Inírida, Guainía

:"Several pages redirect here. For other uses, see Inírida."Inírida, formerly Puerto Inírida, is the capital city, and a municipality, of the department of Guainía in Colombia. It was established in 1963 on the site of the small village of Obando, at the time in the municipality of San Felipe. The municipality was renamed in 1974. [ [http://ssiglims.igac.gov.co/ssigl/datosLimites/94-DC-1593-1974a-In%EDrida.txt "Decreto Numero 1593 de 1974 (Agosto 5)" Instituto Geográfico Agustín Codazzi (IGAC), Colombia] (Colombian Presidential Decree #1593 of 5 August 1974)] The municipal population of 10,891 (census 2005) [http://www.citypopulation.de/Colombia.html City populations of Colombia] ;] is mostly indigenous and accounts for about a third of the department's population.

History

Prior to 1960 there was little development in the area which was sparsely populated by almost entirely indigenous people. [ Suárez, Carlos Alberto "et al." (2003) "Colombia: Guía Enciclopédica" NORMA, Bogotá, D.E., pp. 114-115, ISBN 9580468060] However, in the 1990s and 2000s with increased exploitation of the area’s natural resources, efforts have been made to control the local population. [ [http://www.armada.mil.co/english/index.php?idcategoria=83088&ts=ce887ed377ebfa4961b0668f5ee9ba84 "Captured fourteen Brazilian illegal ones in Puerto Inírida" 19 August 2005] ;] The increased military presence was in part because the area was deemed to be a FARC stronghold. [ Coghlan, Nicholas (2004) "Saddest Country: On Assignment in Colombia" McGill-Queen's Press, Montreal, p. 171, 182-183, ISBN 0773527877]

Geography

Located in the llanos at the confluence of the Inírida River and Guaviare River, most of the territory of the municipality of Puerto Inírida is river terrace and bottomland, although there are some hills. It is just 30 km from the Venezuelan border.

Economy

The main economic activities in the municipality, aside from government, are agriculture, fishing [ Castro, Dario M. (1988) "Algunos aspectos de la pesca ornamental en Puerto Inírida", Museo del Mar, Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano, Bogotá, D.E.] and cattle raising. [ Mejía Gutiérrez, Mario and Mejía Fernández, Fernando (1980) "Puerto Inírida, Comisaría del Guainía : economía básica" Corporación Araracuara, Departamento Administrativo de Intendencias y Comisarías, Bogotá, D.E.] Agriculture includes subsistence farming [Triana, Gloria (1985) "Los Puinaves del Inírida:: formas de subsistencia y mecanismos de adaptación" Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, D.E.] , the production of fiber from the petioles of the young chiquichiqui palm ("Bactris speciosa"), used for rope, and the rattan known as "Yaré" used for furniture and baskets.

Demographics

The society of Inírida is composed by a 53% of indigenous people; Curripacos, Puinaves and Piapocos. A 30% by colonizers and a 17% by other indigenous ethnic groups. [ [http://www.dimar.mil.co/VBeContent/VerImp.asp%3FID%3D5055%26IDCompany%3D71+princesa+inirida&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11&gl=us DIMAR.MIL.CO] ]

Transportation

Airports

The local airport known as Obando Airport Airport codes|PDA|SKPD, runway is, as of 2007, serviced by one airline, Satena [ [http://www.satena.com/ Servicio Aereo Territorios Nacionales SATENA] ] , which has three flights a week to and from Bogotá and one flight a week to and from Villavicencio. [ [http://www.farecompare.com/flights/Puerto_Inirida-PDA/city.html Puerto Inridida flights] ;] However, the San Fernando de Atabapo airport in Venezuela is just 30 km away.

Notes

External links

* [http://inirida-guainia.gov.co/sitio.shtml Official website of the Inirida municipality]
* [http://pwp.etb.net.co/fdrojas/Ciudades/Puerto_inirida.htm Aerial photograph of Puerto Inírida c.2000]
* [http://www.fallingrain.com/world/CO/15/Inirida.html Inírida map from Fallingrain]
* [http://intranet.presidencia.gov.co/regiones/regiones/ciudades/pto_inirida.pdf Asesoria Presidencial para Las Regiones: Puerto Inírida]