Chocó Department

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(Detail)	(Detail)

Motto:

Capital

Quibdó

Governor

Julio Ibarguen

Area

46,530 km²

Population
- Total (2003)
- Density

413,173
8,9 people/km²

Adjective

chocoano

Chocó is a department of Colombia. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean sea. It also has all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.

1 Geography
2 Guerilla activity
3 Towns and municipalities
- 3.1 Municipalities
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Chocó contains the municipality of Lloró which holds the Highest Average Annual Precipitation record measured at 523.6 inches (13,300 mm) which makes it the wettest place in the world. Three large rivers drain the Chocó Department, the Atrato River, the San Juan River and the Baudó River, each one with many tributaries. The Baudó Mountains on the coast and the Cordillera Occidental are cut by low valleys with an altitude less than 1,000 meters that form most of the territory. Most of the Chocó is thick rain forest. Much of Colombia's internal consumption of wood come from the Chocó, as well as a small percentage for export.

[edit] Guerilla activity

Until 1993 Chocó was a relatively peaceful province. However with the coming of the Ejercito Popular de Liberación (EPL) there ensued a three-way stuggle between the federal military, the incoming guerillas and the local paramilitary, with the serious consequence of massive population displacement. By 1997, although the military did not control much of the province, the internal Autodefensas Unidas Campesinas (Farmers United for Self-Defence) controlled about 75% of the territory.

[edit] Towns and municipalities

Quibdó is the largest city with a population of almost 100,000. Resorts include Capurgana on the Caribbean coast, and Jurado, Nuquí, and Bahía Solano on the west coast.