Nariño () is a
department of
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 ...
named after independence leader
Antonio Nariño. Its capital is
Pasto. It is in the west of the country, bordering
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
.
Nariño has a diverse geography and varied climate according to altitude: hot in the plains of the Pacific and cold in the mountains, where most of the population resides, a situation that is repeated in a north-south direction. Other important cities include
Tumaco and
Ipiales.
History
The territory was occupied during the
Pre-Columbian era
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...
by numerous Indian tribes, including Quillacingas,
Awá, Pasto, and Tumas. The first European
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
who entered the territory was Andagoya Pascual in 1522, who traveled from the Colombian Pacific coast and then used information obtained by
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...
to organize the expedition that culminated in the conquest of
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
.
Juan de Ampudia and
Pedro de Añazco first explored the mountainous part of the department, commissioned by
Sebastián de Belalcázar in 1535, who then toured the territory in 1536 and reached Popayán and remained for some time before leaving for Spain.
Major Municipalities
Municipal population position
According to the latest census conducted in 2018; 1,335,521 people live in Nariño.
The city of Pasto and the municipalities of
Chachagüí,
Nariño,
Tangua,
Chía,
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
and
Yacuanquer form a single metropolitan area.
Administrative divisions
Nariño is composed of thirteen subregions and 64 municipalities organized among them:
*
Centro:
Pasto,
Chachagüí,
La Florida,
Nariño,
Tangua and
Yacuanquer.
*
Guambuyaco:
El Peñol,
El Tambo,
La Llanada and
Los Andes.
*
Juanambú:
Arboleda,
Buesaco,
La Unión,
San Pedro de Cartago and
San Lorenzo.
*
La Cordillera:
Cumbitara,
El Rosario,
Leiva,
Policarpa and
Taminango.
*
La Sabana:
Guaitarilla,
Imués,
Ospina,
Sapuyes and
Túquerres.
*
Los Abades:
Providencia,
Samaniego and
Santa Cruz.
*
Obando:
Aldana,
Contadero,
Córdoba,
Cuaspud,
Cumbal,
Funes,
Guachucal,
Gualmatán,
Iles,
Ipiales,
Potosí,
Puerres and
Pupiales.
*
Occidente:
Ancuya,
Consaca,
Linares and
Sandona.
*
Pacífico Sur:
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...
and
Tumaco.
*
Piedemonte Costero:
Mallama and
Ricaurte.
*
Río Mayo:
Belén,
Colón,
El Tablón,
La Cruz,
San Bernardo,
San José de Albán and
San Pablo.
*
Sanquianga:
El Charco,
La Tola,
Mosquera,
Olaya Herrera and
Santa Bárbara.
*
Telembí:
Barbacoas,
Magüí Payán and
Roberto Payán.
See also
*
Las Lajas Sanctuary
*
Laguna de la Cocha
*
Carnaval de Negros y Blancos
References
External links
Government of Narino official websiteTerritorial-Environmental Information System of Colombian Amazon SIAT-AC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narino Department
Departments of Colombia
States and territories established in 1904
Green and yellow flags