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 departme ...

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 ...

. 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 ...

mines are located in this municipality. The municipality also contains the Serranía de Macuira mountain range which is an isolated low altitude mountain range in the middle of La Guajira Desert. 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 northe ...

, 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 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 waterfr ...

. 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 ...

s. The Serranía de Macuira 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 deser ...

( Köppen ''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 ...

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 ...

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 pre ...

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
/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 Rancherías 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 Sociali ...

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 12 ...

. The main plaza was created and named after Francisco de Paula Santander 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

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