Barrancabermeja is a city in

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 ...

, located on the shore of the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

, in the western part of the department of

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

. It is home to the largest oil refinery in the country, under direct management of ECOPETROL. Barrancabermeja is known as the Oil Capital of Colombia. It is located 114 km west of

Bucaramanga Bucaramanga () is the capital and largest city of the department of Santander, Colombia. Bucaramanga has the fifth-largest economy by GDP in Colombia, has the lowest unemployment rate and has the ninth-largest population in the country, with 68 ...

, on the banks of the

in the Middle Magdalena region, which is the largest municipality and second in the entire department. Barrancabermeja has high temperatures all year round. It is considered to be one of the hottest cities in Colombia. It is surrounded by water resources which make it very humid.

History

On February 23, 2022, Barrancabermeja was affected by a 5.5 Ritcher Scale magnitude earthquake.

Geography

Puerto Wilches Puerto Wilches is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. References Municipalities of Santander Department {{Santander-geo-stub ...

lies to the north of Barrancabermeja; Puerto Parra and Simacota to the south; San Vicente de Chucuri and Giron to the southeast; and Magdalena River to the west. It is 116 km from Bucaramanga, the capital of Santander. The city is situated on the banks of the Magdalena River. In the past a Ferry service would cross between Santander and Antioquia, on the opposite side, where further oil fields are found. A bridge now spans the river at this location.

Culture

Barrancabermeja's culture has been largely affected by the migratory movements caused by the oil boom. The city exhibits an amalgam of many regional customs from Colombia. Due to its history as an oil town, the city is often visited by moneyed foreigners, often engineers and supervisory employees and technicians of oil companies. Thus Barrancabermeja has a reputation as an open and vibrant city and may be somewhat cosmopolitan. Barrancabermeja's night life includes

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

and merengue dance clubs. The city's culture presents a strong Caribbean influence that nevertheless is not exclusive of other cultural expressions from among the variety found in Colombia. The predominant music in the city is

vallenato Vallenato () or "Szlager" in Wayuu language (from the German "Schlager"), is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. ''Vallenato'' literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing th ...

and other Caribbean rhythms including papayera. Several local and national political organizations including unions, women's organizations, and human rights groups are active. Marches and demonstrations are quite common and the oil workers union is among the most important in the nation. The commercial area of the city is adjacent to the river port ("the Port") where motor boats and

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

s constantly arrive with

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

and agricultural products from farmers along the river that include

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. Th ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, 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 ...

(or ''yuca'' in Spanish),

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 cacao. In 1996 and 2000, Barrancabermeja hosted the Mundial de Patinaje, an international rollerblading competition.

References

{{Authority control Populated places on the Magdalena River Municipalities of Santander Department Port cities in Colombia Populated places established in 1536 1536 establishments in the Spanish Empire