Chocó Department

The Departamento del Chocó is a department in north- western Colombia. It is bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north by Panama and the Atlantic Ocean. To the east lie the departments of Antioquia and Risaralda. In the south, bordering the Chocó department of Valle del Cauca. Besides the capital Quibdó Chocó exist 30 other Municipalities. In the 2005 census, 441 395 people lived in the Chocó.

History

Little is known about the time before colonization of the Chocó. The first conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas, met in 1501 on a populated by Indian tribes area. His successor was Vasco Nunez de Balboa. Until 1821 the area now Chocó Department was divided into the two provinces of Chocó, and Popayán. Two years after the recognition of the independence of Colombia through Spain, in 1821 formed a new Chocó province. This had the present borders but the control of the Department of Cauca, was subordinate. After a revival of the independent province of 1831-1857, the province became part of the Department of Cauca. According to the survey on Intendency in 1909 followed three years later the appointment to Comisaría. In its present form, the Department was established by Law Number 13 of 1947. Since that time Quibdó is the capital of Chocó.

Economy

In addition to forestry are mainly fishing, mining and agriculture of economic importance. One of the main sources of income in addition to wood, the gold mined. Most other industries are hardly developed. To the expansion of the mining industry there are conflicts with indigenous and Afro- Colombian communities, which owns the land.

The beaches of Bahía Solano and Nuqui are the most important tourist regions of the province. Both places are only accessible by plane from Medellin or Quibdó.

Swell

Article of the Luis Angel Arango Library on the Chocó ( Accessed on October 28, 2008)