Mahates is a river town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town of Mahates was founded on April 17, 1533 by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

conquistador Pedro de Heredia. The municipality of Mahates also covers the village of

Palenque de San Basilio San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African t ...

, inhabited mainly by

Afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent ( Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos). History Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colom ...

s which are direct descendants of

African slaves Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Indian Ocean sl ...

brought by the Spanish during the

Colonization of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short ...

and have preserved their ancestral traditions. In 2005 the Palenque de San Basilio village was proclaimed

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. I ...

History

The town of Mahates was founded in 1533 by Pedro de Heredia after founding

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

. In 1538 was given in

encomienda 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 ...

to his son,

Antonio de Heredia Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...

who transfer the property to Luis Pelo de Águila who finally erected the parish. Due to its rapid increase on population Mahates quickly became a village and political chiefdom of the municipality and First Instance Court until the end of the 19th century. In 1650 the Canal del Dique was built and Mahates became an obliged pass for commercial routes passing by the area. Through the history of Colombia Mahates has been a division, named as Partition, Cantón, Province, District of Province and Municipality. In 1860 two-thirds of the village of Mahates were destroyed by a fire when Mahates was part of the Sovereign State of Bolívar, Granadine Confederation and capital of the

Province of Mahates A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

, which also included today's municipalities of Calamar and Arjona, then districts. In 1865 the Province of Mahates is demoted to a lower territorial category, also losing territory. With the construction of the railway between

and Calamar in 1894 the transportation of commercial goods over the canal lost importance and Mahates became less strategically important. Later, with the construction of the highway set to pass through the town of Mahates is then deviated away from the town.

Geography

The municipality of Mahates is located in the northern part of the Bolivar Department, bordering with the municipalities of Calamar and Arroyo Hondo to the east, the municipality of

Soplaviento Soplaviento is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town is located on the south bank of the Dique Canal across from the town of San Estanislao {{Infobox settlement , settlement_type = City & ...

to the northeast,

San Estanislao {{Infobox settlement , settlement_type = City & District , official_name = San Estanislao de Kostka , native_name = , nickname = Santaní , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

to the north, Arjona to the west, María La Baja to the southwest and the municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno covering a total of .

Demographics

Ethnic composition

The population in the municipality of Mahates is mostly

mulattos (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

. In the village of

San Basilio de Palenque San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African t ...

the majority of its inhabitants are moreno (dark-skinned)

Afro-Colombians Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent ( Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos). History Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colo ...

who still preserve customs and from their African ancestors as well as their creole language,

Palenquero Palenquero (sometimes spelled Palenkero) or Palenque ( pln, Lengua) is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia. It is believed to be a mixture of Kikongo (a language spoken in central Africa in the current countries of Congo, DRC, ...

Population

Because the municipality has and agricultural economy, the majority of the population lives in the rural area (62.39%) the rest in the urban area (37.61%). In 1985 the population of the municipality totalled 18,831 people. In the 1993 general census, Mahates decreased its population to 18,412 people.

Government

The municipality of Mahates is governed by a popularly elected Mayor and represents the maximum authority of the executive branch of power in the municipality. The mayor is a direct representative of the

Governor of Bolívar Department A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for the municipality. The legislative branch is represented by a popularly elected Municipal Council. The judicial branch is represented by sectional courts, judges and attorneys. The Major of Mahates's main functions include: # Abide and make abide by the

Colombian Constitution of 1991 The Political Constitution of Colombia of 1991 ( es, Constitución Política de Colombia de 1991), is the Constitution of the Republic of Colombia. It was promulgated in Constitutional Gazette number 114 on Thursday, July 4, 1991, and is al ...

, the law, decrees by the government, ordinances and accords with the municipal council. # Preserve the public order in accordance with laws and instructions ordered by the

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 ...

. # Suppress or fusion municipality entities and dependencies in accordance with respective needs.

Administrative divisions

Town of Mahates neighborhoods

* 12 October * 16 May * 7 August * Centella * El Campo * El Puente * La Concepcion * La Guayana * La Loma * La Vera * Remanso de Paz * Santander

Corregimientos

* Evitar * Gamero * Malagana * Mandinga *

* San Joaquin

Veredas

* Cruz del Vizo * La Manga * Paraiso * Pava * Raicero * Songó * Todo Sonrisa

References

External links

*
Mahates official website
*
Mahates municipality official website
{{Coord, 10, 14, N, 75, 11, W, region:CO_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Municipalities of Bolívar Department Populated places established in 1533 1533 establishments in the Spanish Empire