Rio de la Hacha
| Riohacha | |||
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| City and municipality | |||
View of Riohacha beachfront
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 Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot). |
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 Riohacha
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| Coordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°WCoordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°W | |||
| Country |
 Colombia
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| Region | Caribbean | ||
| Department | La Guajira | ||
| Foundation | 1545 | ||
| Founded by | Nikolaus Federmann | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Rafael Ceballos Sierra (L) | ||
| Area | |||
| • City and municipality | 3,120 km2 (1,200 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 5 m (16 ft) | ||
| Population (2012) | |||
| • City and municipality | 150,549 | ||
| • Density | 48/km2 (120/sq mi) | ||
| • Urban | 137,000 | ||
| Time zone | Eastern Time Zone (UTC-05) | ||
| Postal code | 440001 | ||
| Area code(s) | 57 + 5 | ||
| Climate | BSh | ||
| Website | Official website (in Spanish) | ||
| *Riohacha metropolitan area is yet to be determined. | |||
Riohacha, Rio Hacha or Rio de la Hacha (English: River of the Axe or Axeshore - Wayuu: Süchiimma, "Süchii" means river, and "mma" means land, Riverland), is a city in the Riohacha Municipality in the northern Caribbean Region of Colombia by the mouth of the Ranchería River and the Caribbean sea, capital city of the La Guajira Department. Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named after a local legend "The legend of the Axe". Owing to the powerful rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the area is mostly desertic and inhabited by Amerindians, predominantly by members of the Wayuu ethnic group. During colonial times Riohacha was a very important port due to the discovery of vast numbers of pearls. In the second half of the 20th Century, the city became one of Colombia's medium important, maritime commercial ports as well as a multicultural center for La Guajira Department. The city is mentioned several times in One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, novels written by Gabriel García Márquez.
The Riohacha area was inhabited by American Indians of the Wayuu culture, part of the larger Arawak group. The first European to visit the area was the Spanish sailor Alonso de Ojeda in 1498, though he never landed. A short time later, Juan de la Cosa, another Spanish explorer, landed on what is today called Cabo de la Vela (Cape of the Sail, so called because of its shape). In 1535, the German explorer Nikolaus Federmann founded a city with the name Nuestra Señora Santa Maria de los Remedios del Cabo de la Vela (Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies of the Cape of the Sail) at the place de la Cosa had landed.
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Wikipedia