Quibdó

History

In prehistoric times, the Chocó rainforest and mountains constituted a major barrier dividing the Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations. The high rainfall and the extremely humid climate did not attract the Spanish colonists. The Emberá people ceded much of their territory to the Spanish Franciscan order in 1648. Subsequent attacks on colonial outposts by hostile tribes discouraged attempts at settlement. Six years later, the Spanish began again to colonize the region, eventually establishing some lumber camps and plantations where they used enslaved Africans as workers.

It was not until the nineteenth century when there was interest in finding a shipping route between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to avoid traveling via the Straits of Magellan that the Chocó region again became of significant interest to European colonial powers, as the Atrato River Valley was thought the best possibility for this purpose by the explorer Alexander von Humboldt; however this idea was eventually shelved in favor of the Panama Canal. At the same time that research on using the Chocó to connect the Pacific and Atlantic was being carried out, gold and platinum were discovered in the Atrato Valley and this ensured Quibdó’s growth and status as the chief town in the region.

Another crucial development at this time was the migration of freed black slaves into the Chocó; they were primarily working in shifting cultivation to cope with the extreme leaching from the super-humid climate. They also fished and harvested forest products.

The 1853 watercolors by Manuel María Paz document two mestizo or European men with an Afro-Colombian street vendor, and depict the dress of Afro-Colombian and European women in the town square.{{Cite web | author-link = Manuel María Paz | access-date = 2014-05-22 | access-date = 2014-05-22

The Afro-Colombian communities established trade with highland cities such as Medellín via rough mule trails that were used until the 1950s. A combination of population growth and declining values for the region’s natural resources gradually resulted in an economic downturn for the region and especially Quibdó.

Climate

Quibdó has an extremely wet and cloudy tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) without noticeable seasons. It has the highest amount of rainfall in South America of any city of its size or greater. A comparable high-rainfall city of larger size, Monrovia in Liberia, receives 3050 mm less rain annually than Quibdó. The extreme rainfall occurs because the Andes, to the east of the city, block the westerly winds driven by the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Throughout the year, owing to the Humboldt Current off the West coast of South America, these winds remain centered in the north of the continent at Quibdó’s longitudes. The result is that the extremely unstable, ascending air from the Intertropical Convergence Zone is consistently forced to rise over the Chocó plain; as it cools, enormous quantities of moisture precipitate as rainfall. What is more, due to the exuberant nature and biodiversity in the region, a biotic pump phenomena causes the Chocó low-level-jet, another important factor in driving atmospheric moisture from the Pacific into the Colombian Andes.

Rain falls almost every day from clouds in intense thunderstorms; the region has a wet season year round. Some 309 days (84%) of the year are rainy. Sunny periods seldom last more than a few hours after sunrise. Quibdó has only 1,276 hours of sunshine annually, and it ranks as one of the cloudiest cities in the world. Its sunniest month is July, with typically a total of 135 hours of sunshine for the entire month.

|Jan record high C = 36.6 |Feb record high C = 35.0 |Mar record high C = 35.4 |Apr record high C = 37.0 |May record high C = 35.0 |Jun record high C = 38.0 |Jul record high C = 36.8 |Aug record high C = 35.4 |Sep record high C = 35.0 |Oct record high C = 34.8 |Nov record high C = 35.4 |Dec record high C = 35.6 |year record high C = 38.0 |Jan record low C = 19.0 |Feb record low C = 21.0 |Mar record low C = 20.8 |Apr record low C = 20.0 |May record low C = 20.0 |Jun record low C = 19.0 |Jul record low C = 19.8 |Aug record low C = 19.6 |Sep record low C = 20.0 |Oct record low C = 18.0 |Nov record low C = 20.0 |Dec record low C = 20.0 |year record low C = 18.0

Transportation

Quibdó is served by El Caraño Airport with flights by three commercial airlines.

Notable residents

• Vanessa Mendoza (b. 1981), politician and first black Miss Colombia
• Jackson Martínez (b. 1986), former professional footballer who played as a striker
• Elvis Rivas (b. 1987), footballer
• Wbeymar Angulo (b. 1992), professional footballer who plays for the Armenia national football team
• Andrea Tovar (b. 1993), Model and Miss Colombia 2015**‑**2016
• Edwin Mosquera (b. 2001), professional footballer who plays for Atlanta United
• Daniel Mosquera (b. 1999), professional footballer who plays for Hellas Verona

Gallery

|File:Aeropuerto el caraño.jpg |El Caraño Airport |File:Centrum Quibdó.jpg |Street in Quibdó |File:CO Quibdó 1109 (199) (17248118081).jpg |Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi |File:Quibdo - The other side (52427032053).jpg |Stilt houses in Quibdó |File:Iglesia de la Santa Cruz de Quibdó, 2015.jpg |Santa Cruz church|File:CO Quibdó 1109 (210) (16628464253).jpg| }}

References

References

1. "informacion-capital-DANE-2019.pdf".
2. (2011-09-11). "Incursiones armadas ahogan en la zozobra al Chocó". El Tiempo.
3. "V!VA Travel Guides History - The History of Quibdó from V!VA's up-to-date book and ebook".
4. Kelley, Frederick M.; Kennish, William; and Serrell, Edward Wellman; ''The Practicability and Importance of a Ship Canal to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with a History of the Enterprise''; published 1855 By George F. Nisbett
5. Asher, Kiran; ''Black and Green: Afro-Colombians, Development and Nature in the Pacific Lowlands''; p. 36. {{ISBN. 978-0-8223-4483-4
6. Zarsky, Lyuba; ''Human Rights and the Environment: Conflicts and Norms in a Globalizing World''; pp. 177-178. {{ISBN. 1-85383-815-2
7. Sierra, Juan P.. "Sierra-J-IASCLIP.pdf".
8. "QUIBDÓ".