Sucre () is a department in the

Caribbean Region of Colombia The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Bolívar Department on the east and by

Córdoba Department Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may a ...

on the west. Sucre was named in honor of the Independence hero

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second p ...

who was quoted by the founders of this department in reference to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and ...

's death as saying "They have killed my heart", expression said while cruising the territory of the present day Sucre Department. As of 2009, the Sucre Department has an estimated population of 802,733, of which 234,886 are in the department capital

Sincelejo Sincelejo () is the capital and largest city of the Colombian department of Sucre. It is also the main city in the denominated '' Región Sabanas'' (Savannas Region), a subdivision of the Caribbean Region of Colombia, and the 23rd largest ci ...

, according to the DANE projections.

History

Pre-Columbian

Before the

Spanish Conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predec ...

, the land comprising the department of Sucre was mainly inhabited by two groups of indigenous people — the

Zenú The ''Zenú'' or ''Sinú'' is a pre-Columbian culture in Colombia, whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinú and San Jorge rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo. These lands lie within t ...

and the Turbacos. The Zenú language was perhaps part of the Chibchan language family by the Arhuacos branch. The Turbaco people were part of the

Cariban The Cariban languages are a family of languages indigenous to northeastern South America. They are widespread across northernmost South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes, and they are also spoken in small pockets ...

language family and they controlled the area adjacent to the Gulf of Morrosquillo. The Zenú people — by the Finzenú and Panzenú branches — controlled the rest of the territory, which used to be part of a bigger territory along the current department of Córdoba and parts of Bolívar and

Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch. Antioquia may also refer to: * Antioquia Department, Colombia * Antioquia State, Colombia (defunct) * Antioquia District, Peru * Antioquia Railway The Antioquia Railway ( es, Ferrocarril de Antioquia) i ...

sometimes known as Zenú kingdom or Zenú nation. The area adjacent to the coast was inhabited by the Turbaco people and it was the border lands of the Carib's territories in the Cariibean Coast of Colombia. This specific part of the Carib's included the coasts of the present day departments of Magdalena, Atlántico and Bolívar. The Zenú engineers were able to develop a complicated hydraulic infrastructure in the basin of the San Jorge river — they also worked in the basin of the Sinú river in lands of the

— involving flood control works as well as drainage and irrigation systems. http://fundacionlaberinto.mforos.com/1458445/6872641-departamento-de-sucre/

Colonization

The first Spanish conquerors that sighted to the coastline of the present day Sucre Department were

Alonso de Ojeda Alonso de Ojeda (; c. 1466 – c. 1515) was a Spanish explorer, governor and conquistador. He travelled through modern-day Guyana, Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago, Curaçao, Aruba and Colombia. He navigated with Amerigo Vespucci who is famous f ...

Juan de la Cosa Juan de la Cosa (c. 1450 – 28 February 1510) was a Castilian navigator and cartographer, known for designing the earliest European world map which incorporated the territories of the Americas discovered in the 15th century. De la Cosa was t ...

Rodrigo de Bastidas Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta. ...

and Francisco Cesar around 1499. The conquerors thought the territory to be rich in precious metals since, but soon they would find out they were wrong about that. This situation led to the encomenderos to employ the indigenous workforce almost exclusively for cattle rising on the northern areas. The territory had been under the tutelage of the government settled in Cartagena – except a brief period of time when it was under the jurisdiction of the central government in Bogotá – this control was effective by several denominations while the country evolved from its colonial institutions until its final republican form in 1886 and until the establishment of Sucre as a department independent from Bolivar.

Modern history

In 1963, the Second Assembly of Municipalities created the Department of Sucre. People vouched for its creation after a campaign led by CorpoSucre. On July 28, 1966, the

Senate of Colombia The Senate of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Senado de la República de Colombia) is the upper house of the Congress of Colombia, with the lower house being the House of Representatives. The Senate has 108 members elected for concurrent (non ...

started a debate on the creation of the department and on August 18 of the same year approved its creation under the 47 Law of 1966 sanctioned by the then-

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 ...

, Carlos Lleras Restrepo.

Geography

Administrative Divisions

Provinces

Sucre is subdivided into 5 regions or provinces:

Mojana Province The Mojana Province is a subregion of the Colombian Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative divisi ...

*Guaranda *Majagual *Sucre

Montes de María Province The Montes de Maria Province is a subregion of the Colombian Department of Bolívar and Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated cit ...

*Chalán *Coloso *Morroa *Ovejas *

Morrosquillo *Coveñas *Palmito *San Onofre *Tolú *Tolúviejo Sabanas *Buenavista *Corozal *El Robel *Galeras *Los Palmitos *Sampúes *San Juan de Betulia *San Pedro *Sincé San Jorge *Caimito *La Unión *San Benito Abad *San Marcos

Municipalities

Buenavista Buenavista may refer to: Colombia *Buenavista, Boyacá, a municipality in the department of Boyacá *Buenavista, Córdoba, a municipality in the department of Córdoba *Buenavista, Sucre, a municipality in the department of Sucre *Buenavista, Qu ...

# Caimito #

Chalán Chalán is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - ChalánChalán official website Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisac ...

Colosó Colosó is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. Climate References Gobernacion de Sucre - ColosóColosó official website Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of t ...

# Corozal # Coveñas # El Roble # Galeras # Guaranda # La Unión #

Los Palmitos Los Palmitos is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - Los PalmitosLos Palmitos official website {{coord, 9.38111, N, 75.2714, W, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title Su ...

# Majagual # Morroa #

Ovejas Ovejas is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia where the traditional Cumbia (also called Gaita) festival "Francisco Llirene" takes place in October. References Gobernacion de Sucre - OvejasOvejas official we ...

Palmito Heart of palm is a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees, most notably the coconut (''Cocos nucifera''), juçara (''Euterpe edulis''), açaí palm (''Euterpe oleracea''), palmetto (''Sabal'' spp.), and pea ...

Sampués Sampués () is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - SampuésSampués official website Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Ch ...

San Benito Abad San Benito Abad () is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - San Benito AbadSan Benito Abad official website {{Authority control Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, cap ...

San Juan Betulia San Juan Betulia is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. References Gobernacion de Sucre - San Juan Betulia Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Dep ...

# San Marcos # San Onofre # San Pedro # Sincé #

Sucre Sucre () is the capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high altitude gives the ...

Tolú Tolú is a small municipality and town in Sucre Department, northern Colombia by the Caribbean sea. The municipality has an area of 500 km². It is named for the Tolú, one the pre-Columbian indigenous people of the North Colombia lowland ...

# Toluviejo

Oceanic areas

The Archipelago of San Bernardo is within the Sucre Department. Mapa de las Islas de San Bernardo

References

External links

Government of Sucre official website
{{Authority control Caribbean region of Colombia Departments of Colombia States and territories established in 1966