Quibdó

Quibdó
Municipality and town
Flag Seal
Coordinates: 5°41′32″N 76°39′29″W / 5.69222°N 76.65806°W / 5.69222; -76.65806Coordinates: 5°41′32″N 76°39′29″W / 5.69222°N 76.65806°W / 5.69222; -76.65806
Country	Colombia
Region	Pacific Region
Department	Chocó Department
Founded	1648
Government
• Mayor	Mauricio Cardenas
Area
• Total	3,337.5 km2 (1,288.6 sq mi)
Elevation	43 m (141 ft)
Population (2012)
• Total	126,384
• Density	38/km2 (98/sq mi)
Time zone	Colombia Standard Time (UTC-05)
Area code(s)	57 + 4
Website	Official website (Spanish)

Quibdó (Spanish pronunciation: [kiβˈðo]) is the capital city of Chocó Department, in western Colombia, on the Atrato River. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 100,000^[1] mainly consisting of Afro Colombians and Zambo Colombians. ^[2]

History

In prehistoric times the Chocó rainforest served as a major barrier isolating the Mesoamerican and Andean civilisations, and the extremely humid climate also failed to attract the Spanish colonists. The region was eventually granted by the Embera Indians to the Franciscan order in 1648, but subsequent attacks by hostile tribes meant attempts at settlement were abandoned,^[3] only to be established again six years later.

It was not until the nineteenth century when there was interest in finding a shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to avoid traveling via the Straits of Magellan that the Chocó region again became of significant interest to European colonial powers, as the Atrato River Valley was thought the best possibility for this purpose by the explorer Alexander von Humboldt;^[4] however it was eventually shelved in favour of the Panama Canal. At the same time research on using the Chocó to connect the Pacific and Atlantic was being carried out, gold and platinum were discovered in the Atrato Valley^[4] and this ensured Quibdó’s growth and status as the chief town in the region.

Another crucial development at this time was the movement of freed black slaves into the Chocó, primarily engaging in shifting cultivation to cope with the extreme leaching from the super-humid climate, though fishing and the collection of forest products also helped these groups maintain their livelihood.^[5] These black communities established trade with highland cities such as Medellín via rough mule trails that lasted until the 1950s,^[6] after which a combination of population growth and declining values for the region’s natural resources gradually turned the region and especially Quibdó.

Climate

Quibdó has an extremely wet and cloudy tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) without noticeable seasons and by a large margin the heaviest rainfall of any city of its size or greater—the wettest city of larger size, Monrovia in Liberia, receives 3 metres (120 in) less than Quibdó. The extreme rainfall is due to the fact that the Andes to the east of the city block the westerly winds driven by the Intertropical Convergence Zone which throughout the year, owing to the Humboldt Current off the west coast of South America, remains centred in the north of the continent at Quibdó’s longitudes. The result is that the extremely unstable ascending air from the Intertropical Convergence Zone is consistently forced to rise over the Chocó plain and as it cools it gives up enormous quantities of moisture.

Rain falls almost every day in intense thunderstorms, and sunny periods seldom last more than a few hours after sunrise.

See also

• Wettest places on Earth
• Cherrapunji
• Mount Waialeale
• Lloró

References

v t e Municipalities in the Chocó Department Acandí Alto Baudó Atrato Bagadó Bahía Solano Bajo Baudó Belén de Bajirá Bojayá Carmen del Darién Cértegui Condoto El Cantón de San Pablo El Carmen de Atrato Istmina Juradó Litoral del Sanjuán Lloró Medio Atrato Medio Baudó Medio Sanjuán Nóvita Nuquí Quibdó Río Iró Río Quito Riosucio San José del Palmar Sipí Tadó Unguía Unión Panamericana