Magdalena River

Coordinates: 11°7′0″N 74°51′0″W / 11.11667°N 74.85000°W / 11.11667; -74.85000
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Magdalena river
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Magdalena
Puerto Boyacá
  • Puerto Berrío
  • Barrancabermeja
  • Santa Cruz de Mompox
  • Magangué
  • Barranquilla
    • Physical characteristics
    SourceLa Magdalena lagoon
     • locationColombian Massif, Colombia
     • coordinates1°56′3″N 76°36′29″W / 1.93417°N 76.60806°W / 1.93417; -76.60806
     • elevation3,685 m (12,090 ft)
    MouthCaribbean Sea
     • location
    		Barranquilla, Colombia
     • coordinates
    		11°7′0″N 74°51′0″W / 11.11667°N 74.85000°W / 11.11667; -74.85000
     • elevation
    		0 m (0 ft)
    Length1,528 km (949 mi)[1]
    Basin size257,438 km2 (99,397 sq mi) to 271,807 km2 (104,945 sq mi)[2]
    Discharge 
     • locationCalamar, Bolívar[3]
     • average(Period: 1975–1995)7,200 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s)[3] (Period: 1991–2020)8,058 m3/s (284,600 cu ft/s)[2]
     • minimum2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s)
     • maximum12,000 m3/s (420,000 cu ft/s)
    Basin features
    Tributaries 
     • left
    Negro, Carare, Sogamoso, Cesar
    Official nameSistema Delta Estuarino del Río Magdalena, Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta
    Designated18 June 1998
    Reference no.951[4]

    The Magdalena River (Spanish: Río Magdalena, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈri.o maɣðaˈlena]; less commonly Rio Grande de la Magdalena)[5] is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about 1,528 kilometres (949 mi) through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as far as Honda, at the downstream base of its rapids. It flows through the Magdalena River Valley.

    Its drainage basin covers a surface of 273,000 square kilometres (105,000 sq mi), which is 24% of the country's area and where 66% of its population lives.

    Course

    Magdalena River in Cundinamarca–Tolima

    The Magdalena River is the largest river system of the northern Andes, with a length of 1,612 km.

    Cordillera Oriental separate, in Huila Department
    . The river runs east then north in a great valley between the two cordilleras. It reaches the coastal plain at about nine degrees north, then runs west for about 100 km (62 mi), then north again, reaching the Caribbean Sea at the city of Barranquilla in the zone known as Bocas de Ceniza.

    Flora and fauna

    See also: Biodiversity of Colombia

    Fish

    See also:
    List of fishes in the Magdalena river
    The river near Villavieja, Huila

    The Magdalena River basin, which includes the

    genera: The catfish Centrochir and Eremophilus, and the characids Carlastyanax (often included in Astyanax) and Genycharax.[11] In general, the fish fauna shows connections with surrounding basins, notably Atrato and Maracaibo, but to a lesser extent also Amazon–Orinoco.[11]

    The most productive

    heavy metals have also been detected in some commercially important fish in the river.[16] As of 2002, 19 fish species in the river basin were recognized as threatened.[12]

    Other animals

    The Magdalena River and

    Colombian slider, Magdalena River turtle, Dahl's toad-headed turtle and red-footed tortoise are in danger of extinction.[18]

    In addition, there is a possible risk posed by

    Hacienda Napoles into nearby regions of the Magdalena River.[19][20]

    History

    Champán on the Magdalena, c. 1860, aquatint by Ramón Torres Méndez

    Due to its geographical position in the north of

    Muisca
    civilization, which called the river Yuma.

    Likewise, the Spanish conquistadores who arrived to today's Colombia early in the 16th century used the river to push to the wild and mountainous inland after Rodrigo de Bastidas discovered and named the river on April 1, 1501. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the river was the only transport link communicating Bogotá with the Caribbean Sea port Cartagena de Indias and thus with Europe.

    The

    Magdalena Campaign of Pierre Labatut and Simón Bolívar
    took place along the Magdalena River.

    In 1825, the Congress of Colombia awarded a concession to establish steam navigation in the Magdalena River to Juan Bernardo Elbers,[21] but his company closed shortly after. By 1845, steamboats regularly travelled on the river[22] until 1961, when the last steamers ceased operation.[21]

    In mass media

    Much of the film Love in the Time of Cholera takes place in the historic, walled city of Cartagena in Colombia. Some screenshots showed the Magdalena River and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range.

    The General in His Labyrinth, by Gabriel García Márquez, is a fictionalized account of the final voyage of Simón Bolívar down the Magdalena River, where he revisits many cities and villages along the river.

    In Magdalena: River of Dreams (Knopf, 2020), Canadian writer, anthropologist, and explorer Wade Davis travels the length of the river by boat, on foot, by car, and on horseback combining descriptions of nature with episodes from Colombian history.[23]

    References

    1. ^ "Sistema de informacion Ambiental de Colombia – SIAC" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
    2. ^
      ISBN 978-958-5489-12-7
      .
    3. ^ a b "Chapter 14" (PDF). The Pacific and Caribbean Rivers of Colombia: Water Discharge, Sediment Transport and Dissolved Loads. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-25. Retrieved 2011-07-13.
    4. ^ "Sistema Delta Estuarino del Río Magdalena, Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
    5. ^ "Polinizaciones: Las Abejas y las Garzas / The Bees and Storks". Polinizaciones.blogspot.com. 7 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-06.
    6. hdl:10784/26918
      .
    7. ^ Maldonado-Ocampo; Vari; and Usma (2008). Checklist of the Freshwater Fishes of Colombia. Biota Colombiana 9: 143–237.
    8. ^ Román-Valencia; Ruiz; Taphorn; Mancera-Rodriguez; and García-Alzate (2013). Three new species of Hemibrycon (Characiformes: Characidae) from the Magdalena River Basin, Colombia. Rev Biol Trop. 61(3): 1365–1387.
    9. ^ Taphorn; Armbruster; Villa-Navarro; and Ray (2013). Trans-Andean Ancistrus (Siluriformes: Loricariidae). Zootaxa 3641(4): 343–370.
    10. ^ Ballen; and Mojica (2014). A new trans-Andean Stick Catfish of the genus Farlowella Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1889 (Siluriformes: Loricariidae) with the first record of the genus for the río Magdalena Basin in Colombia. Zootaxa 3765(2): 134–142.
    11. ^ a b Freshwater Ecoregions of the World: Magdalena – Sinu. Archived 2017-01-16 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 August 2014.
    12. ^ a b Granado-Lorencio; Serna; Carvajal; Jiménez-Segura; Gulfo; and Alvarez (2012). Regionally nested patterns of fish assemblages in floodplain lakes of the Magdalena river (Colombia). Ecol Evol. 2(6): 1296–1303.
    13. ^ Lasso; Agudelo-Córdoba: Jiménez-Segura; Ramírez-Gil; Morales-Betancourt; Ajiaco-Martínez; Gutiérrez; Usma-Oviedo; Muñoz-Torres; and Sanabria-Ochoa (2011). I. Catálogo de los recursos pesqueros continentales de Colombia. Serie Editorial Recursos Hidrobiológicos y Pesqueros Continentales de Colombia. Bogotá (Colombia): Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (IAvH).
    14. ^ International Rivers (18 January 2012). Colombia's El Quimbo in Limbo. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
    15. ^ International Rivers (18 March 2013). Police Detain Ituango Dam Affected. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
    16. ^ Noreña; Arenas; Murillo; Guío; and Méndez (2012). Heavy metals (Cd, Pb and Ni) in fish species commercially important from Magdalena river, Tolima tract, Colombia. Tumbaga 2(7): 61–76.
    17. ^ "Magdalena Valley dry forests". Retrieved 2011-07-15.
    18. ^ "CUIDEMOS NUESTRO RÍO MAGDALENA" (PDF) (in Spanish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
    19. ^ Kremer, W. (26 June 2014). "Pablo Escobar's hippos: A growing problem". BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
    20. ^ Howard, B.C. (10 May 2016). "Pablo Escobar's Escaped Hippos Are Thriving in Colombia". National Geographic. Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
    21. ^ a b "Navegación a Vapor en Colombia | xcafe.co" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2012-03-27. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
    22. ^ Alfred Hettner. "En el río Magdalena". Viajes por los Andes colombianos: (1882–1884) (in Spanish). Retrieved 2011-07-15.
    23. ^ "Book review: Magdalena: River of Dreams". The Economist. No. 22-28 August 2020. The Economist Newspaper Limited.
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