Charalá is a town and municipality in the south of the department of Santander in northeastern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. Its antipode is located within the capital of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. The municipality borders the municipalities Encino and Coromoro in the east,

Oiba Oiba () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. Its antipode Oiba borders Guapotá and Confines in the north; Charalá in the east; Guadalupe and Guapotá in the west; and Suaita in the south. The d ...

, Confines and Suaita in the west,

Páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

Ocamonte Ocamonte is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. Location The municipality is located just one hour away from San Gil by paved road. There are three access routes: San Gil-Ocamonte by the bridge "palenqu ...

and

Mogotes Mogotes () is a town and municipality in the Santander Department, in northeastern Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions i ...

in the north and in the south Gámbita and

Duitama Duitama () is a city and municipality in the department of Boyacá. It's the capital of the Tundama Province. Duitama is located northeast of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia and northeast of Tunja, the capital of Boyacá. In 2023 Duitama had ...

, the latter in the department of Boyacá.Official website Charalá
/ref>

Climate

Charalá has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Af'') with consistent temperatures, cool nights, and abundant rainfall.

Etymology

The name Charalá is

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

, the language of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

and was given to honour the Guane ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' of the village; "Chalala".

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish in the area, the Santander department was inhabited by the

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The wards of the municipality include Punta de La Sierra, Portales, Guane 1, Guane 2, Combate la Teneria, Isabel Rubio, Sabalo, and Moll ...

. Charalá was located at the border of Guane territory and the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

of which it formed an independent unity. Modern Charalá was founded by one of the

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

who was part in the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

;

Martín Galeano Martín Galeano (?, Valencia del Mombuey, Badajoz, Spain - ?, Vélez, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador of Genovese descent who is known as the founder of the towns of Vélez, Oiba and Charalá in Santander, Colombia. He took ...

, on July 23, 1540.

Economy

Main economical activities in the municipality are agriculture (

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

) and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

mining.

Born in Charalá

José Acevedo y Gómez José Acevedo y Gómez (1773 in Charalá, Santander – May 1817, in Caquetá) was an independence hero of Colombia. With an educational background of grammar and philosophy, he became a highly skillful orator and political figure, attaining the ...

, independence hero of Colombia * José Antonio Galán, was a Neogranadine historical. He was the leader of the Comuneros insurrection in 1781.

Trivia

* Charalá is the type locality for the Santander poison frog (''

Andinobates virolinensis ''Andinobates virolinensis'' (the Santander poison frog) is a species of frog in the family Dendrobatidae. It is endemic to Colombia where it is confined to the Santander and Cundinamarca departments on the Cordillera Oriental. Description ...

'')''Andinobates virolinensis''
/ref>

Gallery

File:Casa de la Cultura 08-03-2011.JPG, Casa de la Cultura File:Casacolonial.jpg, Colonial house File:Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Monguí, Charalá 08-03-2011.JPG, Iglesia Nuestra Señora de Monguí File:José António Galán, martir 08-03-2011.JPG, Statue José Antonio Galán File:Simon Bolivar Charala.jpg, Statue

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

File:HILANDERA-CORPORACION.JPG, Weaving activity

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charala Municipalities of Santander Department Populated places established in 1540 1540 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places of the Muisca Confederation