The Serranía de Chiribiquete or Chiribiquete Mountains are a group of isolated table mountains in the

Amazon Region of Colombia Amazonía region in southern Colombia comprises the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo and Vaupés, and covers an area of 483,000 km2, 35% of Colombia's total territory. The region is mostly covered by ...

. The mountains are part of the western edge of the

Guiana Shield The Guiana Shield (; ; ; ) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a 1.7 billion-year-old Precambrian geological formation in northeast South America that forms a portion of the northern coast. The higher elevations on ...

. The area is protected as a national park. This area is habitat for the Chiribiquete emerald (''Chlorostilbon olivaresi''), an endemic hummingbird. The waterfall Caño Paujil originates from the Serranía de Chiribiquete.Caño Paujil
- Colparques

Protected area

Chiribiquete National Park is the largest national park in Colombia and the largest tropical rainforest national park in the world. It covers about and hosts important archaeological evidence in the form of

rock art In archaeology, rock arts are human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type al ...

. More than 600,000 traces of around 20,000 petroglyphs and pictographs have been discovered in the mountain chain, the oldest of which may date to 20,000 years BP. The rock art has been produced until the 16th century. The rock paintings were first recorded by the American botanist

Richard Evans Schultes Richard Evans Schultes (''SHULL-tees'';Jonathan Kandell ''The New York Times'', April 13, 2001, Accessed April 26, 2020. January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) was an American biologist, considered to be the father of modern ethnobotany. He is kno ...

in the 1940s. Later investigations were carried out by

Thomas van der Hammen Thomas van der Hammen (Schiedam, Netherlands, 27 September 1924 - Chía, Colombia, 12 March 2010) was a Dutch palaeontologist, botanist and geologist. He had published more than 160 works in five languages.Mike Slee Michael John Slee (born 23 August 1959) is a British film-maker, producer/director and writer. Life and career Born in Windlesham, Surrey, Slee studied Art & Design at Kingston University, and graduated with a first class honours degree from the ...

and Colombian photographer and explorer Francisco Forero Bonell photographed and filmed the rock paintings on the vertical rock faces within the park in 2014. Serranía de Chiribiquete is featured in the 2015 documentary '' Colombia, magia salvaje'', which was made by producer, Allison Bean and director, Mike Slee. Colombian president

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by training and a journalist by trade, S ...

announced that Chiribiquete National Natural Park would be expanded by on 21 February, 2018. The park was expanded to and declared a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

on 2 July, 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serrania de Chiribiquete Mountain ranges of Colombia de:Serranía de Chiribiquete