Becerril or Becerril de Campos is a town and municipality of the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Cesar.

Geography

The municipality of Becerril borders to the east with the country of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

where the

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela Venezuela (; ), offici ...

mountain ranges is shared, the municipality of Codazzi to the north, to the west with the municipality of

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

and to the south with the municipality of

La Jagua de Ibirico La Jagua de Ibirico ((), literally "The Jagua of Ibirico") is a town and municipality in the Department of Cesar, Colombia. This region of La Jagua is rich in coal which is exploited extensively and is second only to El Cerrejon in La Guajira. ...

covering an area of 1,143 km². Its terrain is made up of plains almost entirely with the exception of the mountainous western border with Venezuela. The area is watered by the

Maracas River A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

and the Tocuy River among other streams.

Climate

Becerril has an average temperature of 30°C throughout the year, with two summer seasons (dry) and two winter seasons (rain).

History

The town of Becerril was founded on March 4, 1594 by the

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, Cana ...

Captain Bartolomé de Aníbal Paleólogo Becerra during the

Spanish colonization of the Americas Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions ...

. The act of foundation was written by the scribe Martin Camacho and processed in the

Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...

on March 4, 1594. The foundation manuscript was signed by Governor

Francisco Manco de Contreras Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, Captain Bartolomé de Aníbal Paleólogo Becerra and Captain Cristobal de Almonacid. on January 4, 1593. The first mayor of the city was Gregorio Romallo and the first church was named Santa Eugenia. Becerra ordered the introduction of some 500 units of cattle in the region producing mainly to supply the village of

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 ...

and using the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

as supply route. In 1977 Becerril became a municipality part of the Department of Cesar.

Politics

Administrative Divisions

Corregimientos

* Estados Unidos * Tamaquito * La Guajirita.

Notes

References

External links

Becerril official website
{{coord, 9, 42, N, 73, 17, W, region:CO_type:city, display=title Municipalities of Cesar Department