Andean Region (Colombia)
The Andean region is one of the six natural regions of Colombia. It is located in the center of the country, bordering the Caribbean region to the north, Venezuela to the northeast, Orinoquía to the east, Amazonia to the southeast, Ecuador to the south, and the Pacific region to the west.
It is crossed in a SW-NE direction by three northern branches of the Andes: the Western, Central and Eastern mountain ranges. The mountain ranges give rise to numerous valleys, canyons, plateaus and a fluvial system whose main rivers are the Cauca and the Magdalena. The region has 34,419,398 inhabitants (2018), it is the most populated and economically active area in the country.
Description
This region owes its name to the Andes mountain range, which towards the north of South America is divided in the Pasto knots and in the Colombian Massif into three mountain ranges called Western, Central and Eastern. The Central Cordillera is separated from the Western Cordillera by an average distance of 400 km by a geological fault line occupied by the Patía River to the south and the Cauca River to the north. The Cordillera Oriental gradually separates to the east, creating the basin of Colombia's most important river, the Magdalena. This mountain range extends to the northwest and reaches its highest altitude at 5000 m, forming the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. An arm, called the Serranía del Perijá, emerges from it to the north gradually losing height and reaches the Caribbean Sea at Punta Gallinas, on the Guajira peninsula, in the extreme north of Colombia. In the Perijá it approaches the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, forming a valley furrowed by the Cesar River. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is the highest mountain structure in Colombia. All three ranges have mainly volcanically formed peaks over 4,000 m a.s.l. no. m.. The Central and the Eastern have peaks of more than 5000 m s. no. m. covered with permanent snow. Many of these volcanoes are active and have caused destruction and deaths in the past due to gas and ash explosions as well as ice and mud avalanches. The west of the country is subject to greater telluric activity, which demonstrates the instability of its geological nature. To the northwest of the Western Cordillera appears a mountain system called the Baudó mountain range, which continues through the Darién turning west towards Panama.
Natural subregions
The extensive region that crosses the country from southwest to northeast, has numerous natural subregions. The most prominent are the following:
- Nude of Pasta
- Altiplano Nariñense
- Hoz de Minamá
- Altiplano de Popayán
- Valle del río Cauca
- Antioque Mountain
- Meseta de Santa Rosa de Osos
- Borra Valley
- Valle de San Nicolás
- Volcanic massif
- Magdalena
- Alto Magdalena
- Cundiboyacian highland
- Santandereana Mountain Archived on July 11, 2017 in Wayback Machine.
- Suarez Fosa and Chicamocha
- Santurbán Massif
- Catatumbo
- Serranía del Perijá
- Piedemonte llanero
- Serrania de San Lucas
- Nevado del Tolima
- Sierra Nevada del Cocuy
Cultural subregions
Due to the great climatic diversity and the history of settlements, there are different sub-cultural groups in this region. Among the main sub-groups are:
- Bogotano cachaco or rolo: inhabitants of the capital, Bogotá.
- Cundiboyacense: it extends mainly by the homonymous highland. One of the forms of formal treatment used is “sumercé”.
- Paisa: extends through the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío, north and east of the department of Valle del Cauca and the north-west of Tolima, which make up the so-called Country Region and its subregion, the Caffete Axis.
- Santandereano: is another "raza de monte" that extends through the mountains of Santander, Norte de Santander and southern Cesar. Direct speaking and the almost exclusive use of "you" characterize your language.
- Valluno: in the valley of the Cauca River, corresponding to the south and the center of the department of Valle del Cauca and the north of Cauca. Speaking also highlights the voseo, the use of "ve" and "ois".
- Opita: it is presented in the valley of Alto Magdalena, in the departments of Huila and Tolima.
- Pastuso: it extends mainly through the mountains of Nariño, South Cauca and Putumayo. Speaking is characterized by the Andean accent and retaining the distinction between "y" and "ll".
Among the musical genres are the bambuco, the pasillo, the guabina, the torbellino and the Tolimense bunde, among others.
Economic development
The Andean region holds most of the country's water resources as well as the most productive land for agriculture. Oil, emeralds, salt and other mineral wealth are exploited from its subsoil.
Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, the three most populated cities in the country, are located in this region, as is Bucaramanga, an important center of industrial development in the country, where its footwear and jewelry industry stands out; Cúcuta, a city on the border with Venezuela, Barrancabermeja is considered the oil city, since it is home to the largest refinery in the country. Pereira, Manizales and Armenia are the main cities in the region of the Coffee Region, Neiva in the department of Huila connects the center with the south of the country and Pasto in the extreme south-west of the country, this being the main city that connects to Colombia with Ecuador and the rest of South America.
More than 80% of the country's coffee crops are found in the Andean region, distributed mainly in the Coffee Region (Caldas, Risaralda, Quindío, Antioquia, Valle del Cauca and Tolima). The economy of the region is of approximately 300,000,000,000 pesos and increasing.[citation required]
Gastronomy
The Andean region presents a diverse gastronomy, depending on the geographical location, different typical dishes are presented, such as the ajiaco santafereño (Bogotá), the bandeja paisa (Antioquia and the coffee region), the sancocho (Cali), the mute santandereano (Santander and Norte de Santander), suckling pig (Tolima and Huila), and roast guinea pig (Nariño and Putumayo).
National Natural Parks
Pasture Knot
- Wildlife and flora sanctuary Galeras
- Sanctuary of fauna and flora La Corota Island
Western Cordillera
- Natural National Park Paramillo
- Natural National Park Las Orquídeas
- Cali National Natural Park
- National Natural Park Munchique
Central Cordillera
- Natural National Park Los Nevados
- Natural National Park Las Hermosas
- Puracé National Park
- National Natural Park Nevado del Huila
- Selva de Florence National Natural Park
- Otún Quimbaya wildlife sanctuary
Eastern Cordillera
- Chicamocha National Park
- Natural national park Guácharos
- Natural National Park Cordillera de los Picachos
- National Natural Park Chingaza
- Sumapaz National Natural Park
- San Rafael Fusagasugá Natural Park
- Cocuy National Natural Park
- National Natural Park Pisba
- National Natural Park Serrania de los Yariguí
- Tamá National Natural Park
- Unique natural area The Strikes
- Guanentá Alto Río Fonce wildlife sanctuary
- Sanctuary of fauna and flora Iguaque
Contenido relacionado
The baggin
Rwanda
Area (disambiguation)