Guainía

▪ department, Colombia

      departamento, eastern Colombia, bounded by the Guaviare River to the north, Venezuela to the east, and Brazil to the south. It lies between the Amazon River basin to the south and the Llanos (plains) to the north and consists of savannas and tropical rainforest.

      Guainía was administratively created as a comisaría (“commissariat”) in 1963 and became a departamento in 1991. It is drained by numerous navigable tributaries of the Negro and Orinoco rivers, including the Guaviare, Inírida, and Guainía. Principal economic activities are subsistence agriculture, fishing, and hunting and gathering. About a third of the sparse population lives in and around San Felipe. The capital is Puerto Inírida. No good roads penetrate Guainía; travel is almost entirely by river or air. Area 27,891 square miles (72,238 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 36,381.

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