Riohacha

Riohacha
District and city
From top to bottom: View of Riohacha beachfront, Canyon Park, Beach.
Flag of Riohacha
Official seal of Riohacha
Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot).
Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot).
Riohacha is located in Colombia
Riohacha
Riohacha
Coordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°W / 11.54417; -72.90694
Country Colombia
RegionCaribbean
DepartmentLa Guajira
Foundation1545
Founded byNikolaus Federmann
Government
 • MayorRafael Ceballos Sierra (L)[1]
Area
 • District and city3,120 km2 (1,200 sq mi)
 • Urban
25.53 km2 (9.86 sq mi)
Elevation
5 m (16 ft)
Population
 (2023 Census)[2][3]
 • District and city222,541
 • Density71/km2 (180/sq mi)
 • Urban
126,103
 • Urban density4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-05 (Eastern Time Zone)
Postal code
440001
Area code57 + 5
ClimateBSh
WebsiteOfficial website (in Spanish)
*Riohacha metropolitan area is yet to be determined.

Riohacha[a] (Spanish pronunciation: [rjoˈa.tʃa]; Wayuu: Süchiimma[b]) is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean Sea. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterfront.

Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named after a local legend, "The legend of the Axe". Because of the powerful rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the area is mostly desertic. It is inhabited primarily by Amerindians, predominantly the Wayuu ethnic group. During colonial times, Riohacha was a very important port, as divers could retrieve vast numbers of pearls from the harbor.

In the second half of the 20th century, the city developed as one of Colombia's medium important, maritime commercial ports. It is also a multicultural center for La Guajira Department. The city is mentioned several times in novels written by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his important works are One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

  1. ^ (In Spanish) Colombian Registry of the Civil State: 2007 election results
  2. ^ https://www.dane.gov.co/files/varios/informacion-capital-DANE-2019.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ Telefónicas, Telencuestas-Encuestas. "Cuántos habitantes tenía Riohacha, La Guajira en 2023". Telencuestas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-02.


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