Distracción, La Guajira

Distracción
town

Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): The Star of La Guajira

Location of the town and municipality of Distracción in La Guajira Department.
Country Colombia
Region Caribbean
Department La Guajira
Foundation 1845 by Antonio María Vidal
Government
 • Mayor Pedro Javier Guerra Chinchia (L)[1]
Area
 • Total 220 km2 (80 sq mi)
Elevation 65 m (213 ft)
Population (2005)
 • Total 8,274
  [2]

Distracción (Spanish pronunciation: [distɾakˈsjon]) is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Founded in 1845 by a man from neighboring Barrancas named Antonio María Vidal on the right margin of the Ranchería River.[3]

The town celebrates the Festival de los Laureles (Spanish for Festival of the Laurels). The town's economy relies mostly in agriculture, farming and the rudimentary exploitation of a limestone mine.[3]

Geography

The municipality of Distracción is located in the Guajira Peninsula, on the Valley of Upar formed by the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and Serranía del Perijá. It has a total area of 220 km² bordering to the north with the municipality of Riohacha; to the east with the municipality of Fonseca; to the south with the municipalities of San Juan del Cesar and Fonseca and to the west with the municipality of San Juan del Cesar.[4]

Politics

Defense

The Colombian National Army has two major units in the department part of the 1st Division one of these is the 2nd Mechanized Cavalry Battalion also known as the Batallon Rondon.[5]

References

  1. ↑ (Spanish) Colombian Registry of the Civil State: 2007 election results
  2. ↑ (Spanish) Observatorio del Caribe Colombiano: Grupo Regional de investigación en economía y competitividad en el Caribe colombiano by Weildler Guerra, Paola Quintero, Jorge Quintero and Ana María Maldonado
  3. 1 2 (Spanish) Government of La Guajira: Distraccion
  4. ↑ (Spanish) Distraccion: Geography
  5. ↑ (Spanish) 1st Division of the Colombian National Army: Second Brigade and Tenth Brigade

External links

Coordinates: 10°54′N 72°53′W / 10.900°N 72.883°W / 10.900; -72.883

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, June 02, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.