Mahates is a river town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern

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 ...

. The town of Mahates was founded on April 17, 1533 by 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 ...

Pedro de Heredia Pedro de Heredia (c. 1505 in Madrid – January 27, 1554 in Zahara de los Atunes, Cádiz) was a Spanish conquistador, founder of the city of Cartagena de Indias and explorer of the northern coast and the interior of present-day Colombia. Earl ...

. The municipality of Mahates also covers the village of

Palenque de San Basilio San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African to ...

, inhabited mainly by Afro-Colombians which are direct descendants of

African slaves Slavery has historically been widespread in Africa. Systems of servitude and slavery were common in parts of Africa in ancient times, as they were in much of the rest of the ancient world. When the trans-Saharan slave trade, Indian Ocean sl ...

brought by the Spanish during the Colonization of the Americas and have preserved their ancestral traditions. In 2005 the Palenque de San Basilio village was proclaimed

Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity The Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness of intangible cultural heritage and encourage local communities to protect them and th ...

by UNESCO.

History

The town of Mahates was founded in 1533 by

after founding

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 ...

. In 1538 was given in

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...

to his son, Antonio de Heredia who transfer the property to Luis Pelo de Águila who finally erected the parish. Due to its rapid increase on population Mahates quickly became a village and political chiefdom of the municipality and First Instance Court until the end of the 19th century. In 1650 the

Canal del Dique The Canal del Dique ( Levee Channel) is a 118 km artificial canal connecting Cartagena Bay (at the corregimiento of Pasacaballos) to the Magdalena River in the Bolívar Department in northern Colombia. The canal is a bifurcation or artific ...

was built and Mahates became an obliged pass for commercial routes passing by the area. Through the history of Colombia Mahates has been a division, named as Partition, Cantón, Province, District of Province and Municipality. In 1860 two-thirds of the village of Mahates were destroyed by a fire when Mahates was part of the

Sovereign State of Bolívar ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

Granadine Confederation The Granadine Confederation ( es, Confederación Granadina) was a short-lived federal republic established in 1858 as a result of a constitutional change replacing the Republic of New Granada. It consisted of the present-day nations of Colombia an ...

and capital of the Province of Mahates, which also included today's municipalities of Calamar and Arjona, then districts. In 1865 the Province of Mahates is demoted to a lower territorial category, also losing territory. With the construction of the railway between

and Calamar in 1894 the transportation of commercial goods over the canal lost importance and Mahates became less strategically important. Later, with the construction of the highway set to pass through the town of Mahates is then deviated away from the town.

Geography

The municipality of Mahates is located in the northern part of the Bolivar Department, bordering with the municipalities of Calamar and Arroyo Hondo to the east, the municipality of

Soplaviento Soplaviento is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town is located on the south bank of the Dique Canal across from the town of San Estanislao {{Infobox settlement , settlement_type = City & ...

to the northeast,

San Estanislao {{Infobox settlement , settlement_type = City & District , official_name = San Estanislao de Kostka , native_name = , nickname = Santaní , motto = , image_skyline = , imagesize ...

to the north, Arjona to the west,

María La Baja María La Baja is a town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. History María La Baja was founded by Alonso de Heredia (brother of Pedro de Heredia) on December 8, 1535. Geography and climate The municipality of ...

to the southwest and the municipality of San Juan Nepomuceno covering a total of .

Demographics

Ethnic composition

The population in the municipality of Mahates is mostly mulattos. In the village of San Basilio de Palenque the majority of its inhabitants are moreno (dark-skinned) Afro-Colombians who still preserve customs and from their African ancestors as well as their creole language,

Palenquero Palenquero (sometimes spelled Palenkero) or Palenque ( pln, Lengua) is a Spanish-based creole language spoken in Colombia. It is believed to be a mixture of Kikongo (a language spoken in central Africa in the current countries of Congo, DRC, Gab ...

Population

Because the municipality has and agricultural economy, the majority of the population lives in the rural area (62.39%) the rest in the urban area (37.61%). In 1985 the population of the municipality totalled 18,831 people. In the 1993 general census, Mahates decreased its population to 18,412 people.

Government

The municipality of Mahates is governed by a popularly elected Mayor and represents the maximum authority of the executive branch of power in the municipality. The mayor is a direct representative of the Governor of Bolívar Department for the municipality. The legislative branch is represented by a popularly elected Municipal Council. The judicial branch is represented by sectional courts, judges and attorneys. The Major of Mahates's main functions include: # Abide and make abide by the Colombian Constitution of 1991, the law, decrees by the government, ordinances and accords with the municipal council. # Preserve the public order in accordance with laws and instructions ordered by the President of Colombia. # Suppress or fusion municipality entities and dependencies in accordance with respective needs.

Administrative divisions

Town of Mahates neighborhoods

* 12 October * 16 May * 7 August * Centella * El Campo * El Puente * La Concepcion * La Guayana * La Loma * La Vera * Remanso de Paz * Santander

Corregimientos

* Evitar * Gamero * Malagana * Mandinga * San Basilio de Palenque * San Joaquin

Veredas

* Cruz del Vizo * La Manga * Paraiso * Pava * Raicero * Songó * Todo Sonrisa

References

External links

*
Mahates official website
*
Mahates municipality official website
{{Coord, 10, 14, N, 75, 11, W, region:CO_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Municipalities of Bolívar Department Populated places established in 1533 1533 establishments in the Spanish Empire