The Amazon Region

AMAZONAS
Inhabitant: Amazonense

This department is within the huge Amazon rainforest, hence its name. It is also known as "The big door of South America” because it is one of the most attractive regions visited by tourists from all over the world.
It is located in the south of Colombia and borders the departments of Caquetá, Vaupés and Putumayo as well as the Republics of Peru and Brazil. It officially became a department following the 1991 Constitution.
Amazonas has an area of 110,000 square kilometres and its average temperature is 29 degrees Celsius. The territory is quite humid and covered with forests, where you can find some of the largest and most varied vegetation in the world.
The great beauty of the region can be appreciated in the Amacayacu Natural Park, the Cahuinari Natural Park, the Lakes of Tarapoto, where you find the Victoria Regia (an immense variety of lotuses) and “The Island of the Monkeys”, a sanctuary for the region's fauna and flora.
Amazonas' animal kingdom is incredibly diverse, from the most beautiful butterflies in the world to many types of monkeys. It is as well, a zone of abundant forestry resources and fishing.
At present, the Amazon has about 79,000 inhabitants. Native tribes still live there like the Nukaks (who are still nomadic), the Huitotos, the Ticunas, the Yaguas, the Tucanos, the Camsás, the Carijonas and the Ingas. There are 25 areas Indian reserves in the Amazonas department. Some of them are in Leticia, Tarapacá, San Sebastián, Arara, Mocagua, Macedonia and Nazareth.
Tourist attractions: The Amazon Man Ethnographic Museum, the Santander and Orellana parks where hundreds of birds arrive every evening, the Serpentario (Snake display) of Leticia.
The Amazonas tourist centres offer various excursions: boat trips on lakes and rivers, crocodile watching, visits to native communities excursions into the jungle and tours to beautiful and exotic places.

Capital: Leticia
Leticia was founded on the banks of the Amazon River in 1867 with the name of San Antonio, before the boundaries in the Amazon forest were set. It became a Colombian city in 1930.
The capital has about 40,000 people and has a temperature of 30 to 32 degrees Celsius.
It is divided in 3 areas:
–The Indian Territory (16 reserves and 27 communes) –Forest reserve and the urban and suburban areas.
–The Amayacu National Park.
Leticia is a great place to visit for tourists. The Ethnographic Museum, showcasing material goods from native tribes, and the Serpentariois are some of the main attractions.
Leticia is the main Colombian port on the Amazon River.

The Anthem of Amazonas
(In Spanish)

Lyrics: José Antonio Alzate
Music: Francisco del Rosario Vela

Chorus
¡Salve, Amazonas glorioso,
de Colombia promesa ideal;
majestuoso secreto de amor
el más sacro e inmortal
de la tierra del edén!

Amazonas extensa y gloriosa
Inmortal y altiva llevas en el alma
el insigne hermoso nombre de Leticia
Mujer legendaria, hoy hecha realidad;
Amazonas próspera y ardiente,
verde alfombra extendida hacia la gente.
Eres el pulmón del mundo y la esperanza,
soñado refugio de la humanidad.

Es tu fauna riqueza invaluable
con especies de singular belleza.
Son sus aves un ejemplo viviente
surcando los aires con mágico esplendor.
En sus extensos y majestuosos lagos
se ven delfines y peces de colores
manjar de dioses como la gamitana
y el famoso y gigante pirarucu.

De tu suelo extenso y facundo
surgen frutos de mágicos sabores
y jardines de sin igual belleza.
Como en Babilonia, la victoria floreció.
Valerosos colonos y nativos
defendieron con valentía su patria.
Como herencia dejaron a sus hijos
la dicha inmensa de este suelo nacional.

Muy altivos conservan su esencia,
tradiciones heredadas de una cuna.
Sangre casta, digna y pura la Ticuna
con ritos sagrados como la pelazón,
Los Macunas, Huitotos y Mirañas
son ejemplo sublime de mi tierra,
como colombianos dignos dan al mundo
fiel reflejo de nuestra raza ancestral.

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Other Municipalities

Puerto Nariño, La Chorrera, El Encanto.

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Airports

Alfredo Vásquez Cobo, Leticia.
La Pedrera, La Pedrera.

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National Natural Parks

Amacayacu, called "Trapecio Amazónico"
Area: 293,500 hectares.

Cahuinari
Area: 575,500 hectares.

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Annual Events

April: Liticia's birthday

June: St. Peter festival (Leticia).

July: Festival of the Amazon Confraternity (Leticia).
Intercultural  gathering in the Amazonia (Puerto Nariño).

August: "La piraña de Oro" Fishing tournament (Puerto Nariño).

November: International Festival of Folk Amazon music called the “Piracucú de Oro” (Leticia).

December: End of the year's Dolls Parade.

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