The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
of
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 ...
, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure
Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...
. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its
delta
Delta commonly refers to:
* Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet
* River delta, at a river mouth
* D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta")
* Delta Air Lines, US
* Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19
Delta may also ...
, as far as
Honda
is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...
, at the downstream base of its rapids. It flows through the
Magdalena River Valley
The Magdalena River Valley ( es, Valle del Río Magdalena) is a valley in Colombia located within the Colombian Andes. The valley is specifically situated between the Central and Eastern Ranges and crossed by the river of the same name, the Magdal ...
.
Its
drainage basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...
covers a surface of , which is 24% of the country's area and where 66% of its population lives.
Course
![Riomagdalena](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Riomagdalena.JPG)
The Magdalena River is the largest river system of the northern Andes, with a length of 1,612 km. Its headwaters are in the south of Colombia, where the
Andean
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...
subranges
Cordillera Central and
Cordillera Oriental separate, in
Huila Department
Huila () is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva, Colombia, Neiva.
Demography and Ethnography
Huila is a department that has a population of 1,122,622 inhabitants, of whic ...
. The river runs east then
north in a great valley between the two cordilleras. It reaches the coastal plain at about
nine degrees north, then runs west for about , then north again, reaching the
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...
at the city of
Barranquilla
Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Col ...
in the zone known as
Bocas de Ceniza
Bocas de Ceniza (Spanish for: ''Ash Mouths'') is the mouth of the Magdalena River in the Caribbean Sea. It owes its name to the dusky color ocean waters take to receive the river. At present, the river flows into the sea through an artificial ca ...
.
Flora and fauna
Fish
![Bello horizonte 5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Bello_horizonte_5.jpg)
The Magdalena River basin, which includes the
Cauca River
The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and th ...
and other tributaries, are very rich in fish. , 213 fish species were known from the basin.
[Maldonado-Ocampo; Vari; and Usma (2008). ''Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Colombia.'' Biota Colombiana 9: 143–237.] Since then several
new species have been described from the basin such as five ''
Hemibrycon
''Hemibrycon'' is a genus of characins. They are mainly found in South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean), and ''H. dariensis'' of east Panama.Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Ste ...
'' in 2013, two ''
Ancistrus
''Ancistrus'' is a genus of nocturnal freshwater fish in the family Loricariidae of order Siluriformes, native to freshwater habitats in South America and Panama. Fish of this genus are common in the aquarium trade where they are known as bushyn ...
'' in 2013 and a ''
Farlowella
''Farlowella'' is a genus of fish in the family Loricariidae native to South America. This genus is broadly distributed in Amazon, Orinoco, Paraná and coastal rivers of the Guyana Shield. It is absent from the Pacific slope of the Andes and fro ...
'' in 2014. Among the more famous species in the basin are ''
Kronoheros umbriferus
The turquoise cichlid (''Kronoheros umbriferus''), also known as the umbee cichlid, is a species of cichlid fish found in freshwater habitats of eastern Panama and central and western Colombia. It is commonly caught as a food fish, and sometimes ...
'', ''
Ctenolucius
''Ctenolucius'' is a genus of pike-characins found in southern Central America (Panama) and northwestern South America (Colombia and Venezuela). The currently described species in this genus are:
* ''Ctenolucius beani'' (Henry Weed Fowler, Fowle ...
hujeta'', ''
Geophagus steindachneri
The redhump eartheater ('Geophagus steindachneri') is a species of eartheater cichlid from freshwater habitats in northwestern South America.Geophagus steindachneri'. FishBase. Agustin, L., Kullander, S., & Torres, A. (2001-2008).
Distribution ...
'', ''
Ichthyoelephas
''Ichthyoelephas'' is a genus of South American freshwater fish from the family Prochilodontidae.
There are two species in the genus: ''I. humeralis'' reaches a length of at least and is found in the Santiago and Guayas river basins in Ecuador ...
longirostris'', ''
Panaque cochliodon'', ''
Pimelodus
''Pimelodus'' is a genus of fish in the family (biology), family Pimelodidae native to Central America, Central and South America.
Species
There are currently 33 recognized species in this genus:
* ''Pimelodus absconditus'' María de las Mercede ...
blochii'', ''
Potamotrygon magdalenae
''Potamotrygon magdalenae'', the Magdalena River stingray, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Potamotrygonidae. It is found only in the Magdalena and Atrato basins in Colombia, but it is locally abundant and among the predominant fis ...
'', ''
Prochilodus magdalenae'', ''
Pseudoplatystoma
''Pseudoplatystoma'' is a genus of several South American catfish species of family (biology), family Pimelodidae. The species are known by a number of different common names. They typically inhabit major rivers where they prefer the main channel ...
magdaleniatum'' and ''
Salminus
''Salminus'', popularly known as dorado or dourado, is a genus of relatively large (up to long), predatory freshwater fish from the family Characidae. They are native to large tropical and subtropical rivers in South America, and undertake migr ...
affinis''. About 55% of the fish species in the basin are
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
, including four endemic
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
: The catfish ''
Centrochir
''Centrochir crocodili'' is the only species in the genus ''Centrochir'' of the catfish (order Siluriformes) family Doradidae. This species is endemic to Colombia where it is found in the Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalen ...
'' and ''
Eremophilus
''Eremophilus mutisii'' is a species of catfish (order (biology), order Siluriformes) of the family (biology), family Trichomycteridae, and the only member of its genus. This fish grows to about 30 centimetres (12 in) and originates fro ...
'', and the
characids ''
Carlastyanax
''Carlastyanax aurocaudatus'' is a species of fish in the family (biology), family Characidae native to the Cauca River, Río Cauca in Colombia.Thomaz, A.T., Arcila, D., Ortí, G. & Malabarba, L.R. (2015): Molecular phylogeny of the subfamily St ...
'' (often included in ''
Astyanax
In Greek mythology, Astyanax (; grc, Ἀστυάναξ ''Astyánax'', "lord of the city") was the son of Hector, the crown prince of Troy, and his wife, Princess Andromache of Cilician Thebe."Astyanax". ''Oxford Classical Dictionary''. Oxford, 1 ...
'') and ''
Genycharax
''Genycharax tarpon'' is a species of characin endemic to 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 ...
''.
[Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: ]
Magdalena – Sinu.
'' Retrieved 12 August 2014. In general, the fish fauna shows connections with surrounding basins, notably
Atrato and
Maracaibo
)
, motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal")
, anthem =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_alt = ...
, but to a lesser extent also
Amazon
Amazon most often refers to:
* Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology
* Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin
* Amazon River, in South America
* Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
–
Orinoco.
[
The most productive ]fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
areas in Colombia are in the basin,[ but there has been a drastic decrease in the annual harvest with a fall of about 90% between 1975 and 2008. The primary threats are pollution (such as human waste, mining, farming and deforestation causing ]siltation
Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...
) and habitat loss (such a dam
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...
s). Additional dams are being constructed, including El Quimbo (opened in 2015) and Ituango
Ituango is a town and municipality in 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 Pac ...
(expected operational in 2018), which has caused some controversy. As a result of the pollution, heavy metals
upright=1.2, Crystals of osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead
Heavy metals are generally defined as ...
have also been detected in some commercially important fish in the river. , 19 fish species in the river basin were recognized as threatened.[Granado-Lorencio; Serna; Carvajal; Jiménez-Segura; Gulfo; and Alvarez (2012). ''Regionally nested patterns of fish assemblages in floodplain lakes of the Magdalena river (Colombia).'' Ecol Evol. 2(6): 1296–1303.]
Other animals
The Magdalena River and its valley crosses a wide variety of ecosystems, like páramo
Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...
in its headwaters, dry forest in the upper part of its valley, rainforest in its middle course, and swamps and wetlands in its lower course. The spectacled caiman, green iguana and brown pelican
The brown pelican (''Pelecanus occidentalis'') is a bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae, one of three species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving into water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to the mout ...
are abundant in these ecosystems but other animal species like the West Indian manatee
The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...
, Magdalena tinamou
The Magdalena tinamou, ''Crypturellus erythropus saltuarius'', is a member of one of the most ancient bird families, the tinamous. It is endemic to the Magdalena River Valley in Colombia, and had been considered possibly extinct, because of ...
, Todd's parakeet, American crocodile
The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida and the coasts ...
, Colombian slider
''Trachemys callirostris'' is a turtle in the family Emydidae found in Colombia and Venezuela.
Description
The turtle's carapace is green with light colors with dark splotches between them. The head of the turtle includes yellow lines and a s ...
, Magdalena River turtle
The Magdalena River turtle or Rio Magdalena river turtle (''Podocnemis lewyana'') is a species of turtle in the family Podocnemididae,[Dahl's toad-headed turtle
Dahl's toad-headed turtle (''Mesoclemmys dahli'') is a medium-sized species of Pleurodira, side-necked turle in the Family (biology), family Chelidae. This critically endangered freshwater turtle is Endemism, endemic to northern Colombia, where ...]
and red-footed tortoise
The red-footed tortoise (''Chelonoidis carbonarius'') is a species of tortoise from northern South America. These medium-sized tortoises generally average as adults, but can reach over . They have dark-colored, loaf-shaped carapaces (back shell ...
are in danger of extinction.
In addition, there is a possible risk posed by invasive hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
. Originally imported by Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
, these hippopotami became feral following his demise, and have since expanded beyond their original home on Hacienda Napoles
An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an Estate (land), estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals ...
into nearby regions of the Magdalena River.
History
Due to its geographical position in the north of South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, the Magdalena River was since precolumbian times a route towards the interior of present-day Colombia and Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
. Several Carib-speaking peoples such as the Panche and the Yariguí ascended through the western bank of the river, while its eastern portion was inhabited by 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 ...
civilization, which called the river ''Yuma''.
Likewise, the Spanish conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
es who arrived to today's Colombia early in the 16th century used the river to push to the wild and mountainous inland after 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.
...
discovered and named the river on April 1, 1501. 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 river was the only transport link communicating Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
with the Caribbean Sea port Cartagena de Indias and thus with Europe.
The Magdalena Campaign of Pierre Labatut
Pierre Labatut, also known as Pedro Labatut (1776 – 1849) was a French general who fought in the Brazilian War of Independence.
Biography
Labatut served in Europe during the Peninsular War. Then he came to South America and fought in Colom ...
and 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 B ...
took place along the Magdalena River.
In 1825, the Congress of Colombia
The Congress of the Republic of Colombia ( es, Congreso de la República de Colombia) is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature.
The Congress of Colombia consists of the 108-seat Senate, and the 188-seat Chamber of Repre ...
awarded a concession to establish steam navigation in the Magdalena River to Juan Bernardo Elbers, but his company closed shortly after. By 1845, steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...
s regularly travelled on the river until 1961, when the last steamers ceased operation.
In mass media
Much of the film ''Love in the Time of Cholera
''Love in the Time of Cholera'' ( es, El amor en los tiempos del cólera) is a novel written in Spanish by Colombian Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Márquez and published in 1985. Edith Grossman's English translation was published by ...
'' takes place in the historic, walled city of Cartagena in Colombia. Some screenshots showed the Magdalena River and 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 ...
mountain range.
''The General in His Labyrinth
''The General in His Labyrinth'' (original Spanish title: ) is a 1989 dictator novel by Colombian writer and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez. It is a fictionalized account of the last seven months of Simón Bolívar, liberator and leade ...
'', by Gabriel García Márquez, is a fictionalized account of the final voyage of 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 B ...
down the Magdalena River, where he revisits many cities and villages along the river.
In ''Magdalena: River of Dreams'' (Knopf, 2020), Canadian writer, anthropologist, and explorer Wade Davis travels the length of the river by boat, on foot, by car, and on horseback combining descriptions of nature with episodes from Colombian history.
References
{{Authority control
Rivers of Colombia
Ramsar sites in Colombia