María La Baja is a town and municipality located in the

Bolívar Department Bolívar () is a department of Colombia. It was named after one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. It is located to the north of the country, extending roughly north–south from the Caribbean coast at Cartagena near ...

, northern

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 ...

History

María La Baja was founded by Alonso de Heredia (brother of

Pedro de Heredia Pedro de Heredia ( – 27 January 1554) was a Spanish conquistador, founder of the city of Cartagena de Indias and explorer of the northern coast and the interior of present-day Colombia. Early life Pedro de Heredia was born in in Madrid. He w ...

) on December 8, 1535.

Geography and climate

The municipality of María La Baja has a total area of 547 km², bordering to the north with the municipality of Arjona, to the east with the municipalities of

Mahates Mahates is a river town and municipality located in the Bolívar Department, northern Colombia. The town of Mahates was founded on April 17, 1533 by Spanish conquistador Pedro de Heredia. The municipality of Mahates also covers the village of P ...

and San Juan Nepomuceno, south with the municipalities of

El Carmen de Bolívar El Carmen de Bolívar is a municipality in the department of Bolívar, Colombia, 114 km southeast of Cartagena de Indias. It is located in the orographic system of the Montes de María, being the largest population, as well as the one that ...

and San Jacinto and to the west with the municipality of San Onofre,

Sucre Sucre (; ) is the ''de jure'' capital city of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the sixth most populous city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . This relatively high ...

. The town of María La Baja has an area of approximately 150 km² and it is some 72 km away from the Department's capital Cartagena. A warm climate prevails throughout the year at an average temperature of 28 °C.

Involvement in armed conflict

María La Baja has grown substantially in recent years as some 7000 people have moved into the town from the surrounding countryside, since 2000 when the

FARC The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (, FARC–EP or FARC) was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasan ...

guerrilla group arrived in the hills nearby. According to reports the FARC militants stole cattle. The situation deteriorated further when AUC paramilitaries began to battle FARC, catching civilians in the crossfire. However the security situation has improved more recently with the AUC bloc ''Heroes de los Montes de María'' giving up their weapons on July 14, 2005, under a national demobilization plan speared by the government of

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

. Marines have set up a base on the edge of the town.

References

María la Baja official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria La Baja Municipalities of Bolívar Department Populated places established in 1535 1535 establishments in New Spain