Antioquia Department

In 1856 the Sovereign State of Antioquia was created and in 1886 it returned to being a department.

RELIEVE

This area of the country is mostly a mountainous territory with 241 kilometers of coastline on the Caribbean Sea; its main forms of relief are:

• The Nudos of Paramillo and Caramanta
• The serranías of Abibe, San Jerónimo and Ayapel
• The valleys of the rivers Atrato, Cauca and Magdalena
• The farallones of Citará
• The Páramos of Frontino and Arboleda
• The highlands of Concordia, la Ceja, Pantanillo and Tamar among the most recognized.

HIDROGRAFÍA

It is a department that counts at the hydrographic level with the potential of the rivers Magdalena, Cauca and Atrato. Other rivers that run through the territory of the department are the Nare, La Miel, Nechi, San Juan and Sinú.

CLIMA

The department of Antioquia due to its mountainous topography presents an altitude climate or according to the thermal floors.

ECONOMY

In the flat zone of the department, pastures and oil are found and exploited; in the broken zones, gold, silver, quartz, pyrite, lead, chromites, and coal mines are exploited. There are lands suitable for traditional agriculture with the cultivation of potatoes, tobacco, beans, sugarcane, etc.; for technified agriculture with fique and for export agriculture with coffee, bananas, and flowers; also important is the industrial activity with the production of textiles, clothing, graphic arts, household appliances, food products, etc. Similarly, livestock is of lesser importance.

NATURAL RESERVES

In the department, there are four natural reserves:

• The Las Orquídeas National Natural Park
• The Paramillo National Natural Park
• The Tatamá National Natural Park
• The Los Katíos National Natural Park (this one with an area of 35,000 square kilometers).

ANthem

Lyrics:

Epifanio Mejía

Music: Gonzalo Vidal

CHORUS

Oh liberty that perfumes
the mountains of my land,
let my children inhale
your fragrant essences!

I
I love the Sun because it wanders free,
over the blue sphere,
the hurricane because it howls
freely in the jungles.

II
The axe that my elders
left me as inheritance,
I want it because at its blows
free accents resound.

III
Forge despots tyrants
long and hard chains
for the slave who humbly
kisses his knees.

IV
I who was born; proud and free
on an Antioquian sierra
I carry the iron between my hands
because it weighs on my neck.

V
I was born on a mountain,
my sweet mother tells me
that the sun lit my cradle
on a bald sierra.

VI
I was born free like the wind
from the Antioquian jungles
like the condor of the Andes
that flies from mountain to mountain.

VII
Young eagle chick that is born
on the peak of a rock
they always like the summits
where the winds refresh.

VIII
When I descend to the valley
and I hear the cornet sound,
I go up to the high mountains
to give the alert cry.

IX
Boys, I tell all of them
the neighbors of the jungles
the cornet is sounding…
tyrants are in the sierra!

X
My companions, happy,
the axe they leave in the mountain
to grasp in their hands
the lance that the sun plates.

XI
With the backpack on my back
we cross plains and slopes,
and we cross mountains
and wide rivers and high sierras.

XII
And when we finally see,
over there in the vast plain,
the enemy's tents
that whiten amidst smoke and people,

XIII
We fly like hurricanes
scattered over the earth,
woe to him who awaits the push
of our whirling lances!

XIV
We pardon the one who surrenders
because there is also nobility
in the brave hearts
that nourish the old forests.

XV
When we return victorious,
the girls from the villages
offer crowns of flowers
to our serene foreheads.

XVI
In the light of joyful late afternoon,
pale, bronzed, fresh
from the mountain at the summit
our white cabins shine.

XVII
We descend singing to the valley
because the heart rejoices;
because the sight of our land
always breaks out in shouts.

XVIII
It is the prayer; the bells
sound with a slow beat;
with the pack on our backs
we go up the hill.

XIX
The breezes from the hills
come down loaded with essence,
the moon shines round
and the path yellowish.

XX
The dogs bark joyfully
behind the groves;
the heart oppressed
with joy palpitates and trembles…

XXI
We walk… We walk…
and shine… and shine…
and the doors of the cabins open
with their noise.

XXII
Tears, cries, sighs,
kisses and tender smiles,
among tight hugs
and among bursting emotions.

XXIII
Oh freedom that perfumes
the mountains of my land,
let my children inhale
your fragrant essences!

See The Andean Region of Colombia

See The Departments of Colombia

See The Natural Regions of Colombia