Vichada Department ( es, Departamento del Vichada, link=no, ) is a

department 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, ...

of the

Republic of Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

in South America. Vichada is located in the eastern plains of Colombia, in the Orinoquía Region within the Orinoco river basin bordering the

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to the north and east. To the north the department also borders with

Arauca Department Arauca () is a department of Eastern Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco Basin of Colombia (the Llanos Orientales), bordering Venezuela. The southern boundary of Arauca is formed by the Casanare and Meta Rivers, separating ...

, to the northwest with

Casanare Department Casanare Department (, es, Departamento de Casanare) is a department in the central eastern region of Colombia. Its capital is Yopal, which is also the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Yopal. It contains oil fields and an 800 ...

, to the west with

Meta Department Meta () is a departments of Colombia, department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a ...

, to the southwest narrowly bordering with

Guaviare Department Guaviare () is a department of Colombia. It is in the southern central region of the country. Its capital is San José del Guaviare. Guaviare was created on July 4, 1991, by the new Political Constitution of Colombia. Up until that point, it ...

and to the south with

Guainía Department Guainía (; Yuri language: "Land of many waters") is a department of Eastern Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital is Inírida. In 1963 Guainía was split off from Vaupés department. The nor ...

. The department is the second largest in Colombia and scarcely populated in comparison to other departments. The department was previously a commissary established in 1913. The largest town and capital of the department is

Puerto Carreño Puerto Carreño () is the departmental capital, and a municipality, of the department of Vichada in the Llanos of Colombia. History In 1913 the Colombian government created the province (comisaria) of Vichada and it was decided that its capital ...

located in extreme northeastern part of the department and bordering Venezuela. the department is subdivided into four

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

; Puerto Carreño, La Primavera, Santa Rosalía and

Cumaribo Cumaribo is a town and municipality located in the Department of Vichada, Republic of Colombia. Cumaribo was founded by Jose Nicolino Mattar in 1959. In 2005 the municipality had an estimated total population of 28,718 inhabitants, 4,312 of t ...

. It also contains 46 indigenous reserves and 6 communities.

Geography

The department is located on the eastern plains of Colombia known as the

Llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

. The department limits to the north with the

and the

; to the east with Venezuela; to the south with the

and

; and to the west with

and

. The department is located to the left margin of the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

river and the right margin of the

Meta River The Meta River is a major left tributary of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, South America. The Meta originates in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes and flows through the Meta Department, Colombia as the confluence of ...

within the plains of los Llanos. Part of the department lies on the

Guiana Shield The Guiana Shield (french: Plateau des Guyanes, Bouclier guyanais; nl, Hoogland van Guyana, Guianaschild; pt, Planalto das Guianas, Escudo das Guianas; es, Escudo guayanés) is one of the three cratons of the South American Plate. It is a ...

. Soil lacks sediments due to the lack of alluvions from rivers coming from the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

mountains. Climate in the department is predominantly hot and humid with an average temperature of throughout the year.

History

In 1913 the government of Colombia created the commissary of Vichada and the capital was established in a locality known as ''El Picacho'' between the

Meta Meta (from the Greek μετά, '' meta'', meaning "after" or "beyond") is a prefix meaning "more comprehensive" or "transcending". In modern nomenclature, ''meta''- can also serve as a prefix meaning self-referential, as a field of study or ende ...

and

rivers. The town was named

in honor of

Pedro María Carreño Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish language, Spanish, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Galician language, Galician name for ''Peter (given name), Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic fo ...

, then acting Minister of Government. Alcaldia de Puerto Carreño: Historia
/ref> In August 1974, Puerto Carreño was elevated to the category of

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

by decree 1594 of that same year. On 5 July 1991 Vichada was elevated to the category of

and Puerto Carreño as its capital.

Municipalities

# La Primavera #

# Santa Rosalía #

San José de Ocune San Jose de Ocune is a town and municipality located in the Department of Vichada, Colombia. Municipalities of Vichada Department {{Vichada-geo-stub ...

References

Revista Semana; Será Vichada la tierra prometida?

External links

Government of Vichada official website

Vichada Music llaneraTerritorial-Environmental Information System of Colombian Amazon SIAT-AC website
{{Authority control Departments of Colombia States and territories established in 1991