Putumayo Department

Department of Putumayo
Department of Putumayo; Departamento del Putumayo
	Department
	; Flag
	; Flag
	; Putumayo shown in red
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Country	Colombia
Region	Amazonía Region
Established	1991
(political)	Mocoa
Government
• Governor	Julio Byron Viveros Cháves (2010-)
Area
• Total	24,885 km2 (9,608 sq mi)
Area rank	16th
Population (2013)
• Total	337,054
• Rank	26th
• Density	14/km2 (35/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-05
ISO 3166 code	CO-PUT
Municipalities	13
Website	www.putumayo.gov.co

Putumayo is a department of Colombia. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru. Its capital is Mocoa.

The word putumayo comes from the Quechua languages. The verb p'utuy means "to spring forth" or "to burst out", and mayu means river. Thus it means "gushing river".

History

Originally, the south west of the department was territory of the Cofán Indians, the north west of the Kamentxá Indians, and the center and south belong to tribes that spoke Tukano languages (such as the Siona), and the east to tribes that spoke Witoto languages. Part of the Kamentxá territory was conquered by the Inca Huayna Cápac in 1492, who after crossing the Cofán territory, established a Quechua population on the valley of Sibundoy, that is known today as Ingas. After the Inca defeat in 1533, the region was invaded by the Spanish in 1542 and since 1547 administered by catholic missions.

The current territory of Putumayo was linked to Popayan during the Spanish Colony and on the firsts Republican decades belonged to the "Azuay Department", that included territories in Ecuador and Perú. Later starts a long process of territorial redistributions:

1831: Popayán Province.
1857: Estado Federal del Cauca.
1886: Cauca Department.
1905: Intendencia del Putumayo.
1909: Intendencia del Caquetá.
1912: Comisaría Especial del Putumayo.
1953: Departament of Nariño.
1957: Comisaría Especial del Putumayo.
1968: Intendencia Especial del Putumayo.
1991: Putumayo Department.

Municipalities

Municipalities	Map
Colón Mocoa Orito Puerto Asís Puerto Caicedo Puerto Guzmán Puerto Leguízamo San Francisco San Miguel Santiago Sibundoy Valle del Guamez Villagarzón