Chimichagua () is a city and municipality in the central region of the

Department of Cesar Caesar Department ( es, Departamento del Cesar, links=no) or simply Caesar () is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with ...

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 ...

. Approximately one third of the municipality of Chimichagua is water. The municipality seat lies by the Cienaga de Zapatosa marshes.

Etymology

Chimichagua was the name of the Chimila ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

'' that inhabited the area at the time of the Spanish conquest. Chimichagua or

Chiminigagua Chiminigagua, Chiminichagua or Chimichagua was the supreme being, omnipotent god and creator of the world in the religion of the Muisca.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.1, p.15 The Muisca and their confederation were one of the four advanced civilizat ...

is the name of the supreme being of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

. Muisca and Chimila pertain to the same language family; the

Chibcha language Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/), or Muysca de Bogotá, was a language spoken by the Muisca people of the Muisca Confederation, one of the many Indigenous peoples in Colombia, indigenous List of pre-Columbian cultures, cultures of ...

History

Pre-Columbian

The territory of the municipality of Chimichagua was inhabited by the indigenous group known as the Chimila who at the time of the Spanish arrival were established in most of the

Cesar River The Cesar River ( es, Río Cesar) is a river in northern Colombia which is a part of the Magdalena Basin. It flows through the Cesar-Ranchería Basin and separates the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta from the mountain ranges of the Serranía del Pe ...

basin and its valley between the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

and 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 and bordering 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 ...

. Cesar 30 Años de Progreso – Gobernación del Cesar (1997). Page 25

Spanish conquest and colonization

Chimichagua was founded by

Jose Fernando de Mier y Guerra Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

on December 8, 1748 accompanied by

Sebastian de Eslava Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

who was in representation of the Viceroy. The village was first named Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción de Chimichagua. The population of this village migrated to other nearby villages such as

Tamalameque Tamalameque is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Cesar. It was originally the site of a Chimila settlement, ''Thamara''. Tamalameque is located on the right bank of the Magdalena River and borders Chimichagua and Pailitas ...

Santa Cruz de Mompox Mompox or Mompós, officially Santa Cruz de Mompox, is a town and municipality in northern Colombia, in the Bolívar Department. The town initially grew from its proximity to the Magdalena river and has preserved much of its colonial character. ...

Valencia de Jesús Valencia de Jesús is a Colombian town and corregimiento of Valledupar in the Department of Cesar. The village is known for preserving one of the oldest churches in the Americas. History The village was founded by Captain Antonio Florez in c. ...

and

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Caesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. T ...

due to accessibility problems.

Republicanism

Chimichagua became a municipality by Ordinance 54 of 1892. In 1967 with the creation of the Department of Cesar Chimichagua became one of its municipalities.

Politics

Administrative divisions

Corregimientos

Chimichagua has 9 corregimientos: *Candelaria *El Guamo *Las Vegas *Mindinguilla *Saloa *Sempegua *Soledad *La Mata *El Jobo

References

External links

chimichagua.gov.co

Chimichagua official website
{{Coord, 9, 15, N, 73, 49, W, region:CO_type:city, display=title Municipalities of Cesar Department Populated places established in 1748