Chivor
title: "Chivor" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["municipalities-of-boyacá-department", "populated-places-established-in-1930", "1930-establishments-in-colombia", "colombian-emeralds"] topic_path: "general/municipalities-of-boyaca-department" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chivor" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| settlement_type | Town and municipality |
| name | Chivor |
| image_skyline | Beryl-Calcite-Pyrite-62617.jpg |
| image_caption | Emeralds mined in Chivor |
| image_flag | Flag of Chivor (Boyacá).svg |
| image_map | Colombia - Boyaca - Chivor.svg |
| mapsize | 250px |
| map_caption | Location of the town and municipality of Chivor in Boyacá Department |
| pushpin_map | Colombia |
| pushpin_mapsize | 300 |
| pushpin_map_caption | Location in Colombia |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Colombia |
| subdivision_type1 | Department |
| subdivision_name1 | Boyacá |
| subdivision_type2 | Province |
| subdivision_name2 | Eastern Boyacá Province |
| government_type | Municipality |
| leader_title | Mayor |
| leader_name | Didier Aurelio Martínez Vargas |
| (2020-2023) | |
| established_title | Founded |
| established_date | 16 December 1930 |
| founder | Florencio Novoa |
| area_total_km2 | 108.36 |
| area_urban_km2 | 9.9 |
| population_as_of | 2015 |
| population_total | 1795 |
| population_urban | 486 |
| population_density_km2 | auto |
| coordinates | |
| elevation_m | 1800 |
| website | Official website |
| :: |
|settlement_type = Town and municipality |name = Chivor |nickname = |motto = |image_skyline = Beryl-Calcite-Pyrite-62617.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Emeralds mined in Chivor |image_flag = Flag of Chivor (Boyacá).svg |image_shield = |image_map = Colombia - Boyaca - Chivor.svg |mapsize = 250px |map_caption = Location of the town and municipality of Chivor in Boyacá Department |pushpin_map = Colombia |pushpin_mapsize = 300 |pushpin_map_caption = Location in Colombia |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Colombia |subdivision_type1 = Department |subdivision_name1 = Boyacá |subdivision_type2 = Province |subdivision_name2 = Eastern Boyacá Province |government_type = Municipality |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Didier Aurelio Martínez Vargas (2020-2023) |established_title = Founded |established_date = 16 December 1930 |founder = Florencio Novoa |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = 108.36 |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |area_water_percent = |area_urban_km2 = 9.9 |area_metro_km2 = |population_as_of = 2015 |population_note = |population_total = 1795 |population_urban = 486 |population_density_km2 = auto |coordinates = |elevation_m = 1800 |area_code = |website = Official website |footnotes =
Chivor is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The mean temperature of the village in the Tenza Valley is 18 C and Chivor is located at 215 km from the department capital Tunja. Economic activity includes emerald mining.
Borders
Bordered to the north with the municipality of Macanal; to the south with Ubalá, Cundinamarca, on the east with the municipality of Santa María, and the west by the municipality of Almeida.
Etymology
Chivor comes from Chibcha and means "Our farmfields - our mother" or "Green and rich land". The latter refers to the rich emerald deposits.
History
Chivor was inhabited by the Muisca in the times before the Spanish conquest. The Muisca were organized in their loose Muisca Confederation with northern ruler the zaque of Hunza and the southern zipa in Bacatá. Already in those times the rich emerald deposits were known and mined by the Muisca. The emeralds functioned as offer pieces in the Muisca religion, as decoration and as money.
The emerald deposits of Chivor were discovered by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1537 but the mines were abandoned until 1886.
Modern Chivor was not founded until December 16, 1930, by Florencio Novoa.
Economy
Main economical activities of Chivor are agriculture (maize, yuca, bananas, sugarcane, beans, chayote, coffee and fruits such as papayas, blackberries and the typical Colombian fruits lulo and tree tomatoes) and especially the emerald mining.
The Gran Esmeralda de Moctezuma ("Great Emerald of Moctezuma") is a mineral of 21 cm high, 17 cm long and 16 cm thick and has been found in Chivor. Currently the emerald is in Vienna, Austria. Other grand emeralds from Chivor are Patricia weighing 632 carats (126.4 g), and La Magnífica of 1225 carats (245 g).
The Embalse la Esmeralda ("Emerald reservoir") producing hydroelectric energy is governed from Chivor, Macanal and Almeida.
Climate
Chivor has a subtropical highland climate (Cfb) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round. |location = Chivor |single line = Yes |metric first = Yes |collapsed = yes |Jan high C = 24.2 |Feb high C = 24.6 |Mar high C = 24.4 |Apr high C = 24.0 |May high C = 23.2 |Jun high C = 21.8 |Jul high C = 21.7 |Aug high C = 22.1 |Sep high C = 22.7 |Oct high C = 23.3 |Nov high C = 23.5 |Dec high C = 23.6 |year high C = |Jan mean C = 18.3 |Feb mean C = 19.0 |Mar mean C = 19.4 |Apr mean C = 19.3 |May mean C = 18.8 |Jun mean C = 17.8 |Jul mean C = 17.6 |Aug mean C = 17.0 |Sep mean C = 18.0 |Oct mean C = 18.4 |Nov mean C = 18.6 |Dec mean C = 18.3 |year mean C = |Jan low C = 12.5 |Feb low C = 13.4 |Mar low C = 14.5 |Apr low C = 14.6 |May low C = 14.5 |Jun low C = 13.9 |Jul low C = 13.6 |Aug low C = 13.7 |Sep low C = 13.4 |Oct low C = 13.6 |Nov low C = 13.7 |Dec low C = 13.1 |year low C =
|rain colour = green |Jan rain mm = 41.0 |Feb rain mm = 89.2 |Mar rain mm = 137.5 |Apr rain mm = 262.3 |May rain mm = 373.5 |Jun rain mm = 401.3 |Jul rain mm = 405.1 |Aug rain mm = 333.8 |Sep rain mm = 242.9 |Oct rain mm = 197.4 |Nov rain mm = 143.2 |Dec rain mm = 67.9 |year rain mm = |Jan rain days = 9 |Feb rain days = 12 |Mar rain days = 17 |Apr rain days = 24 |May rain days = 27 |Jun rain days = 28 |Jul rain days = 28 |Aug rain days = 27 |Sep rain days = 23 |Oct rain days = 23 |Nov rain days = 20 |Dec rain days = 13 |Year rain days =
|source 1 = IDEAM |source 2 = Climate-Data.org{{cite web |url = https://en.climate-data.org/location/48636/ |title = Climate: Chivor |publisher=Climate-Data.org |access-date = August 23, 2020}}
Gallery
File:Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11 (4).jpg|Emerald reservoir File:Embalse la Esmeralda, Macanal Colombia.jpg|Reservoir File:Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11 (3).jpg|Reservoir File:Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11.jpg|Reservoir File:Beryl-Calcite-71137.jpg|Emeralds from Chivor File:Beryl-gem7-72a.jpg|Emerald File:Beryl-gem7-72b.jpg|Emerald File:Beryl-tn33a.jpg|Emerald
References
References
- {{in lang. es [https://archive.today/20150602135035/http://www.chivor-boyaca.gov.co/informacion_general.shtml Official website Chivor]
- {{in lang. es [http://www.excelsio.net/2011/11/sabe-el-origen-del-nombre-de-su.html Etymology Chivor] - Excelsio.net
- {{in lang. es [http://www.minadepiedras.com/es/la-esmeralda/yacimientos-de-esmeraldas.html Emerald deposits in Boyacá] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-02)
- In 2014 emeralds worth 30 million US dollars were extracted in Boyacá. The rich deposits have led to numerous conflicts in the region, including in Chivor.{{in lang. es [http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/nacional/nueva-guerra-de-los-esmeralderos-articulo-544477 30 million US dollars of emeralds in 2014 in Boyacá] - [[El Espectador]]
- {{in lang. es [https://www.semana.com/nacion/articulo/la-reinsercion-de-los-esmeralderos/17376-3 Gran Esmeralda de Moctezuma and other large emeralds from Chivor] - [[Semana (Colombia). Semana]]
- "Data".
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