Cumaribo is a town and municipality located in the Department of Vichada,

Republic of 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 Ca ...

. Cumaribo was founded by Jose Nicolino Mattar in 1959. In 2005 the municipality had an estimated total population of 28,718 inhabitants, 4,312 of these living in the head of the municipality or urban area. The municipality has 74,000 kmª, one of the largest municipalities in Colombia.

Geography

The municipality of Cumaribo borders to the north with the other three municipalities of the Department of Vichada; La Primavera,

Puerto Carreño Puerto Carreño () is the departmental capital, and a municipality, of the department of Vichada in the Llanos of Colombia. History In 1913 the Colombian government created the province (comisaria) of Vichada and it was decided that its capita ...

and Santa Rosalia; to the east with the

Bolivarian Republic of 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 ...

; to the south with the

Department of Guainía Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

; and to the west with the departments of

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

and Guaviare. Cumaribo is within the Orinoquia Region of Colombia part of the

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

plains that cover part of Colombia and the

. Three-quarters of the total area of the municipality of Cumaribo is savanna and the rest is covered by jungle with some small mounts including the Mount Vichada,

Mount Mona Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, Co ...

, Mount Matavenia and Mount Guaripa. Municipality of Cumaribo: General Information – geography
There are three important rivers basins within the range of the municipality; the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wo ...

, the

Meta River The Meta River is a major left tributary of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, South America. The Meta originates in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes and flows through the Meta Department, Colombia as the confluence of ...

and the

Guaviare River The Guaviare is a tributary of the Orinoco in Colombia. It flows together with the upper Orinoco (until here also called Río Parágua), which it clearly surpasses in length (altogether about 1760 km) and water flow. Thus, the Guaviare is hydrol ...

. The Meta river flows into the Orinoco river and the Guaviare river is the main current for the

Muro Muro, a word meaning wall in the Spanish, Portuguese Italian, Esperanto and Ido languages, may refer to: Places France * Muro, Haute-Corse, a commune in the ''département'' of Haute-Corse Italy * Muro Leccese, a municipality of the Province ...

, Uva and Mataven rivers. There are also two main lakes within the municipality; the Lake Caimán and the Lake Sesema.

Climate

Cumaribo has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

( Köppen ''Am'') with heavy rainfall in all months except January and February. Temperatures are consistently very warm to hot – between throughout the year – and humidity very high.

History

Cumaribo was officially founded by colonizers led by Jose Nicolino Mattar in 1959 but was inhabited previously by indigenous peoples such as the Guahibo.

Colombian armed conflict

The area has been under the influence of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

(FARC) guerrilla group due to the large production of

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, ...

leaves in the region and difficult access for the

Military of Colombia The Military Forces of Colombia ( es, Fuerzas Militares de Colombia, links=no) are the unified armed forces of the Republic of Colombia. They consist of the Colombian Army, the Colombian Navy and the Colombian Air Force. The National Police ...

Tomás Medina Caracas Tomás Medina Caracas also known as Tomás Molina Caracas and ''Negro Acacio'' (15 March 1965 – 1 September 2007) was a Colombian guerrilla member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) considered by Colombian authorities the ...

, a prominent FARC commander in charge of the

illegal drug trade The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

for this organization was killed on 1 September 2007 in a

Colombian Army The National Army of Colombia ( es, Ejército Nacional de Colombia) is the land warfare service branch of the Military Forces of Colombia. With over 361,420 active personnel as of 2020, it is the largest and oldest service branch in Colombia, a ...

military operation in eastern Colombia within the municipality of Cumaribo near the border with

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 ...

. El Tiempo: El capo de las drogas de las Farc
eltiempo.com Retrieved 3 September 2007.

Demography

According to a census of 2001, the population at the head of the municipality was of 1055 inhabitants, 534 males, 521 females. Children between 0–14 years old was of 418 of which 206 were male and 212 female. Young adults between 15–24 years old is of 208 of which 95 were male and 113 female. Adults between the ages of 25 and 49 years old was of 358 of which 186 were male and 172 female. 49 and older were 71 people of which 47 were male and 24 female. More than half of the population were colonizers, 35% indigenous and a 15% mestizos.

Indigenous reserves in Cumaribo

The municipality of Cumaribo has some 38 indigenous reserves. The indigenous are predominantly the

Guahibo people The Guahibo (also called Guajibo, or Sikuani, though the latter is regarded as derogatory) people are an indigenous people native to the Llanos or savanna plains in eastern Colombia (Arauca, Meta, Guainia, and Vichada departments) and in southern ...

Curripaco Baniwa (also known with local variants as Baniva, Baniua, Curipaco, Vaniva, Walimanai, Wakuenai) are indigenous South Americans, who speak the Baniwa language belonging to the Maipurean (Arawak) language family. They live in the Amazon Region, ...

and Piapoco peoples pertaining to the

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

language family, and the

Cuiva Cuiba or Cuiva is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 2,300 people in Colombia and additional 650 in Venezuela. More than half of Cuiba speakers are monolingual, and in Colombia there is a 45% literacy rate. Cuiva is also referred to ...

, Desana, puinave and Saliva peoples. Municipality of Cumaribo: General Information – demography
# Santa Teresita del Tuparro* # Tomo Bebery # El Merey # San Luis del Tomo # La Esmeralda # Valdivia # Tsololoibo Matatu # Muco Guarrojo # Rawaneruba # Saracure # Únuma # Concordia # Barranco Lindo # Corocora # Palomas Carpintero # Guaco # Chocón # Laguna Colorada # Cali # Minitas # Morocoto-Buenavista-Manajuare # Giro # Yurí # Cumaral # Barranquito – Laguna Colorada # Caño Bocón # Laguna Anguilla – La Macarena # Sejalito – San Benito # Lagunas Negra y Cacao # Berrocal – Ajota # Matavén – Fruta # Caño Zama # Atana Pirariame # Equa Guarracañá # Bajo Vichada # Aiwa Cuna Tsepajibo # Caño Cavasi # Guacamayas.

References

External links

Cumaribo official website
{{Municipalities vichada department Municipalities of Vichada Department 1959 establishments in Colombia