Barranquilla
Barranquilla is the capital district of the Atlántico department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean coast region; as of 2018, it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Colombia's fourth-most populous city after Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali.
Barranquilla lies strategically next to the delta of the Magdalena River, from its mouth at the Caribbean Sea, serving as a port for river and maritime transportation within Colombia. It is also the main economic center of the Atlántico department in Colombia. The city is the core of the Barranquilla metropolitan area, with a population of over 2 million, which also includes the municipalities of Soledad, Galapa, Malambo, and Puerto Colombia.
Barranquilla was legally established as a town on April 7, 1813, although it dates from at least 1629. It grew into an important port, serving as a haven for immigrants from Europe, especially during and immediately following World War I and World War II, when waves of additional immigrants from the Middle East and Asia arrived. Barranquilla became Colombia's main port, and with its level of industrialization and modernity, it earned the nickname "Colombia's Golden Gate". In the 1940s, Barranquilla was the second-largest city in Colombia and one of the most modern cities in the Caribbean and in South America; later local administrations, due to widespread corruption in their ranks, brought about a decline in the standard of living. As government investment increased in other Colombian cities, Barranquilla's national position was eclipsed.
Barranquilla has hosted the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. The city is home to one of the most important folk and cultural festivals of Colombia, the Carnival of Barranquilla, which was declared a National Cultural Heritage by the Congress of Colombia in 2001 and recognized by UNESCO in 2003.
Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, built in Barranquilla in 1919, was the first airport in South America. The city is served by domestic and international flights and was Avianca's first hub.
Etymology
Barranquilla's name refers to the canyons that existed in the area adjacent to the Magdalena, where the city arose. During the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the name barranca was common in coastal communities. This name was probably derived from an alteration of Aragon. During Spanish colonization, the area was known as Camacho or Kamash Indian Site, and San Nicolás de la Barranquilla began to develop the area with the estates of Barrancas de Camacho, Barrancas de San Nicolás, Barranquilla de Camacho, and Barranquilla de San Nicolás, from which the city name is derived.Nicknames
In 1921, President Marco Fidel Suárez called the city the Puerta de Oro de la República in recognition of its economic importance as a port since the late 19th century. In 1946, opening the 5th Central American and Caribbean Games, President Mariano Ospina Pérez reaffirmed the nickname of the city as the "Golden Gate".Barranquilla is also known as La Arenosa, so named by the president of New Granada, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, during his stay in Barranquilla in 1849. Curramba, la Bella was also used to refer to Barranquilla by journalist Juan Eugenio Cañavera in Bogotá in the mid-twentieth century. The "la Bella" part was assigned by fellow journalist Roger Araújo as a counterweight to the word Curramba, which is seen as derogatory, derived from adjective "currambero". Others refer to the expression "curramba" which reads the apocope of the city "Barranq" backwards as "q-rran-ba", then given the regulations of Castilian Spanish, they changed the "n" to "m" to precede the "b", finally giving rise to "curramba".. The thinker Agustín Nieto Caballero called Barranquilla "Ciudad de los Brazos Abiertos" and Enrique Ancízar, president of the Colombian Society of Agriculture, called it "Faro de América".
Heraldry and symbols
;FlagIn 1811, the patriots who obtained the independence of the Cartagenas adopted the current flag. It consists of three rectangles, red being the outermost, then yellow, and green in the center. Red symbolizes the blood of patriots; yellow, the sun of freedom and hope; and green, a proud home. In the centre, there is an eight-pointed silver star, which symbolizes the eight provinces of the confederacy. The flag was carried by Simon Bolívar during the campaign of Lower Magdalena in 1811. In 1814, the Congress of Tunja adopted it as the emblem of the United Provinces of New Granada. In 1910, the Council approved the flag for Barranquilla.
;Coat of arms
The seal of the city was mentioned in the decree that granted Barranquilla the status of a city by Manuel Rodríguez Torices, the then President of the Sovereign State of Cartagena de Indias, as a reward for the determined and courageous patriots who participated in the defense of the independence of Cartagena de Indias against Santa Marta in 1813.
;Anthem
The music and lyrics of were chosen in competition by the Sociedad de Mejoras Públicas and officially adopted as the anthem of the city by the Municipal Council in a meeting on 19 October 1942. The lyrics were written by the poet Amira de la Rosa and the music is of Panama, by Simón Urbina.
;Other symbols
The flowers Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, and Tabebuia rosea, and the animals Volatinia jacarina and iguana are used as other symbols of the city.
History
Origins and colonial era
Unlike other cities in Colombia such as Cartagena or Bogotá D.C., Barranquilla was not founded during the Spanish colonial period and it was not founded on a pre-Columbian site. The first mention of the current territory of Barranquilla dates back to 1533 and was written by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés. He describes the route of Pedro de Heredia, founder of Cartagena, just weeks before he founded that city, and says that this was a point of landing of canoes for the Indians of Santa Marta within the interior. They had two canoes full of dried shrimp as merchandise and went to the Magdalena River to trade with this commodity, salt and other things. However, the Kamash Indians were known to occupy the area and the settlement itself was established in about 1629. For this reason the city does not celebrate its foundation, but rather the date in which it was declared a town on April 7, 1813.Barranquilla is honored as the origination of the aviation and airport. The first airline in South America was born in Barranquilla with the name of SCADTA which is today Avianca.
The home location of the Kamash indios is known as the first permanent human settlement of Barranquilla. During the 16th century, an encomienda of captain Domingo de Santa Cruz was established, granted by the Spanish crown for his notable military performance. This encomienda disappeared in 1559, when it was in the hands of señora Ana Ximénez, widow of Santa Cruz, after the death of her husband. She became the victim of a disregardful violent act by the second encomendero of Galapa, Don Pedro de Barros I, when he arbitrarily grabbed all the Camacho population that could offer labour and took them to his encomienda.
Between 1627 and 1637, Hacienda San Nicolás de Tolentino was founded by Nicolás de Barros, great-grandson of Don Pedro de Barros I. The farm was established on the banks of the river channel. The original property area was. Pedro Vasquez Buezo expanded the property to. On this estate, Barros allowed his workers to build their homes and support their families, which helped further develop his field operations. After the death of Barros, the estate began to accommodate others, such as people who for reasons of health, age or cronyism with the hacienda owner were allowed to stay. There were also Indians from Malambo and Galapa. By 1681, the ranch was considered a village, known as Barrancas de San Nicolas. Before 1700, Barranquilla was occupied by Aguerra of Tierradentro and in 1772, the township was expanded by the same group, adding a Judge Counsel.
The origin of Barranquilla, promoted in the second half of the 19th century by the historian Domingo Malabet, was not supported by oral tradition nor scientifically validated. Blanco Barros' 1987 book on Northern Tierradentro and the origins of Barranquilla argued that the city had been founded by farmers from the neighboring town of Galapa who left their land, following their herds to the Magdalena River.
Era of Independence (1810–1823)
In the era of the Colombian War of Independence, Barranquilla distinguished itself as a supporter of the pro-independence forces. In 1812, General Pierre Labatut attacked and defeated royalist forces at Sitioviejo and Sitionuevo. On April 7, 1813, which was later celebrated as "Barranquilla Day", the President-Governor of the Free and Independent State of Cartagena de Indias, Manuel Rodríguez Torices, granted the title of "villa" to the town, thereby allowing it to benefit from certain privileges, and making it the capital of the department of Barlovento, in recognition for the valor and patriotism displayed by the town for its defense of the pro-independence city of Cartagena de Indias against the royalist stronghold of Santa Marta.In 1815, Joaquín Vallejo, a rich merchant, maintained a pro-independence battalion for three months at his own expense. When the Spanish forces under Colonel Valentín Capmani approached Barranquilla, its inhabitants resisted Capmani but were defeated on April 25, 1815. The population of the town was attacked and taken prisoner by the royalist troops, which also defeated Vallejo's pro-independence battalion. In the following 5–6 years, Barranquilla was a center for republican military operations. On October 10, 1821, the last royalist stronghold at Cartagena was defeated. At that time, Cartagena was capital of the Sovereign State of Bolivar, to which Barranquilla belonged. In the same year, Barranquilla was governed by its very first mayor, Agustín Del Valle, who carried out his duties from his own home, which later was converted in a military headquarters. On July 24, 1823, the naval Battle of Lake Maracaibo took place, which resulted in the final expulsion of Spanish royalist forces from Gran Colombia.