por The population of the Caribbean region of Colombia is, according to official data, 10,301,982 inhabitants. It is a population with a great diversity of origin, the result of the history of the area.
The presence of indigenous people, of the Spaniards who arrived after 1492 and of descendants of Africans taken as slaves during the colonial era, makes it a region very rich in ethnic and cultural mixes.
The Caribbean region borders the sea that gives it its name, in the north of the country. It is made up of 8 departments: Atlántico, Bolívar, Cesar, Córdoba, La Guajira, Magdalena, San Andrés and Providencia and Sucre.
Characteristics of the population of the Colombian Caribbean
The population of this region is unevenly distributed between rural areas and cities. Likewise, it is worth noting the presence of important indigenous communities, such as the Wayuu or the Ika.
According to statistics, 73.9% of the region’s inhabitants live in urban areas, while the remaining 26.1% live in rural areas.
The most important cities are Barranquilla, with a population of 1,274,250 inhabitants (for 2018), Cartagena de Indias, with 1,028,736 inhabitants (2020) and Soledad, with 666,109 inhabitants (2018).
Rural areas are much less populated, especially those that are semi-desert or very mountainous.
In recent decades, there has been a large migration from towns to cities.
ethnic composition
The ethnic composition of the population of the Caribbean region is marked by the arrival of the Spanish and the African slaves that they incorporated into the area.
Together with the indigenous populations that inhabited the region, they have created a mixture that gives it its own identity.
Browns
It is the largest ethnic community in the region. According to his definition, pardos (or triracial) are the descendants of the three groups in the area.
First, between indigenous and Spanish and, later, with the Africans. It is an old term that is still used in part of Latin America.
Those belonging to this group are neither mestizos nor mulattoes, since it is a proper reference for those who present traits inherited from the three mentioned populations.
black race
Demographic studies affirm that the inhabitants who consider themselves descendants of Africans reach 15.7% of the population.
This is seen much more clearly in towns like Cartagena or San Basilio de Palenque, where the percentage of black residents is much higher.
In fact, the founders of San Basilio were African slaves who managed to escape from their owners and establish a free community. Today it is the enclave that has best preserved traditions and customs brought from Africa.
Natives
The main indigenous community that exists in the region is the Wayuu, also called Guajira, because they originate from that department.
The Wayuu population represents 45% of the inhabitants of La Guajira, devoting themselves mainly to agriculture and fishing. There is also a community in neighboring Venezuela.
Other indigenous groups are the ika, located in the Sierra Nevada. The country’s government has recognized their territory as a collectively owned indigenous reservation.
emigrants
The migratory group with the greatest presence in this region is the Arab. Their arrival began in 1880, when numerous groups of Lebanese, Palestinians or Syrians arrived in the area fleeing from the Turkish Empire.
Many professed Orthodox Christianity and joined the business network of the cities, especially the coastal ones.
Today, the main community of these settlers is in Barranquilla, given its status as a commercial port and its reputation as an open city.
References
Demography and Population. Retrieved from dane.gov.co.
Caribbean region of Colombia. Retrieved from en.wikipedia.org.
Caribbean Region. Retrieved from populationpyramid.net.