Guainía (;
Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a
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 Eastern
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 ...
. It is in the east of the country, bordering
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 ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. Its capital is
Inírida. In 1963 Guainía was split off from
Vaupés department. The northern part and the
Inírida River
The Inírida (, Spanish: Río Inírida) is a river in the north-west of South America, in the territory of Colombia, the largest tributary of the Guaviare (the Orinoco River basin).
The length of the river is , of which are navigable for small ...
are included in the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
basin; the rest is part of the
Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...
. The
Guaviare River is the main area of colonization; many ''colonos'' come from the
Colombian Andean zone, most of them from
Boyacá. They are followed by the ''
llanero
A (, ‘plainsman’) is a South American herder. The name is taken from the Llanos grasslands occupying eastern Colombia and western-central Venezuela.
During the Spanish American wars of independence, lancers and cavalry served in both ar ...
s'', people from the Eastern plains (
Llanos
The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...
). The population is mainly composed of Amerindians, and the largest ethnic groups are the ''
Puinave
Puinave, Waipunavi (Guaipunabi) or Wanse ( pui, Wãnsöhöt) is an indigenous language of Colombia and Venezuela. It is generally considered to be an unclassified language.
Varieties
Varieties listed by Mason (1950):
*Puinave (Epined)
**Weste ...
s'' (from the ''makú-puinave'' family) and the ''
curripacos'' (from the
''Arawak'' family). There are a total of 24 ethnic groups in the department; many of them speak four Indigenous languages besides
Spanish and
Portuguese.
Municipalities
There are two municipalities in Guainía: Inírida, its capital, and
Barranco Minas
Barrancominas is a town and municipality located in the Guainía Department
Guainía (; Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a department of Eastern Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital ...
. The rest of the territory is subdivided in ''
corregimientos departamentales'', a pending figure due to public disorder.
This case happens only in
Amazonas, Vaupés and
Vichada.
Barranco Minas
Barrancominas is a town and municipality located in the Guainía Department
Guainía (; Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a department of Eastern Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital ...
is the second biggest population and a municipality since 2019;
it is located on the
Guaviare River.
The Guainía corregimientos are:
#
Cacahual
Cacahual () is a town and municipality located in the Guainía Department, Republic of Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua ...
#
La Guadalupe
La Guadalupe () is a village and municipality in the Guainía Department, Colombia. La Guadalupe borders the corregimiento
''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purpos ...
#
Mapiripana
#
Morichal Nuevo
Morichal Nuevo is a town and municipality in the Guainía Department, Republic of Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Car ...
#
Pana Pana
Pana Pana is a town and municipality located in the Guainía Department
Guainía (; Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a department of Eastern Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital is ...
#
Puerto Colombia
Puerto Colombia is a coastal town and municipality in Atlántico Department, Colombia founded in the mid 1800s. Famous for its "Pier of Puerto Colombia", that at one time was the largest Pier in the world. Duties were later transferred to the l ...
#
San Felipe
References
External links
*
Guainía Secretary of EducationTerritorial-Environmental Information System of Colombian Amazon SIAT-AC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guainia Department
Departments of Colombia
States and territories established in 1963