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How does the political-administrative organization in Colombia work?
Colombia has 1,102 municipalities, 32 departments, and 12 districts.
Currently, Colombia is territorially organized mainly by departments, municipalities, and districts. Other special divisions include provinces, indigenous territorial entities, and collective territories.
But how is Colombia's territory organized?
Map of Colombia
A municipality is a territorial entity organized administratively and legally. It is governed by a mayor, who leads along with a municipal council; both figures are elected by popular vote. Colombia has 1,102 municipalities and 18 non-municipalized areas.
Positioned between the nation and the municipality, the departments are led by a governor in charge of the autonomous administration of the resources granted by the State. They have autonomy in handling matters related to their jurisdiction and act as coordinating bodies between the nation and municipalities. They are governed by a governor and an assembly of deputies elected through popular vote. Colombia has 32 departmental units.
The districts are territorial entities with special administration. Due to their national importance, the cities of Barrancabermeja, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Medellín, Mompox, Riohacha, Santa Marta, Turbo, Tumaco, Cali, and Bogotá hold this designation in Colombia.
Provinces are intermediate territorial divisions between departments and municipalities. This administrative figure is not very common in Colombia.
The indigenous territorial entities are indigenous local governments that occupy some departmental or municipal portion. Meanwhile, the collective territories have been granted to the Afro-Colombian population that predominates in the Pacific region, allowing them to organize in community and business associations.
How has Colombia’s territorial organization evolved?
Colombia’s political map has undergone several changes, beginning with the arrival of the Spanish to the American continent, laying the foundation for the current national political division.
With the conquest of new territories, new governorships were created and expanded, starting with the establishment of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717, a federal republican political system in 1858 under the name United States of Colombia, and finally the Republic of Colombia in 1886, when sovereign states became departments: Antioquia, Bolívar, Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Panamá, Santander, and Tolima.
Furthermore, with the new 1991 Constitution, the existing intendancies and commissariats were categorized as departments, thus forming the Colombian territory with a total of 32 entities. Since then, it has remained the same, with only new municipalities being created.
How are municipalities divided in Colombia?
Colombia, municipalities, territory, and organization
All municipalities are divided into two zones: Urban and rural, from which other municipal subdivisions arise. Urban areas are groups of buildings bounded by streets, avenues, or roads, according to DANE.
These areas have basic sanitation services, as well as schools and hospitals. They are further divided into neighborhoods and communes, where neighborhoods are the most basic level of urban division—groups of homes defined by physical, economic, or social conditions—and communes group specific neighborhoods or sectors.
Rural areas are characterized by scattered housing with agricultural activities. They do not have street names, roads, or avenues and generally lack public services. These are divided into corregimientos and veredas.
