Information about departments of Colombia

Colombia is divided territorially into 32 departments (Spanish: departamentos, singular: Departamento) and a Capital District (Spanish: Distrito Capital). Each department has a Governor (Gobernador) and a Departmental Assembly (Asamblea Departamental) every four years re-elected. A governor can not be re-elected for a period immediately following its administration period.

Departments with many inhabitants are further divided into regions or provinces, mainly in support of the board of the relevant department and the municipalities. They have little power. The lowest level is usually that of the municipality (municipio). The densely populated departments comprise more than one hundred municipalities, the sparsely populated some (which often exceed Flanders). Some departments are very sparsely populated areas managed as departmental districts (corregimiento departamental) and municipal districts (corregimientos municipal).

The capital Bogota is organized as Capital District and is outside the division of departments. Some tasks are performed by the department of Cundinamarca. Bogota is the capital of Cundinamarca, although the city formally is no part of that department. Cundinamarca is the only department whose capital is defined by the national constitution. This means that a relocation of the capital requires a constitutional amendment and not a simple decision of the Provincial Assembly.


Departments of Colombia

DepartmentGovenorRegionPopulationCapital
AmazonasOlbar Andrade RincónAmazon Region67,726Leticia
AntioquiaLuis Alfredo Ramos Botero Andean Region5,682,276Medellín
AraucaLuis Ataya AriasOrinoquía Region232,118Arauca
AtlánticoEduardo Verano de la RosaCaribbean Region2,166,156Barranquilla
Bogotá, D.C.7,321,831Bogotá
BolívarAlberto BernalCaribbean Region2,061,448Cartagena
BoyacáJosé Rozo MillánAndean Region1,255,311Tunja
CaldasMario Aristizábal MuñozAndean Region968,740Manizales
CaquetáGerman Medina TriviñoAmazon Region420,337Florencia
CasanareÓscar Raúl Iván Flórez ChávezOrinoquía Region295,353Yopal
CaucaGuillermo Alberto González MosqueraAndean Region1,268,937Popayán
CaucaGuillermo Alberto González MosqueraPacific Region1,268,937Popayán
CesarCristian Moreno PanezoCaribbean Region903,279Valledupar
ChocóMalcom Alí CórdobaPacific Region454,030Quibdó
CórdobaMarta Sáenz CorreaCaribbean Region1,467,929Montería
CundinamarcaAndrés González DíazAndean Region2,280,037Bogotá
GuainíaEfrén de Jesús Ramírez SabanaOrinoquía Region35,230Inírida
GuainíaEfrén de Jesús Ramírez SabanaAmazon Region35,230Inírida
GuaviareAmazon Region95,551San José del Guaviare
HuilaLuis Jorge Sánchez GarcíaAndean Region1,011,418Neiva
La GuajiraJorge Pérez BernierCaribbean Region681,575Riohacha
MagdalenaOmar Díaz GranadosCaribbean Region1,152,917Santa Marta
MetaDarío VásquezOrinoquía Region783,168Villavicencio
NariñoAntonio Navarro WolffAndean Region1,541,956Pasto
NariñoAntonio Navarro WolffPacific Region1,541,956Pasto
Norte De SantanderWilliam Villamizar LaguadoAndean Region1,243,975Cúcuta
PutumayoJulio Byron Viveros ChávesAmazon Region310,132Mocoa
QuindioJulio César López EspinosaAndean Region534,552Armenia
RisaraldaVíctor Manuel Tamayo VargasAndean Region897,509Pereira
San AndrésPedro Gallardo Forbes Caribbean Region70,554San Andrés
SantanderAndean Region1,957,789Bucaramanga
SucreJorge Carlos Barraza FarakCaribbean Region772,010Sincelejo
TolimaÓscar Barreto QuirogaAndean Region1,365,342Ibagué
Valle Del CaucaFrancisco LouridoAndean Region4,161,425Cali
Valle Del CaucaFrancisco LouridoPacific Region4,161,425Cali
VaupésJosé Leónidas SotoAmazon Region39,279Mitú
VichadaBlas Arbelio Ortiz RebolledoOrinoquía Region55,872Puerto Carreño