Antilles; nl, Antillen; ht, Antiy; pap, Antias; Jamaican Patois: ''Antiliiz'') is an archipelago bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the south and west, the Gulf of Mex ...
have Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub. The trade winds cause a resurgence of the deep littoral waters and make the sea more rich in living species on the western side of the peninsula. The northeastern flank of the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...
mountain range acts as a barrier that generates abundant rainfall in its steppes, forming the headwaters of the
Ranchería River The Ranchería River ( es, Río Ranchería) is a river located in northern La Guajira Department, Colombia. Born in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta southern steps flows south, abruptly turns northeast and then north where it finally flows into th ...
, the only major river in the area. Climate and vegetation varies from south to north, presenting hyper-humid jungle weather in the southern part (with 3000 mm of rainfall a year) to the
desertic A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
areas in the north (300 mm a year). In the northern area, a small range of mountains known as the Macuira reaches 900 m above sea level; they trap some of the trade winds and
mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such a ...
forms. Most of the mountain range is a
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
called
National Natural Park of Macuira National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
. Nearby there is also the 80 km²
Flamingos Fauna and Flora Sanctuary Los Flamencos Sanctuary ( es, Santuario de Fauna y Flora Los Flamencos) has been a designated wildlife sanctuary since 1977. It is located in the Guajira Peninsula of Colombia's Caribbean Region. Its main attraction is the American flamingoes, an ...
.


Economy

The peninsula is inhabited mainly by members of the native tribe of the
Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayúu, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Maipuran (Arawak) language family. Geography ...
, who use the plains to raise cattle, sheep, goats and horses. The descendants of Spanish colonists settled in the southeastern part of the peninsula (sometimes referred to as the
Padilla Province Padilla may refer to: Places * Padilla Municipality, Tamaulipas, in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas * Padilla, Cauca, in Colombia * Padilla, Bolivia * Moises Padilla, Negros Occidental, in the Philippines * Padilla Bay, in the U.S. state of Was ...
). This has more fertile land, due to the proximity to other river basins, such as the Cesar river basin. It has been developed for large plantations of cotton and sorghum, and for cattle ranching. Since the 1980s the central area of the peninsula was subject to the exploration and exploitation of
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
and
natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
in the area of
Cerrejón Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over the mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Lati ...
and of
oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...
in the littoral. A popular
ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...
destination in the area is
Cabo de la Vela Cabo de la Vela (Spanish for "cape of sails") is a headland in the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia with an adjacent small fishing village. It is a popular ecotourism destination of the Caribbean region of Colombia History Spanish explorer Juan ...
, a headland and village on the peninsula on the Colombia side.


Missionary history

The mission of Goajira was carried out since the 1880s by Capuchin friars. It was elevated by
Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
on 17 January 1905, into a vicariate Apostolic, dependent on the
Congregation for Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs The Section for Relations with States or Second Section of the Secretariat of State is the body within the Roman Curia charged with dealing with matters that involve relations with civil governments. It has been part of the Vatican Secretariat o ...
.
Mgr M. G. Ramachandran (1917–1987) was the Former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. MGR may also refer to: * ManaGeR (MGR), graphical window system * Merry-go-round train, British freight-train design Mgr. is an honorific or abbreviation for: * Manager ...
Attanasio Maria Vincenzo Soler-Royo, O.F.M. Cap., was appointed to the vicariate, as titular Bishop of Citharizum, on 18 April 1907. The early 20th-century missionaries described the inhabitants of the area as
"tall and well made. Formerly they were very intractable, but the
Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from t ...
, who were in charge of the
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
missions, have had a great influence over them, and large numbers have been converted. The chief towns are Paraguaipoa, Calabacito,
Maricha In the Hindu epic ''Ramayana'', Maricha, or Mareecha (Sanskrit: मारीच, IAST: ) is a demon, who was killed by Rama, the hero of the epic and an avatar of Lord Vishnu. He is mentioned as an ally of Ravana, the antagonist of the epic. Hi ...
, Marocaso and Soldado."
The Capuchins established three major orphanages, where they educated Wayuu children in Catholicism, Spanish, and European culture. In the 21st century, the government no longer requires Catholic education for the indigenous peoples. They are allowed to educate their children in the Wayuu traditions and language (
Wayuunaiki Wayuu ( guc, Wayuunaiki ), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula. There are 200,000 speakers of Wayuu in Venezuela and 1 ...
). In the novel ''Papillon'' (1970), Henri Charrière writes:
"The Goajira Indians are seafarers who fish for
pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s. Their primary diet is said to consist of fish,
turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
meat, turtle eggs and big green lizards, most likely
Iguana ''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his bo ...
s. Men and women are dressed only in a
loincloth A loincloth is a one-piece garment, either wrapped around itself or kept in place by a belt. It covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks. Loincloths which are held up by belts or strings are specifically known as breechcloth or ...
which covers their crotch."
The women wear dresses of woven cotton; and the men often wear shirts and pants to protect their legs from desert winds and plants.


See also

* '' Distocyclus goajira'', an electric fish * T-63 Goajira, a ship of the navy of Venezuela *
Guajira Department La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...
, Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub and
La Guajira Desert The La Guajira Desert (Wayuu: Woumainkat Wajiira) is a desert located in northern Colombia and Venezuela, approximately north of Bogotá, covering most of the La Guajira Peninsula at the northernmost tip of South America. It is the continent's ...


References


Further reading

* Henri Candelier. 1892. ''Riohacha y los Indios Guajiros. Crónica de un viajero y explorador francés quien durante tres años, 1889–1892, recorrió La Guajira.'' * Martha Ligia Castellanos, Luis Carlos Pardo L. 2000. "Caracterización y primera aproximación a la determinación del índice de biodiversidad en los suelos de la cuenca del arroyo Mekijanao, Serranía de la Macuira, Alta Guajira." En: Juan Carlos Pérez (editor) X Congreso Nacional de la Ciencia del Suelo. Programa y resúmenes. ''El suelo un componente del medio natural.'' Medellín, Octubre 11 al 13 de 2000 * Edith González, Gabriel Guillot, Néstor Miranda, Diana Pombo (editores). 1990. ''Perfil Ambiental de Colombia.'' Colciencias. Escala. Bogotá. * Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi. 1996. ''Diccionario Geográfico de Colombia.'' Edición en CD-ROM. Bogotá, Colombia.
Thomas Stadtmüller. 1987. ''Cloud Forests in the Humid Tropics.''
A Bibliographic Review. The United Nations University, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza. Turrialba, Costa Rica. 82 pp. {{Coord, 12.000, N, 71.500, W, display=title, source:dewiki Peninsulas of Colombia Peninsulas of Venezuela Colombian coasts of the Caribbean Sea Geography of La Guajira Department Geography of Zulia Peninsulas of South America