Departments of Colombia

Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments (Spanish: departamentos, sing. ) and one Capital District (Distrito Capital). Departments are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy. Each department has a governor (gobernador) and an Assembly (Asamblea Departamental), elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods.

Departments are formed by a grouping of municipalities (municipios, sing. municipio). Municipal government is headed by mayor (alcalde) and administered by a municipal council (concejo municipal), both of which are elected by popular vote for four-year periods.

Internal subdivisions within departments The current borders and number of the departments of Colombia was finally set after the 1991 Colombian Constitution came into effect. Before that, the number of departments went from the original nine federal states of the United States of Colombia who ratified the Constitution of 1863 (Antioquia, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panamá, Santander and Tolima) to the current 32 departments that exist in the present-day Republic of Colombia.

All departments of Colombia are further subdivided into various municipalities, which represent smaller areas of the department and are often, but not always, coterminous with the urban and rural limits of a given city or town. Some municipalities might also include smaller towns or hamlets (known as corregimientos in Spanish), within the borders of the wider municipality. The rural subdivisions of municipalities are known in Spanish as veredas.

Most departments also group various municipalities into regions which are larger than a municipality and are usually known as either provinces or subregions. These subdivisions work as an intermediate level subnational regions between a department and a municipality. However, this provinces or subregions do not feature in the 1991 Colombian Constitution and are thus defined instead by the departmental governments and assemblies. List of current departments

+Departments of Colombia ID Map Department Capital Area (km2) ( 2022) Density perkm2 Established as a department FlagCode Governor (2024–2027) Party or Coalition 00 Capital District Bogotá 4670.80 1861 DC Carlos Fernando Galán New Liberalism 01 Amazonas Leticia 0.7 1991 AM Óscar Enrique Sánchez Guerrero Historic Pact for Colombia 02 Antioquia Medellín 100.72 1886 AN Andrés Julián Rendón Cardona Por Antioquia Firme 03 Arauca Arauca 11.01 1991 AR Manuel Alexander Pérez Rueda Democratic Center 04 Atlántico Barranquilla 748.38 1910 AT Eduardo Verano de la Rosa Colombian Liberal Party 05 Bolívar Cartagena 79.69 1886 BL Yamil Hernando Arana Padaui Bolivar Mejor 06 Boyacá Tunja 52.50 1824 BY Carlos Amaya Boyacá Grande 07 Caldas Manizales 126.55 1905 CL Henry Gutiérrez Angel Por El Caldas Que Quiere La Gente 08 Caquetá Florencia 4.52 1981 CQ Luis Francisco Ruiz Aguilar Coalición Revive Caqueta 09 Casanare Yopal 9.42 1991 CS César Augusto Ortiz Zorro Coalición Por Casanare 10 Cauca Popayán 49.97 1824 CA Jorge Octavio Guzmán Gutiérrez La Fuerza Del Pueblo 11 Cesar Valledupar 52.42 1967 CE Elvia Milena Sanjuán Dávila El Cesar En Marcha 12 Chocó Quibdó 11.49 1947 CH Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi Colombian Liberal Party 13 Córdoba Montería 71.33 1951 CO Erasmo Elías Zuleta Bechara Cordoba Pr1mero 14 Cundinamarca Bogotá 120.57 1819 CU Jorge Emilio Rey Ángel Caminando, Escuchando, Gobernando 15 Guainía Inírida 0.67 1991 GNArnulfo Rivera Naranjo Coalición Trabajemos Guainía 16 Guaviare San José del Guaviare 1.55 1991 GV Yeison Ferney Rojas Martínez Guaviare Seguimos Avanzando 17 Huila Neiva 55.32 1910 HU Rodrigo Villaba Mosquera Por Un Huila Grande 18 La Guajira Riohacha 42.24 1965 LG Jairo Alfonso Aguilar Deluque Union Party for the People, Radical Change, Independent Social Alliance, La Fuerza de la Paz and Partido Demócrata 19 Magdalena Santa Marta 57.86 1824 MA Rafael Alejandro Martínez Fuerza Ciudadana 20 Meta Villavicencio 12.14 1959 ME Rafaela Cortés Zambrano Coalición Fe y Firmeza 21 Nariño Pasto 49.01 1910 NA Luis Alfonso Escobar Jaramillo Historic Pact for Colombia 22 Norte de Santander Cúcuta 68.87 1910 NS William Villamizar Laguado Coalición Por Amor A Nuestra Gente Del Norte 23 Putumayo Mocoa 13.99 1991 PU Carlos Andrés Marroquín Luna Coalición Somos La Fuerza De La Gente 24 Quindío Armenia 292.63 1966 QD Juan Miguel Galvis Bedoya Creemos Colombia 25 Risaralda Pereira 227.87 1966 RI Juan Diego Patiño Ochoa Colombian Liberal Party 26 San Andrés y Providencia San Andrés 1178.46 1991 SA Nicolas Iván Gallardo Vásquez Coalición Avanzar es Posible 27 Santander Bucaramanga 71.55 1886 ST Juvenal Díaz Mateus Coalición Es Tiempo Juvenal Gobernador 28 Sucre Sincelejo 82.89 1966 SU Lucy Inés García Montes Coalición Mujer de Resultados 29 Tolima Ibagué 56.45 1886 TO Adriana Magali Matiz Vargas Coalición Con Seguridad en el Territorio 30 Valle del Cauca Cali 202.16 1910 VC Dilian Francisca Toro Torres Coalición Unidos por el Valle 31 Vaupés Mitú 0.75 1991 VA Luis Alfredo Gutiérrez García Gente en Movimiento 32 Vichada Puerto Carreño 1.08 1991 VD Hecson Alexys Benito Castro Union Party for the People

Indigenous territories

The indigenous territories are at the third level of administrative division in Colombia, as are the municipalities. Indigenous territories are created by agreement between the government and indigenous communities. In cases where indigenous territories cover more than one department or municipality, local governments jointly administer them with the indigenous councils, as set out in Articles 329 and 330 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991. Also indigenous territories may achieve local autonomy if they meet the requirements of the law.

Article 329 of the 1991 constitution recognizes the collective indigenous ownership of indigenous territories and repeats that are inalienable. Law 160 of 1994 created the National System of Agrarian Reform and Rural Development Campesino, and replaced Law 135 of 1961 on Agrarian Social Reform; it establishes and sets out the functions of INCORA, one of the most important being to declare which territories will acquire the status of indigenous protection and what extension of existing ones will be allowed. Decree 2164 of 1995 interprets Law 160 of 1994, providing, among other things, a legal definition of indigenous territories.Decree 2164 of 1995 provides "Reserva Indígena. Es un globo de terreno baldío ocupado por una o varias comunidades indígenas que fué delimitado y legalmente asignado por el INCORA a aquellas para que ejerzan en él los derechos de uso y usufructo con exclusión de terceros. Las reservas indígenas constituyen tierras comunales de grupos étnicos, para los fines previstos en el artículo 63 de la Constitución Política y la ley 21 de 1991. [...] Territorios Indígenas. Son las áreas poseidas en forma regular y permanente por una comunidad, parcialidad o grupo indígena y aquellas que, aunque no se encuentren poseidas en esa forma, constituyen el ámbito tradicional de sus actividades sociales, económicas y culturales. " Art. 21: "Los resguardos son una institución legal y sociopolítica de carácter especial, conformada por una o más comunidades indígenas, que con un título de propiedad colectiva que goza de las garantías de la propiedad privada, poseen su territorio y se rigen para el manejo de éste y su vida interna por una organización autónoma amparada por el fuero indígena y su sistema normativo propio."

Indigenous territories in Colombia are mostly located in the departments of Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Guaviare, and Vaupés.

History Territorial evolution of Colombian departments 1824 1886 1905 1908 1912 1916 1928 1942 1958 1966 1990 Present day

Gran Colombia

When it was first established in 1819, The Republic of Gran Colombia had three departments. Venezuela, Cundinamarca (now Colombia) and Quito (now Ecuador). In 1824, the Distrito del Centro (which became Colombia) was divided into five departments and further divided into seventeen provinces. One department, Isthmus Department, consisting of two provinces, later became the sovereign country of Panama.

Republic of New Granada

With the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1826 by the Revolution of the Morrocoyes (La Cosiata), New Granada kept its 17 provinces. In 1832 the provinces of Vélez and Barbacoas were created, and in 1835 those of Buenaventura and Pasto were added. In 1843 those of Cauca, Mompós and Túquerres were created. At this time the cantons (cantones) and parish districts were created, which provided the basis for the present-day municipalities.

By 1853 the number of provinces had increased to thirty-six, namely:Antioquia, Azuero, Barbacoas, Bogotá, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Casanare, Cauca, Chiriquí, Chocó, Córdova, Cundinamarca, García Rovira, Mariquita, Medellín, Mompós, Neiva, Ocaña, Pamplona, Panamá, Pasto, Popayán, Riohacha, Sabanilla, Santa Marta, Santander, Socorro, Soto, Tequendama, Tunja, Tundama, Túquerres, Valle de Upar, Veraguas, Vélez and Zipaquirá. However, the new constitution of 1853 introduced federalism, which lead to the consolidation of provinces into states. By 1858 this process was complete, with a resulting eight federal states: Panamá was formed in 1855, Antioquia in 1856, Santander in May 1857, and Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca and Magdalena were formed in June 1858. 1861 saw the creation of the final federal state of Tolima.

Republic of Colombia The Colombian Constitution of 1886 converted the states of Colombia into departments, with the state presidents renamed as governors. The states formed the following original departments: Antioquia Department Bolívar Department Boyacá Department Cauca Department Cundinamarca Department Magdalena Department Panamá Department Santander Department Tolima Department

Historical predecessors of current departments +Current name and flagEstablished as a departmentName at time of establishmentEstablishment of earliest territorial predecessorSovereign State that established the earliest territorial predecessor1991Intendancy of Amazonas19311886Province of Antioquia15761991Commissary of Arauca19111910Province of Sabanilla18521861Federal District of Bogotá18611886Province of Cartagena15331824Province of Tunja15391905Department of Caldas19051981Intendancy of Caquetá19051991Province of Casanare16601824Province of Popayán15371967Department of Cesar19671947Province of Chocó17261951Department of Córdoba19511824Province of Santafé de Bogotá15501991Commissary of Guainía19631991Commissary of Guaviare19771910Province of Neiva16101965Province of Riohacha17891824Province of Santa Marta15331959Intendancy of Meta19051910Province of Pasto18231910Province of Pamplona15551991Commissary of Putumayo19121966Department of Quindío19661966Department of Risaralda19661991Providence Island Colony16301886Province of Socorro17951966Department of Sucre19661886Province of Mariquita15501910Province of Cauca18351991Commissary of Vaupés19101991Commissary of Vichada1913

Map gallery

Departments of Colombia

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