Barrancas is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and municipality in the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

n Department of

La Guajira La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, 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 ca ...

. The municipality of Barrancas is located to the west of the

Ranchería River The Ranchería River () is a river located in northern La Guajira Department, Colombia. Born in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta southern steps flows south, abruptly turns northeast and then north where it finally flows into the Caribbean Sea. It ...

in a valley between the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

and

Serranía del Perijá The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the ...

mountains. Barrancas has a total area of 742 km² and at 40 meters over sea level. The average temperature is 28 °C throughout the year and distances from the capital of the Department of La Guajira,

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 wa ...

. It became a municipality in 1892. Gobernacion de La Guajira - Barrancas
Its economy is based on agriculture and coal mining which is exploited by the

Cerrejón Cerrejón is a large Coal mining, 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 la ...

coal mine.

Geography

Barrancas is located in the

Guajira Peninsula The Guajira Peninsula (, also spelled ''Goajira'', mainly in colonial period texts, ) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of exte ...

in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, limiting to the east with the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

; to the north with the municipalities of Hatonuevo and

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

; to the south with the municipality of Fonseca and to the west with the municipality of

. The municipality covers a total area of 742 km² (286.5 sq mi) and is some 40 m (131 ft) over the sea level. The municipality of Barrancas lies in the Valley of Upar formed between the

(west) and the

(east) and within the basin of the

Climate

The climate present in the region is predominantly hot and dry with no mountainous climate variations, maintaining an average temperature throughout the year of 28 °C; while in the lower plains temperature can reach 35 °C, while in the mountainous area of the municipality the temperature is milder. During the rainy season temperature in the mountainous part of the municipality can reach between 15 and 18 °C while in the dry season 18-24 °C. Higher temperature are reached by the end of March, April and May In June and July temperatures drop and in August and September raises. In October and November drops once again and raises in December and January due to the

trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, ...

History

Barrancas was founded in 1664, when the Spaniards arrived in the region. During the war of independence from Spain, on March 26, 1813, the Cabildo of Barrancas insurrected against the local Spanish monarchy authorities destroying images and coat of arms of King

Fernando VII Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (the Desired), and af ...

. The cabildo also swore loyalty to

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

. The revolt was led by Eugenio Vidal, Javier López Sierra, Jose Rodriguez Romero, Misael Orozco, Pedro Ojeda, Crisanto Solano, Bienvenido Gomez and Pedro Miguel Garavito. Barrancas was one of the villages part of the

Province of Padilla A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provin ...

and became a municipality in 1892. It was also one of the five municipalities that grouped to form the

Department of La Guajira La Guajira () is a departments of Colombia, 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 ca ...

in 1954, then called ''Intendencia Nacional de La Guajira'' by orders of then military dictator

Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (12 March 1900 – 17 January 1975) was a Colombian National Army of Colombia, army general, civil engineer and politician who ruled as List of presidents of Colombia, 19th President of Colombia in a military dictatorship f ...

Politics

* List of mayors of Barrancas

Demographics

According to projections made by the DANE for the year 2005 the municipality of Barrancas had a population of approximately 29,856 inhabitants.

Economy

The municipality of Barrancas is connected through a highway to the department capital,

and the main commercial town in the department,

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 Venezue ...

. Barrancas also has cultural influence and commercial trade related to agriculture from the city of

Valledupar Valledupar () is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, ''Valle de Upar'' (Valley of Upar), was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; ''Cacique Upar''. The ...

in the

Department of Cesar Cesar Department (), or simply Cesar, () is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with the Department of Magdalena and Depar ...

. Barrancas commercializes in small scale agricultural products such as

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

, plantain,

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

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, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennia ...

, but the main economic activity in the municipality is the exploitation of

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 Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

coal mine. The Cerrejón coal mine is one of the largest open pit coal mines in the world.

Culture

The municipality celebrates the ''

Festival y Reinado Nacional del Carbón The Coal National festival and Pageant () is a festival in Colombia that takes place in the town of Barrancas, Department of La Guajira from October 10 to the 13. The festival is an artistic and cultural event which celebrates de municipalities' Ro ...

'' (Coal National festival and Pageant) in October. National System for Cultural Information: Festival y Reinado Nacional del Carbón
/ref>

Notable people

* Leandro Díaz (1928–2013), music composer * Luis Díaz, footballer for

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

and the Colombia national team * Joaquín Gómez, bloc commander and member of the

Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in ...

Notes

References

External links

barrancas.galeon - Barrancas

Barrancas official website
{{Coord, 11, 00, N, 72, 45, W, region:CO_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Municipalities of La Guajira Department Populated places established in 1664