Departments of Colombia

Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two administrative divisions referred to as departments (Spanish: departamentos, sing. departamento) and one Capital District (Distrito Capital).^[1] 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.

This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (March 2009)

Quick Facts Capital district and Colombian regions Distrito Capital y los Departamentos de Colombia (Spanish), Category ...

Capital district and Colombian regions Distrito Capital y los Departamentos de Colombia (Spanish)

Category	Unitary state
Location	Republic of Colombia
Number	32 Departments 1 Capital District
Populations	48,932 (Vaupés) – 8,906,342 (Capital District)
Areas	50 km² (19.3 sq mi) (San Andrés) – 109,665.0 km² (42,341.89 sq mi) (Amazonas)
Government	Department government, national government
Subdivisions	Province, municipality

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.

Some departments have subdivisions above the level of municipalities, commonly known as provinces.

Current departments

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Departments of Colombia
ID	Region	Capital	Area (km²)	Population (December 2022)^[2]	Density per km²	Established as a department	Code	Governor (2024–2027)^[3]	Party or Coalition^[3]
00	Capital District	Bogotá	1,587	8,906,342	4670.80	1861	DC	Carlos Fernando Galán	New Liberalism
01	Amazonas	Leticia	109,665	82,068	0.7	1991	AM	Óscar Enrique Sánchez Guerrero	Historic Pact for Colombia
02	Antioquia	Medellín	63,612	6,887,306	100.72	1886	AN	Andrés Julián Rendón Cardona	Por Antioquia Firme
03	Arauca	Arauca	23,818	304,978	11.01	1991	AR	Manuel Alexander Pérez Rueda	Democratic Center
04	Atlántico	Barranquilla	3,388	2,804,025	748.38	1910	AT	Eduardo Verano de la Rosa	Colombian Liberal Party
05	Bolívar	Cartagena	25,978	2,236,603	79.69	1886	BL	Yamil Hernando Arana Padaui	Bolivar Mejor
06	Boyacá	Tunja	23,189	1,259,601	52.50	1824	BY	Carlos Andrés Amaya Rodriguez	Boyacá Grande
07	Caldas	Manizales	7,888	1,036,455	126.55	1905	CL	Henry Gutiérrez Angel	Por El Caldas Que Quiere La Gente
08	Caquetá	Florencia	88,965	419,275	4.52	1981	CQ	Luis Francisco Ruiz Aguilar	Coalición Revive Caqueta
09	Casanare	Yopal	44,640	442,068	9.42	1991	CS	César Augusto Ortiz Zorro	Coalición Por Casanare
10	Cauca	Popayán	29,308	1,516,018	49.97	1824	CA	Jorge Octavio Guzmán Gutiérrez	La Fuerza Del Pueblo
11	Cesar	Valledupar	22,905	1,341,697	52.42	1967	CE	Elvia Milena Sanjuán Dávila	El Cesar En Marcha
12	Chocó	Quibdó	46,530	553,519	11.49	1947	CH	Nubia Carolina Córdoba Curi	Colombian Liberal Party
13	Córdoba	Montería	25,020	1,856,496	71.33	1951	CO	Erasmo Elías Zuleta Bechara	Cordoba Pr1mero
14	Cundinamarca	Bogotá	24,210	2,473,634	120.57	1824	CU	Jorge Emilio Rey Ángel	Caminando, Escuchando, Gobernando
15	Guainía	Inirida	72,238	52,061	0.67	1991	GN	Arnulfo Rivera Naranjo	Coalición Trabajemos Guainía
16	Guaviare	San José del Guaviare	53,460	90,357	1.55	1991	GV	Yeison Ferney Rojas Martínez	Guaviare Seguimos Avanzando
17	Huila	Neiva	19,890	1,140,932	55.32	1910	HU	Rodrigo Villaba Mosquera	Por Un Huila Grande
18	La Guajira	Riohacha	20,848	1,002,394	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	23,188	1,463,427	57.86	1824	MA	Rafael Alejandro Martínez	Fuerza Ciudadana
20	Meta	Villavicencio	82,805	1,080,706	12.14	1959	ME	Rafaela Cortés Zambrano	Coalición Fe y Firmeza
21	Nariño	Pasto	33,268	1,629,181	49.01	1910	NA	Luis Alfonso Escobar Jaramillo	Historic Pact for Colombia
22	Norte de Santander	Cúcuta	21,658	1,651,278	68.87	1910	NS	William Villamizar Laguado	Coalición Por Amor A Nuestra Gente Del Norte
23	Putumayo	Mocoa	24,885	369,064	13.99	1991	PU	Carlos Andrés Marroquín Luna	Coalición Somos La Fuerza De La Gente
24	Quindío	Armenia	1,845	569,569	292.63	1966	QD	Juan Miguel Galvis Bedoya	Creemos Colombia
25	Risaralda	Pereira	4,140	977,829	227.87	1966	RI	Juan Diego Patiño Ochoa	Colombian Liberal Party
26	San Andrés y Providencia	San Andrés	52	65,228	1178.46	1991	SA	Nicolas Iván Gallardo Vásquez	Coalición Avanzar es Posible
27	Santander	Bucaramanga	30,537	2,324,090	71.55	1886	ST	Juvenal Díaz Mateus	Coalición Es Tiempo Juvenal Gobernador
28	Sucre	Sincelejo	10,917	972,350	82.89	1966	SU	Lucy Inés García Montes	Coalición Mujer de Resultados
29	Tolima	Ibagué	23,562	1,346,935	56.45	1886	TO	Adriana Magali Matiz Vargas	Coalición Con Seguridad en el Territorio
30	Valle del Cauca	Cali	22,140	4,589,278	202.16	1910	VC	Dilian Francisca Toro Torres	Coalición Unidos por el Valle
31	Vaupés	Mitú	54,135	48,932	0.75	1991	VP	Luis Alfredo Gutiérrez García	Gente en Movimiento
32	Vichada	Puerto Carreño	100,242	115,778	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.^[4]

Indigenous territories in Colombia are mostly in the departments of Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Guaviare, and Vaupés.^[1]

History

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Historical predecessors of current departments

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

More information Current name and flag, Established as a department ...


Current name and flag	Established as a department	Name at time of establishment	Establishment of earliest territorial predecessor	Sovereign State that established the earliest territorial predecessor
Amazonas	1991	Intendancy of Amazonas	1931	Republic of Colombia
Antioquia	1886	Province of Antioquia	1576	Crown of Castile
Arauca	1991	Commissary of Arauca	1911	Republic of Colombia
Atlántico	1910	Province of Sabanilla	1852	Republic of New Granada
Bogotá	1861	Federal District of Bogotá	1861	Granadine Confederation
Bolívar	1886	Province of Cartagena	1533	Crown of Castile
Boyacá	1824	Province of Tunja	1539	Crown of Castile
Caldas	1905	Department of Caldas	1905	Republic of Colombia
Caquetá	1981	Intendancy of Caquetá	1905	Republic of Colombia
Casanare	1991	Province of Casanare	1660	Crown of Castile
Cauca	1824	Province of Popayán	1537	Crown of Castile
Cesar	1967	Department of Cesar	1967	Republic of Colombia
Chocó	1947	Province of Chocó	1726	Kingdom of Spain
Córdoba	1951	Department of Córdoba	1951	Republic of Colombia
Cundinamarca	1824	Province of Santafé de Bogotá	1550	Crown of Castile
Guainía	1991	Commissary of Guainía	1963	Republic of Colombia
Guaviare	1991	Commissary of Guaviare	1977	Republic of Colombia
Huila	1910	Province of Neiva	1610	Crown of Castile
La Guajira	1965	Province of Riohacha	1789	Kingdom of Spain
Magdalena	1824	Province of Santa Marta	1533	Crown of Castile
Meta	1959	Intendancy of Meta	1905	Republic of Colombia
Nariño	1910	Province of Pasto	1823	Republic of Colombia
Norte de Santander	1910	Province of Pamplona	1555	Crown of Castile
Putumayo	1991	Commissary of Putumayo	1912	Republic of Colombia
Quindío	1966	Department of Quindío	1966	Republic of Colombia
Risaralda	1966	Department of Risaralda	1966	Republic of Colombia
San Andrés y Providencia	1991	Providence Island Colony	1630	Kingdom of England
Santander	1886	Province of Socorro	1795	Kingdom of Spain
Sucre	1966	Department of Sucre	1966	Republic of Colombia
Tolima	1886	Province of Mariquita	1550	Crown of Castile
Valle del Cauca	1910	Province of Cauca	1835	Republic of New Granada
Vaupés	1991	Commissary of Vaupés	1910	Republic of Colombia
Vichada	1991	Commissary of Vichada	1913	Republic of Colombia

The Republic of 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).^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[6]^[7]

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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: