Capital district of Atlántico Department, Colombia
About Barranquilla
Barranquilla is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Colombia's fourth-most populous city after Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali.
Etymology
Barranquilla's name refers to the canyons that existed in the area adjacent to the Magdalena, where the city arose. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the name barranca ('canyon', 'ravine') was common in coastal communities (Barrancabermeja, Barranca Nueva, Barranca Vieja, etc.). This name was probably derived from an alteration of Aragon. During Spanish colonization, the area was known as Camacho or Kamash Indian Site, and San Nicolás de la Barranquilla (patron saint of San Nicolás de Tolentino) began to develop the area with the estates of Barrancas de Camacho, Barrancas de San Nicolás, Barranquilla de Camacho, and Barranquilla de San Nicolás, from which the city name is derived. …
History
Unlike other cities in Colombia such as Cartagena or Bogotá D.C., Barranquilla was not founded during the Spanish colonial period and it was not founded on a pre-Columbian site. The first mention of the current territory of Barranquilla dates back to 1533 and was written by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés. He describes the route of Pedro de Heredia, founder of Cartagena, just weeks before he founded that city, and says that this was a point of landing of canoes for the Indians of Santa Marta within the interior. They had two canoes full of dried shrimp as merchandise and went to the Magdalena River to trade with this commodity, salt and other things. However, the Kamash Indians were known to occupy the area and the settlement itself was established in about 1629. …
Geography
The city is located in the northeastern corner of the department of the Atlantic, on the west bank of the Magdalena River, 7.5 km (4.7 mi) (originally 25 km (16 mi) before rapid urban growth) from its mouth in the Caribbean. The municipality covers an area of 154 km2, equivalent to 4.5% of the area of the Atlántico Department. Barranquilla is located at latitude 10° 59' 16" north of the Equator and longitude 74° 47' 20" west of Greenwich, with reference to the Plaza de la Paz, ground zero of the city. The urban area is built on a slightly inclined plane whose extreme heights, according to the Codazzi, are 4 m and 98 m east to west. Other sources say the slopes accidental heights of up to 120 meters outside the city. According to Google Earth, the height of the city varies between 0 m in the western breakwater, up to maximum 142 m in the neighborhood of Los Nogales. …
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