Leticia () is the southernmost

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the

Republic 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 Cari ...

, capital of the department of Amazonas, Colombia's southernmost town (4.09° south 69.57° west) and one of the major ports on the Amazon river. It has an elevation of 96 meters (315') above sea level and an average temperature of 27 °C (80.6 °F). Leticia has long been Colombia's shipping point for

tropical fish Tropical fish are generally those fish found in aquatic tropical environments around the world. Fishkeepers often keep tropical fish in freshwater and saltwater aquariums. The term "tropical fish" is not a taxonomic group, but rather is a ge ...

for the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade. Leticia has approximately 48,144 inhabitants on the left bank of the

Amazon river The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

, and is located at the point where Colombia,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

come together in an area called

Tres Fronteras Tres Fronteras ( pt, Três Fronteiras, en, Three Frontiers) is the Spanish name for an area of the Amazon Rainforest in the Upper Amazon region of South America. Geography It includes, and is named for, the tripoint where the borders of Brazil, ...

A long-standing border dispute involving Leticia, between Colombia and Peru, was decided in 1934 by the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

after these two nations were engulfed in an armed conflict known as the Colombia-Peru War.

History

Early history and etymology

Early Leticia history mentions a Portuguese explorer who, after becoming lost on the Amazon, died of starvation at the present site of Leticia with the rest of his crew. The Peruvian captain Benigno Bustamante, then governor of the Peruvian department of Loreto, founded the city itself on April 25, 1867. Legend has it that when the Peruvian government decided to colonise the area (in order to prevent the Colombian government from claiming it first), they found a cross inscribed with the words "San Antonio", naming the new town after this cross. A legend states that a Colombian soldier fell in love with an

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

woman named Leticia and decided to name the settlement after her. It could also be named after Saint Leticia. However, Peruvian records indicate that on the 15 December 1867, the port of "San Antonio" was renamed to "Leticia" by Peruvian engineer Manuel Charón. Charón named the port in honor of a young female resident of the Peruvian city of

Iquitos Iquitos (; ) is the capital city of Peru's Maynas Province and Loreto Region. It is the largest metropolis in the Peruvian Amazon, east of the Andes, as well as the ninth-most populous city of Peru. Iquitos is the largest city in the world t ...

named Leticia Smith, who in fact, was his wife.

Territorial dispute

Small border incidents between Peru and Colombia occurred in 1911, and in 1922 the two governments of those countries reached a controversial agreement awarding the Leticia area to Colombia in exchange for recognizing Peru's rights to the zone south of the

Putumayo River The Putumayo River or Içá River ( es, Río Putumayo, pt, Rio Içá) is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, southwest of and parallel to the Japurá River. Course The Putumayo River forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well ...

, which was also claimed by

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. This agreement proved to be unpopular among the Peruvian population, despite the treaty's ratification in 1928, because the treaty was signed in secret and it awarded Colombia a region that had been founded by Peruvians and that had a large Peruvian population living within its borders. The Colombia-Peru War began in September 1932 when two hundred Peruvians, followed later by military troops, occupied public buildings in Leticia, which was not garrisoned. Hand-to-hand combat ensued between small Colombian and Peruvian forces in early 1933. The conflict lasted until May 1933, when a cease-fire negotiated by the League of Nations went into effect in order to settle the conflict. The League finally awarded the disputed area to Colombia in June 1934.

Recent history

Though the League of Nations' intervention had officially ended the war, the Colombian government remained wary of the Peruvians, and decided to populate Leticia with people from

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

in order to ensure the town's loyalty to Colombia. Most of the people who came from Bogotá from the 1940s to 1965 still live in Leticia . During that time Leticia has expanded greatly, with a new main street being built. However, the city's industries have changed little since then, with

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

still the prime sources of income. Tourism in Leticia has boomed and the town is today a recognized tourist site. International students travel to Leticia to learn Spanish. Meanwhile, students and visitors can enjoy the attractions nearby the city.

Climate

Leticia features a

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 southe ...

with minimal difference in average high and low temperatures throughout the course of the year. Leticia does have noticeably wetter and drier months, with its wettest month (March) seeing a little more than twice as much rain as its driest month (July). The average monthly rainfall in the city is consistently above .

Biodiversity

The

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

fauna of Leticia is highly species rich. An intensive survey effort in primary rainforest and flooded forest some 10 km (6 miles) north of Leticia revealed 96 frog species (with two more found shortly afterwards). However, the true number might be as high as 123 species, based on species expected to occur in the area but not yet documented there.

Culture

People

The majority of Leticia's population have migrated from elsewhere. There is no obviously dominant segment, but migrants from

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

, and Tolima are the majority. Few people from

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans with of urban area, making Cali the second ...

live in Leticia. A significant proportion of Leticia's population comprises native

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

(as opposed to ''

mestizos (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

'' or ''

caboclo A caboclo () is a person of mixed Indigenous Brazilian and European ancestry, or, less commonly, a culturally assimilated or detribalized person of full Amerindian descent. In Brazil, a ''caboclo'' generally refers to this specific type of '' ...

s''). The prevailing trend is for people to move from the village of their birth in far-lying rural communities into the city to make a "better" living. The region is home to several indigenous people, including the Witoto,

Inga ''Inga'' is a genus of small tropical, tough-leaved, nitrogen-fixing treesElkan, Daniel. "Slash-and-burn farming has become a major threat to the world's rainforest" ''The Guardian'' 21 April 2004 and shrubs, subfamily Mimosoideae. ''Inga''s ...

, Tucano,

Ticuna The Ticuna (also Magüta, Tucuna, Tikuna, or Tukuna) are an indigenous people of Brazil (36,000'')'', Colombia (6,000), and Peru (7,000). They are the most numerous tribe in the Brazilian Amazon. History The Ticuna were originally a tribe that ...

, and

Nukak The Nukak people (also Nukak- Makú) live between the Guaviare and Inírida rivers, in the depths of the tropical humid forest, on the fringe of the Amazon basin, in Guaviare Department, Republic of Colombia. They are nomadic hunter-gatherers ...

. The Peruvian Yagua settled in the riverside village of La Libertad in the 1990s.

Food

Although the inhabitants commonly eat the same things each week, a wide variety of food is available in Leticia. Dishes specific to each of Colombia's regions are made here. For example, people make

Sancocho Sancocho (from the Spanish verb ''sancochar'', "to parboil") is a traditional soup in several Latin American cuisines. Variations represent popular national dishes in Dominican Republic, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Panama, Puerto Rico, Tri ...

, a hearty soup, with regional variations in different parts of Colombia. But even within regions, each family has its own recipe. Leticia's cuisine includes Brazilian and Peruvian influences. Common staples in Leticia include river fish, domestic (and occasionally wild) meat, rice, locally-grown vegetables and potatoes. Meals are usually cooked over a wood-fired stovetop in a pan. A typical Sunday meal might comprise grilled meats, cooked in makeshift charcoal grillers, served with rice and

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 ...

Education

Leticia is considered an important area for the study of the Amazon and its biodiversity. * National University of Colombia at Leticia * Universidad Antonio Nariño (UAN) * Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD) *

University of the Amazon The University of the Amazon ( es, Universidad de la Amazonia), also called Uniamazonía, is a national public university in Florencia, Caquetá, Colombia. The university is established by Act 60 of 1982 to contribute to the development of the ...

Attractions

Amacayacu National Park Amacayacu National Natural Park ( es, Parque Nacional Natural Amacayacu) is a national park located along the Amazon River in the Amazonas Department in the south of Colombia. The word "Amacayacu" means "River of the Hamocs" in the indigenous ...

* Parque nacional natural Cahuinarí * Isla de los Micos (Monkey Island) * Puerto Nariño, the only other Amazonas municipality * Lago Tarapoto, where

boto Boto is a Portuguese name given to several types of dolphins and river dolphins native to the Amazon and the Orinoco River tributaries. A few botos exist exclusively in fresh water, and these are often considered primitive dolphins. Classificatio ...

s can be seen * Lago Yahuarcacas * Parque Ecologico Mundo Amazonico (Amazon World Ecological Park) * Museum Banco de la República * Orellana Park * Santander Park * Our Lady of Peace Cathedral

Transportation

The Vásquez Cobo International Airport in Leticia is the largest airport in the south of Colombia. In addition to being the Colombian jungle region gateway, it also serves as the major airport in the triple-border region (Colombia, Brazil and Peru). For this reason, the airport handles the majority of passengers from the central Amazon region. The city is not connected to the bulk of Colombia by road.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{Authority control Municipalities of Amazonas Department Capitals of Colombian departments Populated places established in 1867 Brazil–Colombia border crossings Colombia–Peru border crossings Tres Fronteras Populated places on the Amazon 1867 establishments in Colombia Road-inaccessible communities of Colombia