Department (Colombia)

Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments (Spanish: ''departamentos'', sing. ) and one Capital District ('' Distrito Capital''). Departments are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy. Each department has a governor (''gobernador'') and an Assembly (''Asamblea Departamental''), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods.

Departments are formed by a grouping of municipalities (''municipios'', sing. ''municipio''). Municipal government is headed by mayor (''alcalde'') and administered by a municipal council (''concejo municipal''), both of which are elected by popular vote for four-year periods.

Internal subdivisions within departments

The current borders and number of the departments of Colombia was finally set after the 1991 Colombian Constitution came into effect. Before that, the number of departments went from the original nine federal states of the United States of Colombia who ratified the Constitution of 1863 ( Antioquia, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panamá, Santander and Tolima) to the current 32 departments that exist in the present-day Republic of Colombia.

All departments of Colombia are further subdivided into various municipalities, which represent smaller areas of the department and are often, but not always, coterminous with the urban and rural limits of a given city or town. Some municipalities might also include smaller towns or hamlets (known as corregimientos in Spanish), within the borders of the wider municipality. The rural subdivisions of municipalities are know in Spanish as ''veredas''.

Most departments also group various municipalities into regions which are larger than a municipality and are usually known as either provinces or subregions. These subdivisions work as a intermediate level subnational regions between a department and a municipality. However, this provinces or subregions do not feature in the 1991 Colombian Constitution and are thus defined instead by the departmental governments and assemblies.

List of current departments

Indigenous territories

The indigenous territories are at the third level of administrative division in Colombia, as are the municipalities. Indigenous territories are created by agreement between the government and indigenous communities. In cases where indigenous territories cover more than one department or municipality, local governments jointly administer them with the indigenous councils, as set out in Articles 329 and 330 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991. Also indigenous territories may achieve local autonomy if they meet the requirements of the law.

Article 329 of the 1991 constitution recognizes the collective indigenous ownership of indigenous territories and repeats that are inalienable. Law 160 of 1994 created the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Campesino, and replaced Law 135 of 1961 on Agrarian Social Reform; it establishes and sets out the functions of INCORA, one of the most important being to declare which territories will acquire the status of indigenous protection and what extension of existing ones will be allowed. Decree 2164 of 1995 interprets Law 160 of 1994, providing, among other things, a legal definition of indigenous territories.Decree 2164 of 1995 provides "Reserva Indígena. Es un globo de terreno baldío ocupado por una o varias comunidades indígenas que fué delimitado y legalmente asignado por el INCORA a aquellas para que ejerzan en él los derechos de uso y usufructo con exclusión de terceros. Las reservas indígenas constituyen tierras comunales de grupos étnicos, para los fines previstos en el artículo 63 de la Constitución Política y la ley 21 de 1991. ..Territorios Indígenas. Son las áreas poseidas en forma regular y permanente por una comunidad, parcialidad o grupo indígena y aquellas que, aunque no se encuentren poseidas en esa forma, constituyen el ámbito tradicional de sus actividades sociales, económicas y culturales. " Art. 21: "Los resguardos son una institución legal y sociopolítica de carácter especial, conformada por una o más comunidades indígenas, que con un título de propiedad colectiva que goza de las garantías de la propiedad privada, poseen su territorio y se rigen para el manejo de éste y su vida interna por una organización autónoma amparada por el fuero indígena y su sistema normativo propio."

Indigenous territories in Colombia are mostly located in the departments of Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Guaviare, and Vaupés.

History

Gran Colombia

When it was first established in 1819, The Republic of Gran Colombia had three departments. Venezuela, Cundinamarca (now Colombia) and Quito (now Ecuador). In 1824, the Distrito del Centro (which became Colombia) was divided into five departments and further divided into seventeen provinces. One department, Isthmus Department, consisting of two provinces, later became the sovereign country of Panama.

Republic of New Granada

With the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1826 by the Revolution of the Morrocoyes (''La Cosiata''), New Granada kept its 17 provinces. In 1832 the provinces of Vélez and Barbacoas were created, and in 1835 those of Buenaventura and Pasto were added. In 1843 those of Cauca, Mompós and Túquerres were created. At this time the cantons (''cantones'') and parish districts were created, which provided the basis for the present-day municipalities.

By 1853 the number of provinces had increased to thirty-six, namely:Antioquia, Azuero, Barbacoas, Bogotá, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Casanare, Cauca, Chiriquí, Chocó, Córdova, Cundinamarca, García Rovira, Mariquita, Medellín, Mompós, Neiva, Ocaña, Pamplona, Panamá, Pasto, Popayán, Riohacha, Sabanilla, Santa Marta, Santander, Socorro, Soto, Tequendama, Tunja, Tundama, Túquerres, Valle de Upar, Veraguas, Vélez and Zipaquirá. However, the new constitution of 1853 introduced federalism, which lead to the consolidation of provinces into states. By 1858 this process was complete, with a resulting eight federal states: Panamá was formed in 1855, Antioquia in 1856, Santander in May 1857, and Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Magdalena were formed in June 1858. 1861 saw the creation of the final federal state of Tolima.

Republic of Colombia

The Colombian Constitution of 1886 converted the states of Colombia into departments, with the state presidents renamed as governors. The states formed the following original departments:
* Antioquia Department
* Bolívar Department
* Boyacá Department
* Cauca Department
* Cundinamarca Department
* Magdalena Department
* Panamá Department
* Santander Department
* Tolima Department

Historical predecessors of current departments

Map gallery

File:Departamentos colombia.svg, Departments of Colombia with municipalities
File:Colombia-departamentos.svg, Map with numbered departments
File:Colombia, administrative divisions - es - colored (+box).svg, Departments of Colombia with names
File:Colombia, administrative divisions - es - colored.svg, Political map of Colombia
File:Colombia relief location map.jpg, Topography of Colombia, highly variable per department

See also

* ISO 3166-2:CO
* List of Colombian flags
* Lists of political and geographic subdivisions by total area
* States of Colombia
* List of Colombian departments by Human Development Index

References

External links

*

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of South American countries

Subdivisions of Colombia
Colombia, Departments
Departments, Colombia
Colombia geography-related lists