Putumayo () is a department of Southern

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 ...

. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Its capital is Mocoa. The word ''putumayo'' comes from the

Quechua languages Quechua (, ), also called (, 'people's language') in Southern Quechua, is an indigenous language family that originated in central Peru and thereafter spread to other countries of the Andes. Derived from a common ancestral " Proto-Quechua" ...

. The verb ''p'utuy'' means "to spring forth" or "to burst out", and ''mayu'' means river. Thus it means "gushing river".

History

Originally, the southwestern area of the department belonged to the Cofán Indians, the northwestern to the Kamentxá Indians, the central and southern areas to tribes that spoke Tukano languages (such as the Siona), and the eastern to tribes that spoke Witoto languages. Part of the Kamentxá territory was conquered by the Inca Huayna Cápac in 1492, who, after crossing the Cofán territory, established a Quechua population on the valley of Sibundoy, known today as Ingas. After the Inca defeat in 1533, the region was invaded by the Spanish in 1542, and from 1547 was administered by Catholic missions. The current territory of Putumayo was linked to Popayan during the Spanish Colonial Period and in the first Republican decades belonged to the " Azuay Department", which included territories in Ecuador and Perú. Later a long process of territorial redistributions began: * 1831: Popayán Province. * 1857: Estado Federal del Cauca. * 1886:

Cauca Department Cauca Department (, ) is a department of Southwestern Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila De ...

. * 1905: . * 1909: . * 1912: Comisaría Especial del Putumayo. * 1953: Department of Nariño. * 1957: Comisaría Especial del Putumayo. * 1968: Intendencia Especial del Putumayo. * 1991: Putumayo Department.

Municipalities

Flag

The flag of the Department of Putumayo is a rectangle with horizontal tricolored stripes. The green stripe symbolizes the jungles that almost entirely cover the Department. The white stripe symbolizes the peaceful character of the people of Putumayo. The black stripe symbolizes oil, the Department's main economic resource.Putumayenses.com; Flag of Putumayo
The flag is similar to the flag of the Spanish region of Extremadura, the flag of Oostburg and some of the historical flags of Afghanistan.

Gallery

File:Cascada en la reserva el fin del mundo.jpg, The Cascadas Fin del Mundo in Mocoa, Putumayo (2019) File:Vista aerea Orito Putumayo.png, Aerial view of Orito, Putumayo (2020) File:Monumento al Centenario, Puerto Asís - 2012.jpg, The Monumento al Centenario in Puerto Asís, Putumayo (2014) File:Talla en madera en el parque de Sibundoy 2.jpg, Colorful decorative wood carvings in Sibundoy Park in Sibundoy, Putumayo (2014) File:Green Hills (229048535).jpeg, Hills in Mocoa, Putumayo (2017) File:Aeropuerto Tres De Mayo.jpg, Tres de Mayo Airport in Puerto Asís, Putumayo (2019) File:CHARCO DEL INDIO VILLAGARZON PUTUMAYO.jpg, A waterfall in Villagarzón, Putumayo (2009)

References

External links