Departments of Colombia

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Updates: 

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Colombia, the draft standard showed 32 departments and one capital district. The final standard shows the same 33 divisions, with the same codes, except for one department. The code for Vichada has been altered from CID to VID. I reported that change here in August, 1999; but in September, 2004, I added all the text of the Colombia article in the book "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" to this page, and in doing so I neglected to incorporate the ISO code change. I've done it now.

A document  issued by the Comunidad Andina  (Andean Community) on 2002-10-02 defines a set of codes for the subdivisions of the member countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. The codes and subdivision names constitute the Nomenclatura de las Unidades Territoriales Estadísticas de la Comunidad Andina (NUTE ANDINA) (Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units). This work appears to be part of a collaboration with Eurostat, the European consortium that developed the NUTS codes for subdivisions of countries.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-6 was published on 2004-03-08. It lists "Distrito Capital de Bogotá" as the new official name of the capital district, replacing "Distrito Capital de Santa Fe de Bogotá" in the original standard. As the impetus for this change, it cites "Colombia legislative Act No. 1 2000-08-17".

The table below lists populations of departments according to the 1993 census. The next census is due in 2005-05.

Country overview: 

Colombia has been an independent country during the entire 20th century, but its territory has undergone some adjustments. The first and most notorious was the loss of its department of Panama, in a revolution encouraged by the United States to ease the way for the leasing of the Panama Canal Zone.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Colombia
2. Dutch: Colombia, Republiek Colombia (formal)
3. English: Republic of Colombia (formal)
4. Finnish: Kolumbia
5. French: Colombie f
6. German: Kolumbien n
7. Icelandic: Kólumbía
8. Italian: Colombia f
9. Norwegian: Colombia, Republikken Colombia (formal)
10. Portuguese: Colômbia, República f da Colômbia f (formal)
11. Spanish: Colombia, República f de Colombia f (formal)
12. Swedish: Colombia

Origin of name: 

Named in honor of Christopher Columbus (1451?-1506)

Primary subdivisions: 

Colombia is divided into 32 departamentos (departments) and one distrito capital (capital district).

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipalities of Colombia page.

The departments are divided into municipios (municipalities), corregimientos departamentales (departmental wards), and four distritos (districts): Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cubará, and Santa Marta. In 1995, there were 1,034 municipalities. The NUTE standard divides Colombia into the following seven NUTE regions (only used for statistical purposes).

Territorial extent: 

1. Cauca department includes Isla Gorgona.
2. San Andrés y Providencia consists of a few small islands in the Caribbean Sea: Isla de San Andrés and its neighbors, Cayos del E.S.E. and Cayos de Albuquerque; Isla de Providencia; and some islets used jointly by the United States and Colombia, such as Roncador Cay, Quita Sueño Bank, and Serrana Bank. It also includes Malpelo Island, in the Pacific Ocean west of Valle del Cauca.

Origins of names: 

1. Amazonas: From the Amazon River
2. Arauca: From the Arauca River
3. Atlántico: On the Caribbean Sea, considered part of the Atlantic Ocean
4. Bolívar: For Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), Colombia's liberator from Spain
5. Caquetá: From the Caquetá River
6. Casanare: From the Casanare River
7. Cauca: From the Cauca River
8. Distrito Capital: = Capital District
9. Guainía: From the Guainía River
10. Guaviare: From the Guaviare River
11. Huila: From Nevado de Huila, a mountain
12. Magdalena: From the Magdalena River
13. Meta: From the Meta River
14. Nariño: For Antonio Nariño (1765-1823), revolutionary leader
15. Norte de Santander: Formed from the north part of Santander
16. Putumayo: From the Putumayo River
17. Santander: For Francisco de Paula Santander (1792-1840), Simón Bolívar's co-revolutionist and vice-president.
18. Sucre: For Antonio José de Sucre (1795-1830), Simón Bolívar's co-revolutionist.
19. Tolima: From Nevado de Tolima, a mountain
20. Valle del Cauca: Spanish for "Cauca Valley," which runs through the department.
21. Vaupés: From the Vaupés River (called Uaupés in Brazil)
22. Vichada: From the Vichada River

Change history: 

In 1900, Colombia had nine departments. Their approximate relation to the present divisions is shown here.

1. 1903-11-03: Panama declared its independence from Colombia.
2. 1907: Colombia ceded a large area in southeastern Cauca department to Brazil.
3. ~1935: Territory transferred from Cauca to Antioquia, giving it a corridor of access to the Caribbean Sea. Atlántico department split from Bolívar; Arauca commissary split from Boyacá; Caldas formed from parts of Antioquia and Cauca; Cauca split into the departments of Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Valle del Cauca; the commissaries of Caquetá, Putumayo, and Vaupés; and part of Caldas; Huila split from Tolima; La Guajira commissary split from Magdalena; Meta intendancy split from Cundinamarca (approximately the area of San Martin territory); Norte de Santander split from Santander.
4. ~1942: Vichada split from Meta; Amazonas commissary split from Caquetá; also, territory transferred from Caquetá to Putumayo.
5. ~1950: Córdoba split from Bolívar.
6. ~1955: Arauca, Caquetá, and La Guajira changed from commissaries to intendancies.
7. 1955-01-01: Distrito Especial created. (Distrito Especial was a separate division for some purposes, and an integral part of Cundinamarca for others. Sources started listing it as a primary subdivision around 1970.)
8. ~1964: Guainía split from Vaupés.
9. 1965-07: Status of La Guajira changed from intendancy to department.
10. 1966-08-07: Quindío department split from Caldas.
11. 1967: Cesar department split from Magdalena; Risaralda department split from Caldas; Sucre department split from Bolívar.
12. 1972: Putumayo changed from commissary to intendancy.
13. 1974-05-15: Casanare intendency split from Boyacá.
14. 1982: Guaviare commissary split from Vaupés.
15. 1991-07-05: New constitution took effect. All commissaries and intendancies changed to departments. Some sources say that the new constitution changed the official name of the capital from Bogotá to Santafé de Bogotá, and of its district from Distrito Especial to Distrito Capital. The actual relevant text, translated to English, reads: "Article 322. Bogotá, capital of the Republic and of the Department of Cundinamarca, is organized as the Capital District.... Transitory Article 41. If, in the two years following the date of promulgation of this Constitution, Congress does not issue the law referred to by articles 322, 323 and 324 concerning a special regime for the Capital District of Santafé de Bogotá, the government, for just one time, will issue the appropriate regulations."

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Cesar: El Cesar (variant)
2. Distrito Capital: Distrito Capital de Santa Fe de Bogotá (variant)
3. La Guajira: Goagira, Guajira, La Goajira (variant)
4. Magdalena: La Magdalena (variant)
5. Norte de Santander: Santander del Norte (variant)
6. San Andrés y Providencia: Departamento Archipielago de San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina (formal); San Andres; San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina (variant)
7. Valle del Cauca: Valle (variant)

Population history: