Antioquia Department

For other uses, see Santa Fe de Antioquia.

Antioquia is one of the 32 Departments of the Republic of Colombia located in the central northwestern part of this country with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some important valleys, part of the Andes mountain range. Antioquia has been part of many territorial divisions of former countries created over the present day territory of Colombia and prior to the constitution of 1886, Antioquia and the other states were sovereign governments in their own right.

The department covers an area of 63,612 km² (24,427 sq mi), and has an estimated population of 5,819,358 (2006 estimate). Antioquia borders with the Cordoba Department and the Caribbean Sea to the north, Chocó Department to the west, to the east it borders the departments of Bolivar, Santander and Boyaca, and to the south the departments of Caldas and Risaralda.

Is one of the most touristic departaments in Colombia, and keeps increasing the number of hotels and visitors from all over the world.

Medellín is Antioquia's capital city, and the second largest in the country. Other important towns are Santa Fe de Antioquia, the old capital located on the Cauca, and Puerto Berrío on the Magdalena.

History

The aboriginal ones in Antioquia

Before arriving the conquerors - time that is known as prehispanic time -, in the territory of the current Colombia two big indigenous families, the Caribbean and the Chibchas inhabited. There is still confusion, but according to some historical registrations, both arrived from the Brazil.

Antioquia was populated by Caribbean. Except for for some scarce groups of the family Cradles in the region of the Darién, a coastal area to the north end of the department, population's registrations don't exist Chibcha in the area antioqueña.

The ethnoses Caribbean of the territory of Antioquia were classified in turn from very early in sub-divisions to those that were continued calling families. The most remarkable were Catías, Nutabes and Tahamíes that inhabited the areas of the center basically.

Another important group that he/she inhabited Antioquia the areas of the south was the Quimbaya, on which some registrations subsist.

There were other groups, but they were those the most outstanding conglomerates with which the conquerors were to their arrival to Antioquia. Its contact with the quimbayas had not very what a to do with the evolution of the department, because Jorge Grove, the main conqueror from Antioquia, subjected quickly to the few ones that he found, and those that were disappeared quickly.

The history was centered then in the turbulent relationships of the Spaniards with the groups caribes, those which, in spite of its numerous and majority presence and to its well-known bravery and warring culture, they would finish dominated or exterminated by the Iberian ones in the processes of the conquest and the colonization.

During these processes bloody confrontations were presented that took to the native survivors to be dispersed, and even to commit suicide* before it turns subjected. It was as well as in the region the natives disappeared almost completely. The few ones that survived moved toward the territory of the one it Collided. At the moment, the indigenous population of the department of Antioquia scarcely reaches 0,5% of the total of inhabitants.

The Spaniards in Antioquia Marshal Jorge Grove, bust in Medellin Marshal Jorge Grove, bust in Medellin

First Spanish that Antioquia stepped Rodrigo of Bastidas who was in the Darién in the year 1500 was. Ten years later, Alonso of Ojeda was founded to San Sebastián of Urabá, near what today is the municipality of Necoclí. However, the first Spanish incursions of bottom in Antioquia only took place from 1537. In this year, an expedition commanded by Francisco Caesar traveled the Cacique's lands Dabeiba, arriving to the river Cauca and rescuing of the indigenous tombs an important treasure. However, the Cacique's men Nutibara harassed to the Spanish host, forcing her to return to Urabá.

In 1541, the well-known Marshal Jorge Grove left of the missing Spanish establishment of Weapon, a little more under Watery to the south of Antioquia, in an expedition toward the north for the right riverside of the river Cauca.

Far from there, toward the north, that same year Grove would be founded in that riverside the population of Santa Faith of Antioquia, transferred one year later for Juan Goatherd to the other riverside of the river, the Westerner, and in 1587 transferred by gift Gaspar from Rodas to the place that today occupies. Sacred Faith of Antioquia is considered the City Mother of Antioquia from then on.

This city was erected from then on as Capital of the County of Antioquia, appointment that would conserve until the year of 1826, when the category of capital city was given Medellin.

It is not very clear the origin of the name " Antioquia ". Some sustain that it is an indigenous word that meant mountain of gold". Others sustain that it comes from the term Syrian antiochia that in turn comes of the Greek antioko that means " pusher ".

History of Antioquia from the XVI century to the XXI one

For their geographical isolation (when being located among mountains), Antioquia suffered problems of supply, to part that its relief configuration didn't allow the existence of big extensions of cultivations. For it, the antioqueños was devoted to the trade, especially of the gold and to desmotar forest for the colonization of fallow, although this was being given starting from the reformations of the visitor of the Spanish crown Juan Antonio Mon and Velarde, in 1785. Due to this, they became settlers and dealers, contributing to the expansion of the culture antioqueña, already at the end of the XIX century

Administrative divisions

Regions and Municipalities

Antioquia is divided into 9 subregions[1] to facilitate the Department's administration. These 9 regions contain a total of 125 municipalities. The 9 subregions with their municipalities are:

Demography and ethnography

According to the last census carried out in 2005, in Antioquia 5.962.885 people inhabit, of which live in the metropolitan area of Medellin more than the half. The racial composition is:

   * Mestizos & White (88,66%).  
   * Black or Afrocolombianos (10,83%)  
   * Amerindian or Indigenous (0,51%)  
   * Gypsies (0,00%).  
 

Confirmations scientific etnográficas

Recent scientific studies of DNA (2006) they offer evidences, confirming the historical data in passing, that the demography of the group paisa is genetically closed, that is to say, it is an isolated one genetic, due to the isolation that this region lived after the period of the Colony, and to the continuous European immigration of almost two centuries during this whole time. [7]

Isolated genetic

According to some studies supported by 4 universities (you mention and more references below), this would reiterate that Antioquia is an isolated one genetic even bigger that that of the French population from Canada or the Quebec of Gallic origin, where with the arrival of Jacques Cartier, the French were the only ones in North America that you/they mixed with the native Algonquinos, but after this first encounter the union was almost that these first mestizos' sole right with European-francófonos, and for this reason they became focus of the given look of human geneticists its singular mixture.

The relating studies to the isolated genetic antioqueño, published in a recent edition online (Internet) of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States, they were carried out in their biggest part by the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of the University of Antioquia, with intervention of the universities of Arizona,[8] Montreal[9] and College of London. [10]

Andrés Ruiz-Linares, investigating doctor from Bogotá, founder of the mentioned laboratory of the University of Antioquia and professor of human genetics in the College of London, related that found:

"The study demonstrates that the population is 80 European percent, not indigenous as she said the (I study) of the 2000. The Spanish migration lasted several generations (more than 160 years), while the natives disappeared."

For the study it was evaluated the genetic structure and the dynamics of the mixture in Antioquia.

The investigation analyzed the chromosome AND that happens invariable of parents to children, and the DNA mitocondrial that the children of their mothers inherit.

Design defect

Some years ago (2000) they had put in evidence that the population antioqueña had been founded by men Spanish immigrants and indigenous women, and that suddenly there was also a component sefardita. The theory of the Jewish thing one also came below because you concluded that the predominant component of the DNA mitocondrial in the population antioqueña was indigenous.

When the discovery was published that in the field mitocondrial the population was indigenous, there was a surprise: "because it has always been thought that it is very white, caucasoide."

The data indicated that in the mitocondrial it was more than 90 indigenous percent. What said that the population had been formed for immigrant men and women emberas or catiasnativas.

"If that was the only thing that happened, one he/she would hope the population was 50 European percent and 50 indigenous percent. The curious thing was that in the 2000 a study of groups sanguine fact was known in the 80s that he/she suggested that the population was at least 70 European percent in the plane of the autosomas". a contradiction Existed.

This study tries to solve that paradox. The first thing was to evaluate that there was not a design problem.

They were kept in mind the data of the census from 1786 to 2004 and the 15 last names of more frequency. Let us don't forget that Arangos, Uribes, londoños, Mejias, Echavarrias, Echeverris, Jaramillos, Restrepos, Giraldos, among other, is not exclusive property of the paisas but rather they are also very common in Mexico or Chile where the Spanish Basque population was important and you/he/she is enough to see the phone directories of those countries to confirm it.

"We confirm that what was seen in the 2000 is given in those six municipalities: in the mitocondrial there is population 100 indigenous percent."

The samples of the 2000 were gathered at random in Medellin and they came from all parts of Antioquia.

Results of the analysis of the DNA antioqueño

In the completed study of being carried out tipificaron other markers in the new samples, to evaluate the European component, because it could be that the analysis of the 80s had problems, and the result confirmed it.

"Even our estimate of the European component or chromosome AND that the man transmits it he gave us higher, 80 percent instead of the 70, in the autonomous field". [11]

What says the study - Bedoya et to the one. PNAS:103,7234-7239(2006).

The study of the 2.000 was obtained:

   * The origin of the chromosome AND (via paternal) it is 94 European% (Spanish), 5 African%, and 1 Amerindian%.  
   * The origin of the mtDNA (via maternal) it is 90 Amerindian%, 8 African%, and 2 European% (Spanish).  
 

This indicates that in the foundation antioqueña, mixture was given predominantly of European men with Amerindian women (miscegenation). The great percentage of Amerindian mtDNA was unexpected because it was believed that the population antioqueña was predominantly of Spanish descendant. These genetic data are in conflict with those obtained in classic studies previous of sanguine groups and proteins that indicated that the population's 70% was European with 15 Amerindian and African%.

The marked difference among the two studies suggests that there is a stratification in the sampling region (non homogeneity).

In the 2.006 Bedoya et to the one. they only showed in 6 municipalities. They examined mtDNA, chromosome AND, and diversity of last names in the high parts of the oriental valley (Marinilla, Penol, Sanctuary, Carmen, Guatape, Granada). The result is:

   * mtDNA: of a total of 182 individuals, alone 3% has American non native mtDNA (European or African).  
   * chromosome AND: of a total of 92 individuals, only a 9% is of Amerindian origin (Q-M3) or African (AND-M2).  
   * autosoma: 79 European%, 6 African%, 16 Amerindian%.  
   * chromosome X: 69%±10 European, 6%±9 African, 25%±6 Amerindian.  
 

This confirms the original miscegenation of the region antioqueña, and he/she gives more stability to the theory of their later isolation during the colony. It is suggested that the later migration to the period of discovery belonged mainly to European men, these they mixed with the mestizo women during approximately 250 years. The prediction models in the study (of being correct) they indicate that, 10 generations after the discovery and original miscegenation (50% European autosomal), the europeización (European ancestría) it arrived to 80% in autosomal and 70% in marker X.

The discovery and original miscegenation happened from 1541 (Santa Faith of Antioquia), the prediction models are based on 10 25 year-old generations each one. The results that it predicts the pattern from Bedoya et to the one. they indicate that for the year 1800 the population antioqueña would have been 80 European white%. Clearly the region antioqueña left of being isolated of the rest of the country in the XIX and XX centuries, and the migration from the interior of the country makes that this population and tendency are not applicable to our days.

Geography

As general norm Antioquia is associated to the mountain because it is in this in the one that has been developed its culture and its economy especially, reason for which has called it to him the Capital of the Montaña to Medellin". however, the mountain antioqueña conformed by the mountain ranges Westerner and Central, they conform the third two parts of the department, while a part corresponds to plains. The departmental geography is quite varied and it conjugates all the elements of the national geography: sea, plains, mountains, highlands, moors, rivers, marshes and forests.

The abrupt Mountain range of you Walk them, in their Colombian area, it crosses Antioquia from south to north, divided in two brunches, called Western Mountain range and Central Mountain range.

This Central Mountain range, in turn, ramifies in two in Antioquia, amid a well-known valley as Valley of Aburrá, where he/she settles the capital city of Medellin. These two ramifications conform an imposing group of mountains.

The ramifications of the Central Mountain range begin to lose height in the north of Antioquia, until they disappear in their more northern part that is constituted in the area coastal antioqueña, where there is no longer mountain range, and called Costa Atlantic antioqueña.

The most important area in the district antioqueña is the Central Mountain range, not only because in her they settle most of its cities or municipalities, but because it forms two geographical highlands: the one that is located more to the north, called Highland of Santa Rosa of Bears, and the Highland located more to the east, call Valley of Rionegro.

If one keeps in mind that the world population's 10% only lives in mountain areas, especially of so sharp geography, it is comprehensible that the mentality of the antioqueño is in some sense sui given géneris this minority circumstance.

The other two parts of Antioquia are plane areas: Under Cauca, Magdalena Means, Atrato and Urabá. The plane area of the Urabá Antioqueño deserves mention separated since it is here where Antioquia has its exit to the sea Caribbean. This part of the department has also been described as the tropical antioqueño, and it is maybe one of the most important regions in the country due to its strategic situation inside the context of Latin America. Indeed, the Plan of Development of Antioquia up to 2019 has projected to this subregión like axis of the call The best Corner in America.

The natural Parks of Antioquia located in the Western Mountain range are the Natural National Park Paramillo and the Natural National Park The Orchids; in the district of I Upset there is a small earth portion that makes part of the National Park of The Katíos. See you also: Natural National parks of Colombia

Fisiografía

The territory of the department of Antioquia is characterized to present a varied, represented relief, on one hand, for plane areas that understand the third two parts of the total of the floor, and that they are located in the Magdalena's valley, in the Low denominated sub-region Cauca, in the next areas to the department of the one Collided, and in the next areas to the coastal region of Urabá; and on the other hand, the relief is conformed by an extensive very mountainous area that makes part of the mountain ranges Power station and Western of you Walk them that compose a third part of the floor antioqueño, and in which 202 stand out high important, with elevations that oscillate between the 1.000 and the 4.080 meters on the level of the sea.

The biggest mountainous accident in the department is the Moor of Frontino, located in the municipality of Urrao, with 4.080 meters; also in that town the Muzzle Bell is located, with 3.950 meters.

In the municipality of Dabeiba the High of Paramillo is located, with 3.960 meters where in 2007 2 new military bases are building due to their strategic importance, and in the municipality of you Walk the Hill of Caramanta it is located that has 3.900 meters high.

Hydrography River Cauca, Antioquia crosses from south to north River Cauca, Antioquia crosses from south to north

Antioquia is taken a bath to the north, in its costs, by the Caribbean Sea. To the occident he/she receives the humidity of the Ocean Pacific, in the area of their forests.

As for their rivers, they are very numerous and they establish the origin of their potential hidrográfico and hydroelectric, it has several sources; among them, the most important rivers are the Atrato that separates it of the department of the one it Collided; the Cauca that crosses it for the center and it separates the Western Mountain range of the Power station, in the heart of the department, and the Magdalena that serves him as limit with the department of Santander, in the end guides of the region.

The wealth hídrica of the department is also represented in its multiple marshes, as those of Buchadó, The Means, Tumaradó, Caucasia, Nechí, The Bagre, Yondó and Port Berrío.

Climate

The climate of Antioquia is very varied so much to its diverse and complicated relief like the considerable extension of the territory. The department experiencing is additionally, nowadays, in 2007, and just as it happens in the rest of the planet, very deep changes under its climatic conditions due to the impressive phenomenon of the global heating.

The area antioqueña of the Caribbean Sea usually registers high temperatures, with a marked dry station that extends approximately from December until March, while in the moors and the high of the mountain ranges the temperatures are very low.

On the other hand, the areas called North and East of the department are of cold climate. The areas that are denominated Magdalena Means, Low Cauca and Atrato in the department, possess warm climate.

Finally, the Southwest of Antioquia and the Valley of Aburrá possess temperate climate.

Politics

The departmental Assembly of Antioquia, jointly with the governor, they govern the destinations of the district.

The departmental Assembly is a corporation of popular election, integrated for not less than eleven members and not more than thirty and one. Their members call each other deputies, and they are chosen every four years in quality of public servants. At the moment bill with 26 members.

The governor is chosen by popular election for a four year-old period.

The mayors of each municipality are also chosen popularly.

For tradition, in Antioquia the liberal political parties and conservative had prevailed for the elections. But, especially in Medellin, this tendency finished recently. The elections legislativas of 2006 marked the tendency to choose, not only according to the parties, but also according to the programs of the candidate to the public position.

Economy, finances and business

Antioquia is one of the Colombian departments whose economic impulse is already distributed among the primary sectors to tertiary of the economy: the primary or rural sector (agricultural), the secondary sector or it manufactures, and the tertiary sector or of services, including trade. Antioquia already overcame the dependence of the industry manufacturer to install its economy, in more than 65%, in the sector of the services, such which is the situation in the call first world."

70% of its exports is constituted by products and services of added value, and in 2005 the products and services originated in Antioquia represented 25% of the total of the non traditional exports of the country, continued by those of Bogotá with 15,3%, Cundinamarca with 15% and Fence of the Cauca with 13,9%. [12]

The economic sectors defined by the departmental administration as strategic for the year 2007 are: mining, bovine and horsy cattle raising, I trade, making, production and energy distribution, specialized services of health and medicine, fruits and flowers, vegetables with added value, preserves and foods in general, forest products, housing construction, vehicles (cars and motos) and financial services, of bag, bank and of sure. To these they sink other traverse sectors: software, electronic, telecommunications, machinery and team, tourism of business, medical tourism, congresses and conventions, and transport. [13] [14] [15] it is of highlighting the potential lumberman; at 2007 58% of the territory antioqueño is capable for this use, and given that comparative advantage one plans the implementation of a forest cluster for the next future, also with an eye toward the export.

• At the moment, Antioquia is fully inscribed in the area of services of high international technology, especially in telecommunications and software. All this happens mainly in the region called Metropolitan Area of Medellin.

• In second place, it happens in the well-known region as Urabá, and in third place in the well-known region as East Antioqueño.

• It is the second more industrialized department of Colombia with a contribution of 15% of the national GDP and around 80.000 productive companies contributing to this number. As comparison measure, in Cundinamarca, included Bogotá that you/they are the leaders, is near 112.000 companies, and in the Valley of the Cauca, included Cali, in third place, 38.000.[16]

• That level of modern tecnificación has also rebounded for example in the agricultural sector for potenciar the coffee and sugar production. Antioquia is the first producing of coffee and banana tree of export of the country. [17] The coffee is one of the products emblemáticos of the department, cultivated in the hillsides of the mountains that you/they enjoy soft climate. To these products of the earth they are added as outstanding the corn, the fruits and the vegetables.

• The economic potential of the district is supplemented with the exploitation of mines of gold, coal and platinum. It is also rich in resources of petroleum, iron, copper, lead, asbestos, zinc and marble, and it conserves the mining leadership of the country, it controls near 60% of the production of the national cement, it is building the biggest factory in cement of America at the moment Latina,[18] and it possesses factories and ports cementeros in several nations of the included exterior the United States.

• The department is great producer and electric power distributor. At the present time it provides near 30% of the national electric power, and their intentions for the next future they plan to add to this plentiful percentage 15 additional%. Medellin is headquarters of the biggest Latin American company of energy transmission. [19]

• Antioquia has multiple reservoirs: Guatapé-the Peñol, Jaguas, Beaches, Punchiná, Riograndre II, Miraflores, Porce II and you dam them of: Portholes, The García, The Faith and White Stones

• Also, the projects of energy production are gestating of Fishmonger-Ituango, and Porce III.

• The cattle raising has had a remarkable development from the last room of the XX century, standing out the varieties of bovine livestock that lately include the sole rights and felt like races Angus-Brangus, very especially the red Brangus.

• Equally he/she has had it the production milkmaid that supplies their more populated urban areas and the rest of the country directly. The department is notorious leader in national production of milk and the Cooperative bigger Milkmaid of Latin America, Colanta possesses. [20]

• In another line the swinish and equine cattle raising are located.

• He/she also stands out traditionally in passing the department for their inventories of horses fine or Colombian step, of good world competitiveness. In the capital, Medellin, it has been broken the Record twice Guiness[21] [22] in what concerns to the most gigantic cavalcades in the planet.

• The department has the first company licorera of the country, the Factory of Liquors of Antioquia. [23]

• Managerial Íconos of Antioquia is the textile industries, of makings and fashions, and approximately 60% of the national exports in these sectors corresponds to this district. They are well bolstered sectors managerial solids as the clothes in general for men and women, the underwear, and the accessories as jeweler's.

• They have also taken I impel other factories here as the processed foods and the preserves, drinks, the paper, the chemical and pharmaceutical products, the leather and the furniture. In a same way, the industry metalmecánica is very active and it manufactures products of high value added as motors, transformers, electric team in general, appliances, self-driven reserves and metallic parts for the construction, among others.

• In the sector services the department has been developed until a maturity of world competitiveness and international quality of first order in sub-sectors, among other, as medicine and salud,[24] [25] telecomunicaciones,[26] electronic technology, banking, sure and software. [27] [28] [29] [30]

• In trade, in Antioquia the biggest commercial organization has been created to the detail of the nation, the organization Success.

• The services bank antioqueños are excellent and traditionally leaders in Colombia. The first banks that existed in the country originated in this district, headed by the Bank of Antioquia, been founded by Pedro I Joust Berrío.

Emblem of the economy paisa: Coffee of Colombia Emblem of the economy paisa: Coffee of Colombia Today in day, the main national bank, Bancolombia, has its seat in Medellin. [31]

• In finances, the corporations antioqueñas inscribed in bag cause more than 60% of the transactions in that office. [32]

• In general, the biggest Colombian managerial organization and Latin American of public services is antioqueña, represented by the emblemática EPM. [33] [34]

Clusters

Starting from the month of January of 2007, you creó in Medellin the first cluster of industrial production of the country, with more than eleven thousand linked companies, in the area of textile, make, design and fashion that at the same time is one of the few ones that there is in the Andean community. [35]

A cluster is to each other a concentration geographical local of related companies that act jointly in search of the regional development of all the productive elements and linked business.

After the culmination of this initiative, Antioquia hopes now to enlarge it, and to create more clusters soon. Concretely 3 of them, in the electric power sectors, health and construction. To this process he/she is called " clusterización ".

The Textile cluster constitutes, according to the mentioned publication, the first community cluster in Colombia and one of the few ones in the Andean region."

By the middle of 2007 the consolidation of 2 more clusters was achieved: that of the Construction and the Generation and Electric Transmission. In preparation he/she is the cluster of Tourism.

References

• Template:Es icon Secretary of Education - Government of Colombia

notes

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help) The article is available here.

External links

• Template:Wikitravelpar
• Portal de Música tradicional del gusto popular paisa.

See also

• List of municipalities in Antioquia
• Postage stamps of Antioquia