Acandí is a town in Colombia at the northern extremity of the department of Chocó in the northwest of Colombia, bordering

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

and 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 ...

. It is from the department's capital,

Quibdó Quibdó () is the capital city of Chocó Department, in Western Colombia, and is located on the Atrato River. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 129,237, predominantly Afro Colombian, including Zambo ...

. Its average temperature is . It was founded around the year 1887, and it became a municipality in 1905, previously being part of

Turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

. The name "Acandí" is a corruption of the indigenous word "Acanti", which means "River of Stone". It is one of the constituent territories of the region of Darién, together with the towns of Unguía, Juradó and the municipality of Riosucio west of the

Atrato river The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the ...

. Acandí has no road connection with the outside world. It is only about 5 miles (8 km.) from the Panama border. There is a ferry connecting it with Necoclí, some east across the

Gulf of Urabá The Gulf of Urabá is a gulf on the northern coast of Colombia. It is part of the Caribbean Sea. It is a long, wide inlet located on the coast of Colombia, close to the connection of the continent to the Isthmus of Panama. The town of Turbo, Co ...

. from which there is a paved road south. This is the route for everything in Acandí that does not arrive by air. In the years leading up to the Haitian migrant crisis of 2021, these ferries, running at capacity, were primarily transporting Haitians, who were about to enter the Panamanian

Darién Gap The Darién Gap (, , es, Tapón del Darién , ) is a geographic region between the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the norther ...

en route to the United States.

History

The name Acandí is derived from the Acandí tribe which means "River of Stones". The first the town of Acandí was founded in c. 1890 by Spanish settlers Concepción Gómez, Fermín Ávila, José Piestán, José Garrido and others with the name of San Nicolás de Titumate and was located at the western shore of the Acandí River but was constantly flooded and devastated by this river. The inhabitants moved the village to its current safer location in 1896. The municipality of Acandí was created on August 5, 1908, by an ordinance of the same year.

Geography

Its urban area is by the

in the northeastern part of the

, some away from the capital

. The municipality has an area of and borders to the north with the Caribbean Sea, to the south with the municipality of Unguía and to the west with the

Republic of Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Climate

Acandí has a wet

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(

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 ...

''Af'').

Economy

The main economic activities of Acandí are agriculture, livestock raising,

artisan fishing Artisanal fishing (or traditional/subsistence fishing) consists of various small-scale, low-technology, low-capital, fishing practices undertaken by individual fishing households (as opposed to commercial fishing). Many of these households are ...

and informal commerce. The main agricultural products are

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

plantain Plantain may refer to: Plants and fruits * Cooking banana, banana cultivars in the genus ''Musa'' whose fruits are generally used in cooking ** True plantains, a group of cultivars of the genus ''Musa'' * ''Plantaginaceae'', a family of flowerin ...

and

yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated ...

. The municipality also covers the tourism hub Capurganá, located near the border with

Transportation

Acandí has a small seaport on the Caribbean Sea mainly utilizing it to communicate with other nearby ports in Colombia and Panama. The

Atrato River The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the ...

is also used for transportation and a way to reach the Departmental capital

. The town also has a small airport, Alcides Fernández Airport (Airport class G. 1,200 m long, 10 m wide) that can receive light planes and is used primarily to fly to Quibdó or towns in the Antioquia Department. It is owned by the Colombian government agency INCORA. Inhabitants also use the nearby airfields in Capurganá: *Capurganá Airport – Airport class F. in the police inspection of Capurganá. 852 m long, 12 m wide and operated by the municipality. *El Gilcal Airport – Airport class G. 500 m long, 15 m wide and owned by the municipality.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acandi Municipalities of Chocó Department Populated places established in 1887 Colombia–Panama border crossings Road-inaccessible communities of Colombia