Guajira Peninsula
| People | Wayuu |
|---|---|
| Language | Wayuunaiki |
| Country | Wajiira |
The Guajira Peninsula [ɡwaˈxiɾa] (Spanish: Península de La Guajira, also spelled Goajira, mainly in colonial period texts, Wayuu: Woumainpa’a) is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) extending from the Manaure Bay (Colombia) to the Calabozo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela (Venezuela), and from the Caribbean to the Serranía del Perijá mountains range.
It was the subject of a historic dispute between Venezuela and Colombia in 1891, and on arbitration was awarded to the latter and joined to its
Climate
 |
The region receives the flow of the
In the northern area, a small range of mountains known as the
Economy
|
_2014-09-21_(3).jpg)
The peninsula is inhabited mainly by members of the
Since the 1980s the central area of the peninsula was subject to the exploration and exploitation of coal and natural gas in the area of Cerrejón and of oil in the littoral. A popular ecotourism destination in the area is Cabo de la Vela, a headland and village on the peninsula on the Colombia side.
Missionary history
The mission of Goajira was carried out since the 1880s by Capuchin friars. It was elevated by
"tall and well made. Formerly they were very intractable, but the Capuchins, who were in charge of the Catholic missions, have had a great influence over them, and large numbers have been converted. The chief towns are Paraguaipoa, Calabacito, Maricha, Marocaso, and Soldado, La Guajira."[2]
The Capuchins established three major orphanages, where they educated Wayuu children in Catholicism, Spanish, and European culture. In the 21st century, the government no longer requires Catholic education for the indigenous peoples. They are allowed to educate their children in the Wayuu traditions and language (Wayuunaiki).
In the novel Papillon (1970), Henri Charrière writes:
"The Goajira Indians are seafarers who fish for pearls. Their primary diet is said to consist of fish, turtle meat, turtle eggs and big green lizards, most likely Iguanas. Men and women are dressed only in a loincloth which covers their crotch."[3][verification needed][page needed]
The women wear dresses of woven cotton; and the men often wear shirts and pants to protect their legs from desert winds and plants.
See also
- Distocyclus goajira, an electric fish
- T-63 Goajira, a ship of the navy of Venezuela
- Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub and La Guajira Desert
References
- ^ USGS: Caribbean Coast: Guajira Peninsula coast Archived 2007-08-23 at the Wayback Machine USGS Accessed 24 August 2007.
- ^
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Vicariate Apostolic of Goajira". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ISBN 0-246-63987-3.
Further reading
- (in Spanish) Henri Candelier. 1892. Riohacha y los Indios Guajiros. Crónica de un viajero y explorador francés quien durante tres años, 1889–1892, recorrió La Guajira.
- (in Spanish) Martha Ligia Castellanos, Luis Carlos Pardo L. 2000. "Caracterización y primera aproximación a la determinación del índice de biodiversidad en los suelos de la cuenca del arroyo Mekijanao, Serranía de la Macuira, Alta Guajira." En: Juan Carlos Pérez (editor) X Congreso Nacional de la Ciencia del Suelo. Programa y resúmenes. El suelo un componente del medio natural. Medellín, Octubre 11 al 13 de 2000
- (in Spanish) Edith González, Gabriel Guillot, Néstor Miranda, Diana Pombo (editores). 1990. Perfil Ambiental de Colombia. Colciencias. Escala. Bogotá.
- (in Spanish) Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi. 1996. Diccionario Geográfico de Colombia. Edición en CD-ROM. Bogotá, Colombia.
- Thomas Stadtmüller. 1987. Cloud Forests in the Humid Tropics. A Bibliographic Review. The United Nations University, Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza. Turrialba, Costa Rica. 82 pp.