Riohacha

Riohacha
District and city
From top to bottom: View of Riohacha beachfront, Canyon Park, Beach.
Flag Seal
Location of Riohacha in the Department of La Guajira. Municipality (red), city (black dot).
Riohacha
Coordinates: 11°32′39″N 72°54′25″W / 11.54417°N 72.90694°W / 11.54417; -72.90694
Country	Colombia
Region	Caribbean
Department	La Guajira
Foundation	1545
Founded by	Nikolaus Federmann
Government
• Mayor	Rafael Ceballos Sierra (L)[1]
Area
• District and city	3,120 km2 (1,200 sq mi)
• Urban	25.53 km2 (9.86 sq mi)
Elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Population  (2023 Census)[2][3]
• District and city	222,541
• Density	71/km2 (180/sq mi)
• Urban	126,103
• Urban density	4,900/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-05 (Eastern Time Zone)
Postal code	440001
Area code	57 + 5
Climate	BSh
Website	Official website (in Spanish)
*Riohacha metropolitan area is yet to be determined.

Riohacha^[a] (Spanish pronunciation: [rjoˈa.tʃa]; Wayuu: Süchiimma^[b]) 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. It is the capital city of the La Guajira Department. It has a sandy beach waterfront.

Founded by conquistador Nikolaus Federmann in 1535, Riohacha was named after a local legend, "The legend of the Axe". Because of the powerful rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the area is mostly desertic. It is inhabited primarily by Amerindians, predominantly the Wayuu ethnic group. During colonial times, Riohacha was a very important port, as divers could retrieve vast numbers of pearls from the harbor.

In the second half of the 20th century, the city developed as one of Colombia's medium important, maritime commercial ports. It is also a multicultural center for La Guajira Department. The city is mentioned several times in novels written by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his important works are One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

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