Riohacha
Riohacha | |
---|---|
District and city | |
UTC-05 (Eastern Time Zone) | |
Postal code | 440001 |
Area code | 57 + 5 |
Climate | BSh |
Website | Official website (in Spanish) |
*Riohacha metropolitan area is yet to be determined. |
Riohacha
Founded by
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.
Place Name
The place name Riohacha has existed since the same period of the Spanish land conquest and colonization in La Guajira (1526-1536). There are three different hypotheses about its origin, all of them related to the exploration of the area of the mouth of a river in the middle part of the La Guajira Peninsula. The first hypothesis recounts the rescue that a young indigenous man makes of a lost and thirsty Spanish battalion, guiding them towards the encounter with the river; as a reward, the captain gives the native an axe and baptizes the place as El Río de La Hacha. The second hypothesis speaks of the same Spanish battalion whose Captain loses his emblematic axe when crossing said river; as a consolation he baptizes it Río de La Hacha. The third hypothesis documents the discovery of a beautiful axe buried on the river bank by a battalion of European explorers, who until now believed they were the first to arrive at that place. In this way, they called it Río de la Hacha.
The word Süchiimma means, in the Wayuunaiki language, Land of the River: Süchii (river) and Mma (land). The city is also known as Portal de Perlas (alluding to its pearl origin), the Capital of the Magical Arreboles (the most beautiful sunsets in the Colombian Caribbean) and the Mestiza del Nordeste (for its rich multiculturalism and the Trade Winds of the Northeast).
History
The Riohacha area was long inhabited by American Indians of the
The Spanish discovered a vast amount of
In the 18th century, Riohacha was incorporated to the Viceroyalty of New Granada as part of the province of Santa Marta. During the battles for independence from Spain, the port of Riohacha served many vessels fighting for Colombian and Venezuelan independence. Many Riohachans also served in the revolutionary navy, most notably Admiral José Prudencio Padilla, who would come to be considered a hero in the revolutions of Colombia and Venezuela.
In 1954, Riohacha City acquired municipality status, and in 1964 was declared capital of the new La Guajira Department.
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The Almirante Padilla Plaza in downtown Riohacha.
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Riohacha Beach.
Culture
- The National Festival of the Dividivi is celebrated every year from June 29 to July 1. The last day celebrates the creation of the Department of La Guajira.[4]
Transportation
Riohacha has one
Climate
Riohacha, owing to the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, has a
Climate data for Almirante Padilla Airport, Riohacha | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 39.2 (102.6) |
36.7 (98.1) |
39.8 (103.6) |
38.4 (101.1) |
38.0 (100.4) |
38.6 (101.5) |
38.1 (100.6) |
38.8 (101.8) |
39.4 (102.9) |
36.6 (97.9) |
35.8 (96.4) |
38.6 (101.5) |
39.4 (102.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 32.4 (90.3) |
32.5 (90.5) |
32.5 (90.5) |
32.6 (90.7) |
33.2 (91.8) |
34.2 (93.6) |
34.8 (94.6) |
34.8 (94.6) |
33.4 (92.1) |
32.4 (90.3) |
32.1 (89.8) |
32.3 (90.1) |
33.1 (91.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 21.8 (71.2) |
21.9 (71.4) |
22.9 (73.2) |
24.2 (75.6) |
24.8 (76.6) |
25.3 (77.5) |
25.2 (77.4) |
25.0 (77.0) |
24.4 (75.9) |
23.7 (74.7) |
23.3 (73.9) |
22.5 (72.5) |
23.8 (74.7) |
Record low °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) |
17.0 (62.6) |
17.0 (62.6) |
17.2 (63.0) |
20.8 (69.4) |
20.0 (68.0) |
17.2 (63.0) |
19.8 (67.6) |
19.2 (66.6) |
20.0 (68.0) |
18.8 (65.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
16.8 (62.2) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 0.5 (0.02) |
0.8 (0.03) |
2.6 (0.10) |
25.8 (1.02) |
75.5 (2.97) |
37.1 (1.46) |
16.2 (0.64) |
52.3 (2.06) |
115.9 (4.56) |
142.8 (5.62) |
59.2 (2.33) |
17.3 (0.68) |
546 (21.49) |
Average rainy days | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 49 |
Average relative humidity (%)
|
70 | 70 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 68 | 66 | 71 | 76 | 79 | 79 | 74 | 73 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 259.3 | 229.8 | 235.4 | 195.0 | 193.5 | 230.3 | 249.4 | 236.5 | 198.1 | 211.7 | 217.5 | 238.2 | 2,694.7 |
Source: INSTITUTO DE HIDROLOGIA METEOROLOGIA Y ESTUDIOS AMBIENTALES[6] |
Notable people
- Afro-Colombianlawyer and politician.
Gallery
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View of the beachfront
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Malecon Beach
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Typical building
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Colombian Wayuu craft on Avenida Primera (1st Ave.)
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Riohacha's Touristic Dock
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Riohacha's Sunrise at a house roof
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Ranchería River empties into Riohacha
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Cañones Park
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One of the areas of the historic center of the city
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Identidad Monument, erected in 2010
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Departmental Cultural Center seen from the beach
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Late Nineteen Century Building in Riohacha
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House where Gabriel García Márquez was conceived, according to his autobiography Living to Tell the Tale (2002)
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La Guajira University, located in Riohacha
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Fishing between Alijuna and Wayú Caribbean coast, Riohacha
Explanatory notes
References
- ^ (In Spanish) Colombian Registry of the Civil State: 2007 election results
- ^ https://www.dane.gov.co/files/varios/informacion-capital-DANE-2019.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ Telefónicas, Telencuestas-Encuestas. "Cuántos habitantes tenía Riohacha, La Guajira en 2023". Telencuestas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-02-02.
- ^ (in Spanish) National System for Cultural Information: National Festival of the Dividivi
- ^ "Easy Fly inicia nueva ruta Barranquilla a Riohacha". 20 September 2016.
- ^ Clima: Climatografía de la principales ciudades
External links
- (In Spanish) Gobernacion de La Guajira - Riohacha
- (In Spanish) Riohacha official website