| Name | Department of Tolima |
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| Native name | Departamento del Tolima |
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| Native name lang | es |
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| Type | Department |
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| Motto | Tolima Solidario |
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| Anthem | |
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| Map caption | Tolima shown in red |
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| Coordinates type | region:CO_type:adm2nd |
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| Coordinates display | inline,title |
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| Subdivision type | Country |
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| Subdivision name | |
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| Subdivision type1 | Region |
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| Subdivision name1 | Andes Region |
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| Parts type | Largest city |
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| Parts style | para |
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| Established title | Established |
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| Established date | August 4, 1886 |
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| Blank name sec1 | Provinces |
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| Blank info sec1 | 6 |
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| Blank1 name sec1 | Municipalities |
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| Seat type | Capital |
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| Seat | Ibagué |
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| Leader party | partido conservador colombiano |
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| Leader title | Governor |
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| Leader name | Oscar Barreto Quiroga (2008-) |
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| Unit pref | Metric |
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| Area total km2 | 23562 |
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| Area rank | 19 |
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| Population total | 1335177 |
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| Population as of | 2005 |
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| Population rank | 10 |
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| Population density km2 | auto |
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| Timezone1 | UTC-05 |
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| Iso code | |
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| Website | www.tolima.gov.co |
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Tolima is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the south by the department of Huila, and on the west by the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Quindío and Risaralda. Tolima has a surface area of 23,562 km², and its capital is Ibagué. The department of Tolima was created in 1861 from a part of what was previously Cundinamarca.
History
Indigenous civilization
The
Pijao people lived in Tolima during pre-Columbian times. The name of the department comes from the Pijao word for "snowed". The Panches, from the Pijao liguistic family, were also settled here, reaching the region beyond the Magdalena valleys. Renowned as fierce warriors, the Panches are widely known for fighting the
Muisca over the control of
emerald mining territories. They fought against a Spanish-Muisca coalition and were ultimately defeated in the
Battle of Tocarema in 1537.
Spanish colonization
Spanish colonization of the region began in 1537 with
Sebastián de Belalcázar travelling from the city of Cali to be with his colleague,
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, in Bogota. On its way, Belarcázar founded the settlement that would become eventually become known as Ibagué. Belarcázar traveled until he reached the site of
Flandes in Tolima before arriving at Bogota. The definitive foundation began with Captain
Andrés Lopez de Galarza who founded the city of Ibagué and the site on which the municipality of
Cajamarca would be based, in the west of the department. These two cities would become an important part of the "coffee axis".
Demographics
Mestizos (Amerindian - European mix) & European (94.46%. The majority of the population are racially mixed but there is a substantial minority of European ancestry
Amerindian or Indigenous (4.32%)
African (1.22%)
Geography
Physiography
The Tolima department includes three distinct regions: a mountainous region, occupied by the
Cordillera Central; a plain, that corresponds to the valleys of the rivers Magdalena and Saldaña; and the region to the southeast which forms the western slope of the
Cordillera Oriental, which contains the source of the Cabrera river.
Hydrography
The territory of Tolima is traversed from the south to north by the
Magdalena River, of which the main rivers of the Tolima are tributary. Other rivers are the Saldaña river, the Cabrera, Coello, the Tetuán, the Gualí, the Rio Recio, and the Rio Prado. The Rio Prado dam is found on the river of the same name. This is the largest fresh water lake in central Colombia and is also an important tourist attraction.
Armed conflict
The department is considered a traditional stronghold of the guerrilla movement
FARC-EP. It was founded in 1964 in the mountain range between Tolima and Valle del Cauca. In 2011 there have been frequent clashes between the Colombian army and the
Central Bloc of the FARC-EP, which is believed to be under the direct command of FARC leader
Alfonso Cano.
Economy
The economy of the Tolima is based on agriculture.
Industry in Tolima, as has been happening to the whole country, has been declining in its proportion of GDP, while services gain more importance, a phenomenon known as deindustrialization. Within the sector services Tolima excels in commerce, public administration, other services to the community and "reparaciones", which contribute respectively 11.2% and 9.1% of the GDP.
The GDP per inhabitant in Tolima, registered during 2002 a reduction of 0.4% in constant prices.
According to the results of the DANE census, the department of Tolima registered between the years of 2001 and 2002 a diminution, to constant prices, of 0.1% in its GDP, falling from Col$2.05 trillion in 2001 to Col$2.04 trillion in 2002. The result is explained by the fact that traditional sectors within the economic structure of the department such as the coffee registered a reduction of 22.4%, reducing 2 percentage points to the total variation, and others did not have important growth or presented/displayed diminutions in its added values. So it is the case of the activity branches: transport, commerce and repairs, industry and electricity gas and water, which jointly reduced 1.7 percentage points to the variation, whereas other services, rights and taxes, construction and farming rest, forestry and 3.6 percentage points fish were the branches with greater positive contribution to the variation of the GDP when contributing.
Culture
Music and the Arts
Music is the distinguishing cultural expression of Tolima. Its capital, Ibagué, is well-known as "the musical city of Colombia", and is home to one of the nation's classic conservatoriums. The department also is famous for the Fiestas of San Pedro in
Espinal, San Juan in
Natagaima and in Ibagué, the Colombian Folkloric Festival and the "Concurso de Duetos Garzón y Collazos."
Tolima has produced many writers: Arturo Camacho Ramíez, Juan Lozano y Lozano, Diego Fallon, William Ospina, James Cañón, Martín Pomala, Luz Stella; painters: Darío Jiménez, Jorge Elías Triana, Darío Ortiz Robledo, Carlos Granada, Julio Fajardo; historians Eduardo Santa, Gonzalo Sanchez, Hermes Tovar Pinzón, Hernán Clavijo, Darío Ortiz Vidales.
Gastronomy
The department is also widely recognised for its distinctive cuisine. Famous regional dishes include the
Tamal Tolimense, a corn-and-yellow pea-based paste with pork, egg, chicken and vegetable filling, wrapped inside a plantain leaf; the
Lechona, a yellow pea-and-meat-stuffed pork;
Empanadas, small potato, rice and meat stuffed pastries, made with corn dough;
Achiras (although not exclusively from this department) and
Bizcocho calentano, smaller flour pastries; and
Quesillo, a type of cheese wrapped in a plantain leaf. Drinks include the
Avena, a cold oatmeal-based drink.
Other
Tolima gave to the country ten presidents:
Domingo Caycedo,
José María Melo,
Manuel Murillo Toro,
José María Rojas Garrido,
Miguel Abadía Méndez,
Alfonso López Michelsen,
Darío Echandía,
Carlos Lozano y Lozano,
Gabriel París, and
Deogracias Fonseca.
Government
Municipalities
The Departament of Tolima groups its municipalities into six provinces: Norte, Oriente, Sur, Ibagué, Suroriente, and Nevados.
Ibagué
*Alvarado
*Anzoátequi
*Cajamarca
*Coello
*Espinal
*Flandes
*Ibagué
*Piedras
*Rovira
*San Luis
*Valle de San Juan
Nevados
*Casabianca
*Herveo
*Lérida
*Líbano
*Murillo
*Santa Isabel
*Venadillo
*Villahermosa
Northern
*Ambalema
*Armero (Guayabal)
*Falan
*Fresno
*Honda
*Mariquita
*Palocabildo
Eastern
*Carmen Apicala
*Cunday
*Icononzo
*Melgar
*Villarrica
Southern
*Ataco
*Chaparral
*Coyaima
*Natagaima
*Ortega
*Planadas
*Rioblanco
*Roncesvalles
*San Antonio
Southeastern
*Alpujarra
*Dolores
*Guamo
*Prado
*Purificación
*Saldaña
*Suárez
References
External links
Government of Tolima official website
Category:Departments of Colombia
Category:States and territories established in 1886
