Tibú is a municipality and town of Colombia located in the department of

Norte de Santander North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. North Santander is bordered by Vene ...

, in the northeast of the country, on the border with

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 on the banks of the Tibú River. It is the 160th most populated town of Colombia, and the 6th in the department after

Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the Eastern ...

, Ocaña, Villa del Rosario,

Los Patios Los Patios is a municipality and town in the Department of Norte de Santander, northeastern Colombia. As of 2012, it has a population of 77,588 History The history of this community begins in the 17th century. It began as the '' hacienda'' "Los ...

and

Pamplona Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region. Lying at near above ...

. It has an airport, and is connected by national road with Cúcuta, Ocaña and El Tarra.

History

The area of present-day Tibú was originally inhabited by the Barí people. Oil companies established a camp when they first arrived in the area in 1945. On March 8, 1945, the Council of Cúcuta approved the creation of the

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; ca, Corregiment, ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a ''corre ...

of Tibu. The Catholic Church also established the San Luis Beltran Mission and later on May 25, 1952, established the parish. The church greatly contributed to the development of the village by designing the first streets and distributing lots for the first houses and the cathedral. It was erected municipality later on January 1, 1977, in the midst of the jungle of the

Catatumbo Region The Catatumbo River ( es, Río Catatumbo) is a river rising in northern Colombia, flowing into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. The Catatumbo River is approximately long. It forms a part of the international boundary between the two countries. The ri ...

an almost human inhospitable land between Colombian and

. The town and municipalities were severely hit by the Colombian Civil War (1960s–present). The area has been a constant dispute between government forces, the guerrillas of the

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army ( es, link=no, Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de ColombiaEjército del Pueblo, FARC–EP or FARC) is a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian confl ...

and ELN and paramilitary groups. On June 16, 1996 AUC members perpetrated the Gabarra Massacre while struggling for control of the area with insurgents.

Geography

The municipality of Tibú borders to the east with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to the south with the municipalities of

and

Sardinata Sardinata () is a Colombian municipality The Municipalities of Colombia are decentralized subdivisions of the Republic of Colombia. Municipalities make up most of the departments of Colombia with 1,122 municipalities (''municipios''). Each on ...

, to the west with El Tarra and

San Calixto San Calixto () is a Colombian municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate ...

and to the northwest with

Teorama Teorama is a Colombian municipality located in the department of North Santander North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital ...

References

External links

Tibú official website
Municipalities of the Norte de Santander Department {{NortedeSantander-geo-stub