Uribia is town and municipality of the
La Guajira department
La Guajira () is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the departm ...
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 ...
. It is the youngest municipality of this Department since the year 2000. Northern Zone of the
Cerrejón
Cerrejón is a large open-pit coal mine in Northern Colombia owned by Glencore. At Cerrejón, low-ash, low-sulphur bituminous coal from the Cerrejón Formation is excavated. At over the mine is one of the largest of its type, the largest in Lati ...
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dea ...
mines are located in this municipality. The municipality also contains the
Serranía de Macuira
Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipality of Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at isolated from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Eas ...
mountain range which is an isolated low altitude mountain range in the middle of
La Guajira Desert
The La Guajira Desert (Wayuu: Woumainkat Wajiira) is a desert located in northern Colombia and Venezuela, approximately north of Bogotá, covering most of the La Guajira Peninsula at the northernmost tip of South America. It is the continent's ...
. One third of this mountain range is also a National Natural Park of Colombia.
Geography and climate
The Municipality of Uribia covers most of the northern area of the
Guajira Peninsula
The Guajira Peninsula ( es, Península de La Guajira, links=no, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, guc, Hikükariby) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernm ...
, the northernmost part of South America. Uribia borders to the north and west with the Caribbean Sea which surround more than half the municipality; to the east Uribia has a short border with the
Bolivarian Republic of 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 ...
; to the south its borders the municipality of
Maicao
Maicao (Wayuu: ) is a city and municipality in the Department of La Guajira, northern Republic of Colombia. It is located 76 km from Riohacha, the capital of the department and is the second largest urban center near the border with Venezuela ...
and southwest the municipality of
Riohacha
Riohacha (; Wayuu: ) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterf ...
.
The Upper Guajira is arid, presenting clay formations with scarce vegetation of cactus and other
xerophile
A xerophile () is an extremophilic organism that can grow and reproduce in conditions with a low availability of water, also known as water activity. Water activity (aw) is measured as the humidity above a substance relative to the humidity above p ...
s. The
Serranía de Macuira
Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipality of Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at isolated from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Eas ...
lies in the middle of the upper region presenting three predominant hills or more above sea level in the Macuira, Jarará and La Teta.
Uribia has an
arid climate
The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''BWh'') owing to its extremely hot temperatures that average around on most days of the year. Rainfall averages around per year but even in the “wet” months of May, September, October and November it does not reach the level of potential evaporation. Humidity is generally high enough to make the consistent heat very uncomfortable.
History
Evangelization
The process of
evangelization
In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ.
Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
s of the Wayuu people restarted in 1887 with the return of the
Capuchin friars
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...
under reverend friar José María de Valdeviejas. In 1905,
Pope Pius X
Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...
created the
Vicariate
A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...
of La Guajira and as first Vicar, friar Atanasio Vicente Soler y Royo in an attempt to "civilize" the Wayuu people.
[ Luis Angel Arango Library: The Capuchins mission and the Wayuu Culture](_blank)
/ref>
The friars the created the orphanages for Wayuu children beginning with the La Sierrita orphanage built in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in 1903; followed by the San Antonio orphanage in 1910 located by the Calancala River, Nazareth orphanage in the Serrania de Macuira mountains in 1913 creating a direct influence over the Ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...
s of Guarrachal, El Pájaro, Carazúa, Guaraguao, Murumana, Garra patamana and Karraipía. While Nazareth had some control over the rancherías of Taroa, Maguaipa, Guaseipá and Alpanapause. The friars constantly visited the settlements inviting to attend mass. Wayuu children in the orphanage were educated with traditional European customs. Conflicts between the Wayuu people and the Colombian government decreased since then. In 1942 the village of Uribia celebrated for the first time Christmas and New Year's Eve.
Official foundation
Uribia was founded officially on March 1, 1935 by Captain Eduardo Londoño Villegas in honor of Colombian Liberal Party
The Colombian Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Colombiano; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialis ...
leader Rafael Uribe Uribe
Rafael Victor Zenón Uribe Uribe (born April 12, 1859 – died October 15, 1914, in Bogotá) was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army.
Uribe Uribe is best known for his political ideas in favor of the est ...
, prior to this the village was named ''Chitki'' in Wayuu language
Wayuu ( guc, Wayuunaiki ), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula.
There are 200,000 speakers of Wayuu in Venezuela and 120 ...
. The main plaza was created and named after Francisco de Paula Santander
Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independ ...
one of the leaders of the Colombian independence from Spain.
Capital of the Special Commissary of La Guajira
Uribia became a regional capital town of the Special Commissary of La Guajira until 1954, when the National Intendency of La Guajira was created and the capital transferred to Riohacha
Riohacha (; Wayuu: ) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterf ...
.
Culture
Uribia is predominantly inhabited by indigenous peoples pertaining to the Wayuu
The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayúu, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Amerindian ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost part of Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Maipuran (Arawak) language family.
Geography
...
ethnic group. Cultural activities are directly related to them. The town celebrates the "Festival of the Wayuu Culture" from May 31 to June 1 every year. National System for Cultural Information: Festival of the Wayuu Culture
/ref>
Transportation
* Puerto Bolívar Airport
Gallery
Image:Puerto Estrella in Uribia, La Guajira Colombia.png, Puerto Estrella in the municipality of Uribia
Image:Cerro La teta, La Guajira Colombia.png, Cerro La Teta, northern municipality of Uribia - Guajira Desert
References
External links
Gobernacion de La Guajira - Uribia
{{coord, 11, 55, N, 72, 00, W, display=title, region:CO_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki
Municipalities of La Guajira Department