Ciénaga de Zapatosa (Zapatosa Marsh) is a large

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

in a depression located between 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 ...

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Cesar Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar, Portugal * Cesar Department, Colombia * Cesar River, in Colombia * Cesar ...

and Magdalena covering an area of approximately 40,000 ha and containing one million cubic meters of water. The fresh water lake in the middle of the marsh varies with the seasons from 400 to 800 square miles (103,600 to 207,200 ha) in extent and from 20 to 25 feet (6 to 8 meters) deep. The marshes are covered by the municipalities of

Chimichagua Chimichagua () is a city and municipality in the central region of the Department of Cesar, Colombia. Approximately one third of the municipality of Chimichagua is water. The municipality seat lies by the Cienaga de Zapatosa marshes. Etymology ...

Curumaní Curumaní is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Cesar Cesar or César may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''César'' (film), a 1936 French romantic drama * ''César'' (play), a play by Marcel Pagnolt Places * Cesar ...

Tamalameque Tamalameque is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Cesar. It was originally the site of a Chimila settlement, ''Thamara''. Tamalameque is located on the right bank of the Magdalena River and borders Chimichagua and Pailitas ...

and

El Banco El Banco (meaning "river bank" in Spanish), also called Cumbia Empire City, is a municipality of Colombia located in the southernmost part of the department of Magdalena, at the confluence of the Magdalena and Cesar River. It is part of the D ...

, communities which based their economy in part from the

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

practice.

References

Marshes of Colombia Wetlands of Colombia Geography of Cesar Department Geography of Magdalena Department {{Colombia-geo-stub