Sucre () is a department in the

Caribbean Region of Colombia The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Bolívar Department on the east and by

Córdoba Department Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may a ...

on the west. Sucre was named in honor of the Independence hero

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second p ...

who was quoted by the founders of this department in reference to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

's death as saying "They have killed my heart", expression said while cruising the territory of the present day Sucre Department. As of 2009, the Sucre Department has an estimated population of 802,733, of which 234,886 are in the department capital

Sincelejo Sincelejo () is the capital and largest city of the Colombian department of Sucre. It is also the main city in the denominated '' Región Sabanas'' (Savannas Region), a subdivision of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, and the 23rd largest ci ...

, according to the DANE projections.

History

Pre-Columbian

Before the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

, the land comprising the department of Sucre was mainly inhabited by two groups of indigenous people — the Zenú and the Turbacos. The Zenú language was perhaps part of the

Chibchan The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa ...

language family by the

Arhuacos The Arhuaco are an indigenous people of Colombia. They are Chibchan-speaking people and descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Name The Arhuaco are also known as the Aruaco, ...

branch. The Turbaco people were part of the

Cariban The Cariban languages are a family of languages indigenous to northeastern South America. They are widespread across northernmost South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes, and they are also spoken in small pocket ...

language family and they controlled the area adjacent to the Gulf of Morrosquillo. The Zenú people — by the Finzenú and Panzenú branches — controlled the rest of the territory, which used to be part of a bigger territory along the current department of Córdoba and parts of Bolívar and Antioquia sometimes known as Zenú kingdom or Zenú nation. The area adjacent to the coast was inhabited by the Turbaco people and it was the border lands of the Carib's territories in the Cariibean Coast of Colombia. This specific part of the Carib's included the coasts of the present day departments of Magdalena, Atlántico and Bolívar. The Zenú engineers were able to develop a complicated hydraulic infrastructure in the basin of the San Jorge river — they also worked in the basin of the Sinú river in lands of the

— involving flood control works as well as drainage and irrigation systems. http://fundacionlaberinto.mforos.com/1458445/6872641-departamento-de-sucre/

Colonization

The first Spanish conquerors that sighted to the coastline of the present day Sucre Department were

Alonso de Ojeda Alonso de Ojeda (; c. 1466 – c. 1515) was a Spanish explorer, governor and conquistador. He travelled through modern-day Guyana, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, Curaçao, Aruba and Colombia. He navigated with Amerigo Vespucci who is famou ...

Juan de la Cosa Juan de la Cosa (c. 1450 – 28 February 1510) was a Castilian navigator and cartographer, known for designing the earliest European world map which incorporated the territories of the Americas discovered in the 15th century. De la Cosa was th ...

Rodrigo de Bastidas Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta. ...

and Francisco Cesar around 1499. The conquerors thought the territory to be rich in precious metals since, but soon they would find out they were wrong about that. This situation led to the

encomendero The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

s to employ the indigenous workforce almost exclusively for cattle rising on the northern areas. The territory had been under the tutelage of the government settled in Cartagena – except a brief period of time when it was under the jurisdiction of the central government in Bogotá – this control was effective by several denominations while the country evolved from its colonial institutions until its final republican form in 1886 and until the establishment of Sucre as a department independent from Bolivar.

Modern history

In 1963, the Second Assembly of Municipalities created the Department of Sucre. People vouched for its creation after a campaign led by CorpoSucre. On July 28, 1966, the

Senate of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Senado de la República de Colombia) is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the House of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non- ...

started a debate on the creation of the department and on August 18 of the same year approved its creation under the 47 Law of 1966 sanctioned by the then-

president of Colombia The president of Colombia ( es, Presidente de Colombia), officially known as the president of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Presidente de la República de Colombia) or president of the nation ( es, Presidente de la Nacion) is the head of stat ...

Carlos Lleras Restrepo Carlos Alberto Lleras Restrepo (12 April 1908 – 27 September 1994) was a Colombian politician and lawyer who served the 22nd President of Colombia from 1966 to 1970. Biographic data Lleras was born in Bogotá, on 12 April 1908. He was the ...

Geography

Administrative Divisions

Provinces

Sucre is subdivided into 5 regions or provinces: Mojana Province *Guaranda *Majagual *Sucre Montes de María Province *Chalán *Coloso *Morroa *Ovejas *

Morrosquillo *Coveñas *Palmito *San Onofre *Tolú *Tolúviejo Sabanas *Buenavista *Corozal *El Robel *Galeras *Los Palmitos *Sampúes *San Juan de Betulia *San Pedro *Sincé San Jorge *Caimito *La Unión *San Benito Abad *San Marcos

Municipalities

# Buenavista # Caimito # Chalán # Colosó # Corozal # Coveñas # El Roble #

Galeras Galeras (Urcunina among the 16th-century indigenous people) is an Andean stratovolcano in the Colombian department of Nariño, near the departmental capital Pasto. Its summit rises above sea level. It has erupted frequently since the Spanish ...

Guaranda Guaranda () is a city in central Ecuador. It is the capital of Bolívar province located in the Andes mountains. The city is connected by road with other hubs, including Riobamba, Babahoyo and Ambato. Guaranda is a market town located in a ''va ...

# La Unión # Los Palmitos # Majagual #

Morroa Morroa is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - MorroaMorroa official website Sucre Sucre () is the capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department ...

# Ovejas # Palmito # Sampués #

San Benito Abad San Benito Abad () is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department Sucre () is a department in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The department ranks 27th by area, and it has a population of 904,863, ranking 20th of all the 32 dep ...

# San Juan Betulia # San Marcos # San Onofre # San Pedro #

Sincé Sincé is a town and municipality located in the Department of Sucre, northern Colombia. San Luis de Sincé, is a town and municipality located in the Department of Sucre, 28 km (15 mi) southeast of Sincelejo, in northern Colombia. ...

Sucre Sucre () is the capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high altitude gives the ...

Tolú Tolú is a small municipality and town in Sucre Department, northern Colombia by the Caribbean sea. The municipality has an area of 500 km². It is named for the Tolú, one the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the North Colombia lowlands. ...

# Toluviejo

Oceanic areas

The

Archipelago of San Bernardo The Archipelago of San Bernardo ( es, Archipiélago de San Bernardo, Islas de San Bernardo) is a set of nine coastal coral islands and one artificial island (ten in total) belonging to and governed by Colombia, located in the Gulf of Morrosquillo ...

is within the Sucre Department. Mapa de las Islas de San Bernardo

References

External links

Government of Sucre official website
{{Authority control Caribbean region of Colombia Departments of Colombia States and territories established in 1966