Uribia is a small

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of the

La Guajira department La Guajira () is a 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 capital city of the depart ...

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 ...

. It is the youngest municipality of this Department since the year 2000. Northern Zone of 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 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 ...

mines are located in this municipality. The municipality also contains the

Serranía de Macuira Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipalities of Colombia, municipality of Uribia, Guajira, Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at isolated from ...

mountain range which is an isolated low altitude mountain range in the middle of La Guajira Desert. One third of this mountain range is also a National Natural Park of Colombia.

Geography and climate

The Municipality of Uribia covers most of the northern area of 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 ...

, the northernmost part of South America. Uribia borders to the north and west with the Caribbean Sea which surround more than half the municipality; to the east Uribia has a short border 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 south its borders the municipality of

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 ...

and southwest the municipality of

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 ...

. The Upper Guajira is arid, presenting clay formations with scarce vegetation of cactus and other

xerophile A xerophile () is an extremophilic organism that can grow and reproduce in conditions with a low availability of water, also known as water activity. Physics Water activity, a thermodynamical value denoted , is defined as the partial water vapo ...

s. The

lies in the middle of the upper region presenting three predominant hills or more above sea level in the Macuira, Jarará and La Teta. Uribia has an

arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk'') is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''BWh'') owing to its extremely hot temperatures that average around on most days of the year. Rainfall averages around per year but even in the “wet” months of May, September, October and November it does not reach the level of potential evaporation. Humidity is generally high enough to make the consistent heat very uncomfortable.

History

Evangelization

The process of

evangelization Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

s of the Wayuu people restarted in 1887 with the return of the

Capuchin friars The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbr. OFMCap) is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of Franciscans, Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of three "Religious institute#Nomenclature, F ...

under reverend friar José María de Valdeviejas. In 1905,

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

created the

Vicariate A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of La Guajira and as first Vicar, friar Atanasio Vicente Soler y Royo in an attempt to "civilize" the Wayuu people. Luis Angel Arango Library: The Capuchins mission and the Wayuu Culture
/ref> The friars the created the orphanages for Wayuu children beginning with the La Sierrita orphanage built in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in 1903; followed by the San Antonio orphanage in 1910 located by the Calancala River, Nazareth orphanage in the Serrania de Macuira mountains in 1913 creating a direct influence over the

Ranchería The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to Indigenous peoples of the Americas, native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meaning ...

s of Guarrachal, El Pájaro, Carazúa, Guaraguao, Murumana, Garra patamana and Karraipía. While Nazareth had some control over the rancherías of Taroa, Maguaipa, Guaseipá and Alpanapause. The friars constantly visited the settlements inviting to attend mass. Wayuu children in the orphanage were educated with traditional European customs. Conflicts between the Wayuu people and the Colombian government decreased since then. In 1942 the village of Uribia celebrated for the first time Christmas and New Year's Eve.

Official foundation

Uribia was founded officially on March 1, 1935 by Captain Eduardo Londoño Villegas in honor of

Colombian Liberal Party The Colombian Liberal Party (; PLC) is a centre to centre-left political party in Colombia. It was founded as a classical liberal party but later developed a more social-democratic tradition, joining the Socialist International in 1999. Th ...

leader

Rafael Uribe Uribe Rafael Victor Zenón Uribe Uribe (April 12, 1859 – October 15, 1914, in Bogotá) was a Colombian lawyer, journalist, and general in the liberal party rebel army. Uribe Uribe is best known for his political ideas in favor of the establishme ...

, prior to this the village was named ''Chitki'' in

Wayuu language Wayuu ( ), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 400,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula and surrounding Lake Maracaibo. There were an estimated 300,000 speake ...

. The main plaza was created and named after

Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (April 2, 1792 – May 6, 1840) was a Neogranadine military and political leader who served as Vice-President of Gran Colombia between 1819 and 1826, and was later elected by Congress as the President ...

one of the leaders of the Colombian independence from Spain.

Capital of the Special Commissary of La Guajira

Uribia became a regional capital town of the Special Commissary of La Guajira until 1954, when the National Intendency of La Guajira was created and the capital transferred to

Culture

Uribia is predominantly inhabited by indigenous peoples pertaining to the

Wayuu The Wayuu (also Wayu, Wayú, Guajiro, Wahiro) are an Indigenous ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Arawakan language family. Throughout their history, they ...

ethnic group. Cultural activities are directly related to them. The city celebrates the "Festival of the Wayuu Culture" from May 31 to June 1 every year. National System for Cultural Information: Festival of the Wayuu Culture
/ref>

Transportation

Puerto Bolívar Airport Puerto Bolívar Airport () is a private airport in the Guajira Department of Colombia. The closest city is Uribia. It is located next to the Cerrejón coal terminal and only serves the workers of the area. Only private sector aircraft and Colomb ...

Gallery

Image:Puerto Estrella in Uribia, La Guajira Colombia.png, Puerto Estrella in the municipality of Uribia Image:Cerro La teta, La Guajira Colombia.png, Cerro La Teta, northern municipality of Uribia - Guajira Desert

References

External links

Gobernacion de La Guajira - Uribia

{{coord, 11, 55, N, 72, 00, W, display=title, region:CO_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of La Guajira Department