Nunchía is a town and municipality in the Department of Casanare,

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 economy is primarily based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and livestock farming, with the four main rivers Tocaría, Payero,

Nunchía Nunchía is a town and municipality in the Departments of Colombia, Department of Casanare Department, Casanare, Colombia. Its economy is primarily based on agriculture and livestock farming, with the four main rivers Tocaría River, Tocaría, Pay ...

, and Pauto affecting the agricultural landscape. Extensive

cattle ranching A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often applied to li ...

is the dominant economic activity with significant crops including

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

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 ...

, and

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

pig farming Pig farming, pork farming, pig production or hog farming is the raising and breeding of domestic pigs as livestock, and is a branch of animal husbandry. Pigs are farmed principally for food (e.g. pork: bacon, ham, gammon (meat), gammon) and l ...

, and

fish farming Fish farming or pisciculture involves commercial breeding of fish, most often for food, in fish tanks or artificial enclosures such as fish ponds. It is a particular type of aquaculture, which is the controlled cultivation and harvesting of ...

are also present but on a smaller scale.

Demographics

As of the

2018 Colombian census The 2018 Colombian Census was the 18th population census in Colombia, and the 7th to include the counting of households and dwelling units. It was developed by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) of the Republic of Colombi ...

, the municipality of Nunchía had a total population of 8,826, with a modest

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of 8.01 inhabitants per square kilometer, spread across an area of 1,102 km². The municipality has experienced a gradual population increase, with an

annual growth rate Annual growth rate (AGR) is the change in the value of a measurement over the period of a year. Economics Annual growth rate is a useful tool to identify trends in investments. According to a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers condu ...

of 0.36% from 2005 to 2018. The town of Nunchía, which is the municipal capital, had a population of 1,904 in 2018. It has a relatively high population density of 2,037 people per square kilometer, with 51.7% of the population being male (984 individuals) and 48.3% female (920 individuals). The town is one of the two main urban centers in the municipality, the other being La Yopalosa, which had a population of 474 in 2018. In terms of age structure, the population of Nunchía the capital was predominantly composed of

working-age The legal working age is the minimum age required by law in each country or jurisdiction for a young person who has not yet reached the age of majority to be allowed to work. Activities that are dangerous, harmful to the health or that may aff ...

individuals. Of the total population in the urban area, 67.1% (1,200 people) were between 15 and 64 years old, which is a key demographic for economic activities.

Children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

aged 0-14 years made up 25.2% of the population (451 people), while 7.7% (138 people) were aged 65 years or older.

Economy

Nunchía's economy is primarily based on

and livestock farming, with the latter accounting for 60% of land use. The municipality is surrounded by four main rivers: Tocaría, Payero,

, and Pauto, which influence its agricultural landscape. While extensive

is the dominant economic activity with approximately 65,000 head of cattle, significant crops include

(12,524 hectares),

(753 hectares),

(371 hectares), and

s (39 hectares).

, and

are also present but on a smaller, empirical scale lacking proper controls and technification. Rice is the main seasonal crop, with an average of 19,218 hectares cultivated between 2011 and 2014, yielding around 4.8 tons per hectare. However,

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

is projected to reduce rice productivity in the region. Other seasonal crops like

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

show low production levels and declining prices. For permanent and semi-permanent crops, Nunchía cultivates plantains,

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

s, and honey cane, primarily for self-consumption. Coffee and cocoa beans are cultivated in mountainous areas, with average annual plantings of 350 hectares for coffee and around 40 hectares for cocoa. While these crops have lower yields, their market prices have strengthened since 2013.

Notable residents

Salvador Camacho Salvador Camacho Roldán (January 1, 1827 – June 19, 1900) was a Colombian lawyer, businessman and politician who, as Presidential Designate, served as President of Colombia ''ad interim'' in 1868 and again in 1871. He also served as Congressm ...

, former president of Colombia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunchia Municipalities of Casanare Department