Arauca Department
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Arauca Department Departamento de Arauca |
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| Department | |||
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| Motto: Vamos Arauca (Spanish: Let's Go Arauca) |
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 Arauca shown in red |
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 Topography of the department |
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| Country |
 Colombia
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| Region | Orinoquía Region | ||
| Established | July 4, 1991 | ||
| Capital | Arauca | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Ricardo Alvarado Bestene (2016–2019) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 23,818 km2 (9,196 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 18th | ||
| Population (2013) | |||
| • Total | 256,527 | ||
| • Rank | 27th | ||
| • Density | 11/km2 (28/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-05 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | CO-ARA | ||
| Municipalities | 7 | ||
| Website | www.arauca.gov.co | ||
Arauca Department (Spanish: Departamento de Arauca) is a department of Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco part of Colombia (the Llanos Orientales), bordering Venezuela. To the south it borders the Casanare River and the Meta River, which separate it from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west it borders the Boyacá Department. The Caño Limón oil fields located within its territory accounts for 30% of the Colombian oil output. Its capital is the town of Arauca.
The first conqueror to arrive at Arauca was Nikolaus Federmann in the year 1539, accompanied by Georg von Speyer, passing through the eastern mountains. In 1659, the mission moved into the forest in tribal lands Guahibos, TuneBase, Aeric and Chirico, where they founded new towns.
In the eighteenth century, being expelled from the Jesuits, being Viceroy Pedro Mesia de la Zerda, were succeeded in their mission of evangelization by the Augustinian Recollect, who founded five centers catechists: Solitude of Cravo, Cuiloto San Javier, San Jose del Ele, Lipa San Joaquin and San Fernando de Arauca.
In 1810 the Araucanian territory became part of the newly created province of Casanare, in 1819 became part of the department of Cundinamarca, and thereafter, by the year 1857 was annexed to the Sovereign State of Boyacá, later to be so Boyaca department. In 1891 he created the Arauca police station and had the chief executive of General Pedro Leon Acosta. By decree 113 of January 20, 1955, the territory was elevated to the national quartermaster, and finally with the Constitution, 5 July 1991 as a department erected along with other municipal and City comisarías. Arauca is the regional capital since 1911.
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Wikipedia