Guainía Department


Guainía is a department of Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital is Inírida. In 1963 Guainía was split off from Vaupés department. The northern part and the Inírida River are included in the Orinoco basin; the rest is part of the Amazon basin. The Guaviare River is the main area of colonization; many colonos come from the Colombian Andean zone, most of them from Boyacá. They are followed by the llaneros, people from the Eastern plains. The population is mainly composed of Amerindians, and the largest ethnic groups are the Puinaves and the curripacos. There are a total of 24 ethnic groups in the department; many of them speak four Indigenous languages besides Spanish and Portuguese.

Municipalities

There is only one municipality in Guainía: Inírida, its capital. The rest of the territory is subdivided in corregimientos departamentales, a pending figure due to public disorder. This case happens only in Amazonas, Vaupés and Vichada. Barranco Minas is the second biggest population and its main corregimiento; it is located on the Guaviare River.
The Guainía corregimientos are:
  1. Barranco Minas
  2. Cacahual
  3. La Guadalupe
  4. Mapiripana
  5. Morichal Nuevo
  6. Pana Pana
  7. Puerto Colombia
  8. San Felipe