Chocó Department

Department of Chocó
Departamento del Chocó
Flag of Department of Chocó
Coat of arms of Department of Chocó
Choco shown in red
Choco shown in red
Topography of the department
Topography of the department
Coordinates: 5°42′N 76°40′W / 5.700°N 76.667°W / 5.700; -76.667
Country Colombia
RegionPacific/Chocó Region
Established3 November 1947
CapitalQuibdó
Government
 • GovernorAriel Palacios Calderón (2020–2023)
Area
 • Total46,530 km2 (17,970 sq mi)
 • Rank9th
Population
(2018)
 • Total534,826
 • Rank23rd
 • Density11/km2 (30/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC-05
ISO 3166 codeCO-CHO
Municipalities31
HDI (2019)0.696
medium · 30th of 33

Chocó Department (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃoˈko]) is a department of the Pacifc region of Colombia known for the largest Afro-Colombian population in the nation. It is in the West of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It contains all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.

Chocó has a diverse geography, unique ecosystems and unexploited natural resources. However, its population has one of the lowest standards of living of all departments in Colombia. A major factor, cited by the government, is the rugged, montane rainforest environment, limiting any infrastructure improvements to the region. No major highway has been worked on since initial foundations were laid down in 1967. This roadway would have successfully linked Chocó to the nearest large city, Medellin, providing easier access to medical care, necessities, food, and more. Currently, depending on their location, residents of Chocó who are in a medical emergency, and who do have access to vehicular transport, face an unpredictable journey. This trip could take several hours to several days, depending on their starting point. This is provided that the existing small roads aren't flooded, shut down, or otherwise blocked; some remote indigenous communities have no other option than to canoe or boat by river to Quibdó, a trip which can last anywhere from two days to a week. For those needing more advanced services, Medellín is the closest major city to the capital Quibdó

Often, a family’s resources, along with the patient’s potential physical condition, will prevent medical help being sought out; in August 2016, Colombian media reported that some 50 children starved in less than three months, creating awareness of the grave condition Choco’s inhabitants are facing. That same year, an additional 10 adults and senior citizens, of the indigenous Chocó community, died due to preventable causes such as malaria and diarrhea. There is no reliable electrical grid, sewage system or drinkable water (even in the capital Quibdó). In spite of the department’s ranking of “world's rainiest lowland” (the Choco–Darien moist forests ecoregion), with close to 400 inches (10,000 mm) of annual precipitation, Quibdó lacks sanitary drinking water.

Map of the Darién Gap and the break in the Pan-American Highway between Yaviza, Panama and Turbo, Colombia

History

The department was created in 1944. Its low population, mountainous and inhospitable topography, and distance from Bogotá resulted in Chocó receiving little attention from the Colombian government. During the reign of military dictator Gustav Rojas Pinilla, his administration proposed to eliminate Chocó and divide its territory between the departments of Antioquia and Valle del Cauca. But the 1957 coup d'état of General Gabriel Paris Gordillo overthrew Pinilla's government and ended such plans.

Geography

The Chocó Department is covered mostly by the Baudó Mountains.

The Chocó Department makes up most of the ecoregion known as El Chocó that extends from Panama to Ecuador.

The municipality of Joraw holds the Highest Average Annual Precipitation record measured at 523.6 inches (13,300 mm) which makes it the wettest place in the world. Three large rivers drain the Chocó Department, the Atratus (which runs north, with tributaries that also flow north), the St. John, and the Boudaw. Each has many tributaries. The Boudaw Mountains on the coast and the inland Western Mountain Range are cut by low valleys, with an altitude less than 1,000 meters, that form most of the territory. Most of the Chocó is thick rainforest. Much of the wood for Colombia's internal consumption is harvested from the Chocó, with a small percentage harvested for export. Chocó Department produces the majority of Colombia's significant platinum output (28,359 ounces of platinum in 2011). Chocó is also Colombia's top gold-producing region (653,625 ounces in 2011). In the late 19th century, it attracted a variety of miners from many countries seeking to make their fortunes in gold.

Biodiversity

The Chocó is a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA). According to the United Nations Development Program, it contains the 'greatest plant biodiversity on the planet (and) twenty-five percent of the plant and bird species living in this region are endemic.' Globally, Chocó is among 25 regions classified as priority biodiversity hotspots.

Threats to this rich biodiversity, despite the region's conservation priority status, are many. Approximately 80% of the forest has been converted to other uses, such as slash-and-burn and intensive agriculture, inappropriate and illegal logging, and cattle ranching.

Measuring the extent of biodiversity loss in Chocó thus far was previously difficult due to the remoteness of most of the region. However, with advances in LiDAR imaging and the efforts of various nonprofit conservation organizations, there is much documentation to identify and quantify the environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

For example, a 2019 analysis of more than 80,000 ha of LiDAR samples to quantify the vegetation structure, disturbance, and elevation in Chocó forests, a loss of more than 115 million tons of dry biomass, or 58 million tons of carbon was documented.

El Pangán ProAves Reserve, in the biogeographic region of Chocó, charged with protecting area's biodiversity, with special consideration of protecting bird species, is greatly challenged and not sufficiently equipped to meet the numerous conservation threats to a great diversity of fauna and flora that include 300 bird species. Forest degradation takes at least 50 years to regenerate, and regeneration efforts are not keeping pace with the rate of further deforestation. Soil erosion, negative effects on species' feeding and reproductive cycles, fragmentation of habitat, and loss of species are all consequences of this large-scale deforestation.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1973 203,635—    
1985 313,567+54.0%
1993 406,199+29.5%
2005 440,123+8.4%
2018 534,826+21.5%
Source:

The Chocó is inhabited predominantly by Afro-Colombians, descendants of enslaved Africans imported and brought to this area by the Spanish colonizers after conquering the Americas. The second largest race/ethnic group are the Embera, a Native American people. More than half of their total population in Colombia lives in Chocó, some 35,500. They practice hunting and artisan fishing and live near rivers.

The total population as of 2005 was less than half a million, with more than half living in the Quibdó valley. According to a 2005 census the ethnic composition of the department is:

Towns and municipalities

Quibdó is the largest city, with a population of almost 100,000. Other important cities and towns include Istmina, Condoto, Alto Baudó, Riosucio and El Carmen de Atrato in the interior, Acandí on the Caribbean Coast, and Bahía Solano on the Pacific Coast.

Resorts and Tourist destinations include Capurgana on the Caribbean Coast, and Jurado, Nookee, and Solano Bay on the West Coast.

Municipalities

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-11-28 01:47 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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