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Updates: 

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on 1998-12-15. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard). For Colombia, the draft standard showed 32 departments and one capital district. The final standard shows the same 33 divisions, with the same codes, except for one department. The code for Vichada has been altered from CID to VID. I reported that change here in August, 1999; but in September, 2004, I added all the text of the Colombia article in the book "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" to this page, and in doing so I neglected to incorporate the ISO code change. I've done it now.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-6 was published on 2004-03-08. It lists "Distrito Capital de Bogotá" as the new official name of the capital district, replacing "Distrito Capital de Santa Fe de Bogotá" in the original standard. As the impetus for this change, it cites "Colombia legislative Act No. 1 2000-08-17".

Country overview: 

Short name	COLOMBIA
ISO code	CO
FIPS code	CO
Language	Spanish (es)
Time zone	-5
Capital	Bogotá

 

Colombia has been an independent country during the entire 20th century, but its territory has undergone some adjustments. The first and most notorious was the loss of its department of Panama, in a revolution encouraged by the United States to ease the way for the leasing of the Panama Canal Zone.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Colombia
2. Dutch: Colombia, Republiek Colombia (formal)
3. English: Republic of Colombia (formal)
4. Finnish: Kolumbia
5. French: Colombie f
6. German: Kolumbien n
7. Icelandic: Kólumbía
8. Italian: Colombia f
9. Norwegian: Colombia, Republikken Colombia (formal)
10. Portuguese: Colômbia, República f da Colômbia f (formal)
11. Russian: Республика Колумбия (formal)
12. Spanish: Colombia, República f de Colombia f (formal)
13. Swedish: Colombia
14. Turkish: Kolombiya Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name: 

Named in honor of Christopher Columbus (1451?-1506)

Primary subdivisions: 

Colombia is divided into 32 departamentos (departments) and one distrito capital (capital district).

Department	HASC	ISO	FIPS	NUTE	Typ	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Capital
Amazonas	CO.AM	AMA	CO01	20491	c	46,950	109,665	42,342	Leticia
Antioquia	CO.AN	ANT	CO02	20505	d	5,601,507	63,612	24,561	Medellín
Arauca	CO.AR	ARA	CO03	20781	i	153,028	23,818	9,196	Arauca
Atlántico	CO.AT	ATL	CO04	20208	d	2,112,001	3,388	1,308	Barranquilla
Bolívar	CO.BL	BOL	CO35	20213	d	1,836,640	25,978	10,030	Cartagena
Boyacá	CO.BY	BOY	CO36	20615	d	1,210,982	23,189	8,953	Tunja
Caldas	CO.CL	CAL	CO37	20617	d	898,490	7,888	3,046	Manizales
Caquetá	CO.CQ	CAQ	CO08	20418	i	337,932	88,965	34,350	Florencia
Casanare	CO.CS	CAS	CO32	20785	i	281,294	44,640	17,236	Yopal
Cauca	CO.CA	CAU	CO09	20319	d	1,182,022	29,308	11,316	Popayán
Cesar	CO.CE	CES	CO10	20220	d	878,437	22,905	8,844	Valledupar
Chocó	CO.CH	CHO	CO11	20327	d	388,476	46,530	17,965	Quibdó
Córdoba	CO.CO	COR	CO12	20223	d	1,462,909	25,020	9,660	Montería
Cundinamarca	CO.CU	CUN	CO33	20625	d	2,228,682	22,478	8,679	Bogotá
Distrito Capital	CO.DC	DC	CO34	20111	e	6,778,691	1,732	669	Bogotá
Guainía	CO.GN	GUA	CO15	20494	c	18,797	72,238	27,891	Puerto Inírida
Guaviare	CO.GV	GUV	CO14	20495	c	56,758	42,327	16,343	San José del Guaviare
Huila	CO.HU	HUI	CO16	20641	d	1,001,476	19,890	7,680	Neiva
La Guajira	CO.LG	LAG	CO17	20244	d	655,943	20,848	8,049	Riohacha
Magdalena	CO.MA	MAG	CO38	20247	d	1,136,819	23,188	8,953	Santa Marta
Meta	CO.ME	MET	CO19	20750	d	713,772	85,635	33,064	Villavicencio
Nariño	CO.NA	NAR	CO20	20352	d	1,498,234	33,268	12,845	Pasto
Norte de Santander	CO.NS	NSA	CO21	20554	d	1,208,336	21,658	8,362	Cúcuta
Putumayo	CO.PU	PUT	CO22	20486	i	237,197	24,885	9,608	Mocoa
Quindío	CO.QD	QUI	CO23	20663	d	518,691	1,845	712	Armenia
Risaralda	CO.RI	RIS	CO24	20666	d	859,666	4,140	1,598	Pereira
San Andrés y Providencia	CO.SA	SAP	CO25	20288	i	59,573	44	17	San Andrés
Santander	CO.ST	SAN	CO26	20568	d	1,913,444	30,537	11,790	Bucaramanga
Sucre	CO.SU	SUC	CO27	20270	d	762,263	10,917	4,215	Sincelejo
Tolima	CO.TO	TOL	CO28	20673	d	1,312,304	23,562	9,097	Ibagué
Valle del Cauca	CO.VC	VAC	CO29	20376	d	4,052,535	22,140	8,548	Cali
Vaupés	CO.VP	VAU	CO30	20497	c	19,943	65,268	25,200	Mitú
Vichada	CO.VD	VID	CO31	20799	c	44,592	100,242	38,704	Puerto Carreño
33 divisions						41,468,384	1,141,748	440,831
Department: except Distrito Capital, which is a capital district (see also Typ) HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. NUTE: Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units. First three digits indicate NUTE region (see table below). Typ: Until 1991, the divisions of Colombia were of four types: departamentos (d: departments), comisarías (c: commissaries), intendencias (i: intendancies), and a distrito especial (e: special district). Population: 2005-05-22 census.

 

The Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE, the national statistics department) has set up a system of eight-digit codes for territorial divisions of Colombia. The first two digits represent the department. The next three represent a municipio, and the last three represent a populated place. The DANE two-digit department code can be found by taking the last two digits of the NUTE code.

Postal codes: 

Colombia uses six-digit postal codes. The first two digits are the same as the DANE department code. The next two digits represent a postal routing zone, where 00 is always the department capital, and 9x is for post office boxes.

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipalities of Colombia page.

The departments are divided into municipios (municipalities), corregimientos departamentales (departmental wards), and four distritos (districts): Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cubará, and Santa Marta. In 1995, there were 1,034 municipalities. The NUTE standard divides Colombia into the following seven NUTE regions (only used for statistical purposes).

NUTE Region	Code
Amazonia	204
Andina Norte	205
Andina Sur	206
Atlantica	202
Bogotá	201
Orinoquia	207
Pacífica	203

Territorial extent: 

1. Cauca department includes Isla Gorgona.
2. San Andrés y Providencia consists of a few small islands in the Caribbean Sea: Isla de San Andrés and its neighbors, Cayos del E.S.E. and Cayos de Albuquerque; Isla de Providencia; and some islets used jointly by the United States and Colombia, such as Roncador Cay, Quita Sueño Bank, and Serrana Bank. It also includes Malpelo Island, in the Pacific Ocean west of Valle del Cauca.

The UN LOCODE page  for Colombia lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

1. Amazonas: From the Amazon River
2. Arauca: From the Arauca River
3. Atlántico: On the Caribbean Sea, considered part of the Atlantic Ocean
4. Bolívar: For Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), Colombia's liberator from Spain
5. Caquetá: From the Caquetá River
6. Casanare: From the Casanare River
7. Cauca: From the Cauca River
8. Distrito Capital: = Capital District
9. Guainía: From the Guainía River
10. Guaviare: From the Guaviare River
11. Huila: From Nevado de Huila, a mountain
12. Magdalena: From the Magdalena River
13. Meta: From the Meta River
14. Nariño: For Antonio Nariño (1765-1823), revolutionary leader
15. Norte de Santander: Formed from the north part of Santander
16. Putumayo: From the Putumayo River
17. Santander: For Francisco de Paula Santander (1792-1840), Simón Bolívar's co-revolutionist and vice-president.
18. Sucre: For Antonio José de Sucre (1795-1830), Simón Bolívar's co-revolutionist.
19. Tolima: From Nevado de Tolima, a mountain
20. Valle del Cauca: Spanish for "Cauca Valley," which runs through the department.
21. Vaupés: From the Vaupés River (called Uaupés in Brazil)
22. Vichada: From the Vichada River

Change history: 

In 1900, Colombia had nine departments. Their approximate relation to the present divisions is shown here.

Department	Present-day equivalent
Antioquia	Antioquia, Caldas
Bolívar	Atlántico, Bolívar, Córdoba, Sucre
Boyacá	Arauca, Boyacá, Casanare
Cauca	Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Putumayo, Quindío, Risaralda, Valle del Cauca, and Territorio de Caquetá (Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Vaupés, and some territory ceded to Brazil in 1907)
Cundinamarca	Cundinamarca, Distrito Capital, and Territorio de San Martin (Meta, Vichada)
Magdalena	Cesar, La Guajira, Magdalena
Panamá	Panamá, now a different country
Santander	Santander, Norte de Santander
Tolima	Huila, Tolima

1. 1903-11-03: Panama declared its independence from Colombia.
2. 1907: Colombia ceded a large area in southeastern Cauca department to Brazil.
3. ~1935: Territory transferred from Cauca to Antioquia, giving it a corridor of access to the Caribbean Sea. Atlántico department split from Bolívar; Arauca commissary split from Boyacá; Caldas formed from parts of Antioquia and Cauca; Cauca split into the departments of Cauca, Chocó, Nariño, Valle del Cauca; the commissaries of Caquetá, Putumayo, and Vaupés; and part of Caldas; Huila split from Tolima; La Guajira commissary split from Magdalena; Meta intendancy split from Cundinamarca (approximately the area of San Martin territory); Norte de Santander split from Santander.
4. ~1942: Vichada split from Meta; Amazonas commissary split from Caquetá; also, territory transferred from Caquetá to Putumayo.
5. ~1950: Córdoba split from Bolívar.
6. ~1955: Arauca, Caquetá, and La Guajira changed from commissaries to intendancies.
7. 1955-01-01: Distrito Especial created. (Distrito Especial was a separate division for some purposes, and an integral part of Cundinamarca for others. Sources started listing it as a primary subdivision around 1970.)
8. ~1964: Guainía split from Vaupés.
9. 1965-07: Status of La Guajira changed from intendancy to department.
10. 1966-08-07: Quindío department split from Caldas.
11. 1967: Cesar department split from Magdalena; Risaralda department split from Caldas; Sucre department split from Bolívar.
12. 1972: Putumayo changed from commissary to intendancy.
13. 1974-05-15: Casanare intendency split from Boyacá.
14. 1982: Guaviare commissary split from Vaupés.
15. 1991-07-05: New constitution took effect. All commissaries and intendancies changed to departments. Some sources say that the new constitution changed the official name of the capital from Bogotá to Santafé de Bogotá, and of its district from Distrito Especial to Distrito Capital. The actual relevant text, translated to English, reads: "Article 322. Bogotá, capital of the Republic and of the Department of Cundinamarca, is organized as the Capital District.... Transitory Article 41. If, in the two years following the date of promulgation of this Constitution, Congress does not issue the law referred to by articles 322, 323 and 324 concerning a special regime for the Capital District of Santafé de Bogotá, the government, for just one time, will issue the appropriate regulations." (Source [3].)

Other names of subdivisions: 

1. Cesar: El Cesar (variant)
2. Distrito Capital: Distrito Capital de Santa Fe de Bogotá (variant)
3. La Guajira: Goagira, Guajira, La Goajira (variant)
4. Magdalena: La Magdalena (variant)
5. Norte de Santander: Santander del Norte (variant)
6. San Andrés y Providencia: Departamento Archipielago de San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina (formal); San Andres; San Andres, Providencia y Santa Catalina (variant)
7. Valle del Cauca: Valle (variant)

Population history:

Division	1912	1938	1950-05-09	1964-07-15	1973-10-24	1985-10-15	1993-10-24	2005-05-22
Amazonas		6,414	7,619	12,962	16,500	39,937	37,764	46,950
Antioquia	740,937	1,188,587	1,570,197	2,477,299	2,826,900	4,067,664	4,342,347	5,601,507
Arauca		11,156	13,221	24,148	32,000	89,972	137,193	153,028
Atlántico	114,887	268,409	428,429	717,406	949,850	1,478,213	1,667,500	2,112,001
Bolívar	425,975	765,194	665,195	1,006,347	758,400	1,288,985	1,439,291	1,836,640
Boyacá	586,499	737,368	801,436	1,058,152	1,054,475	1,209,739	1,174,031	1,210,982
Caldas	341,498	769,968	1,068,180	1,455,872	650,325	883,024	925,358	898,490
Caquetá	99,576	20,914	46,588	103,718	158,000	264,507	311,464	337,932
Casanare						147,472	158,149	281,294
Cauca	211,756	356,040	443,439	607,197	527,675	857,731	979,231	1,182,022
Cesar					321,850	699,428	729,634	878,437
Chocó	60,653	111,216	131,101	181,863	169,125	313,567	338,160	388,476
Córdoba			326,263	585,714	633,675	1,013,427	1,088,087	1,462,909
Cundinamarca	715,610	1,174,607	1,624,044	2,817,436	3,888,236	1,512,928	1,658,698	2,228,682
Distrito Capital						4,227,706	4,945,448	6,778,691
Guainía				3,602	48,000	12,345	13,491	18,797
Guaviare						47,073	57,884	56,758
Huila	158,191	216,676	293,692	416,289	465,800	693,713	758,013	1,001,476
La Guajira	53,018	53,409	52,346	147,140	127,775	299,995	387,773	655,943
Magdalena	140,106	342,322	457,393	789,410	510,475	890,934	882,571	1,136,819
Meta	29,299	51,674	67,492	165,530	238,100	474,046	561,121	713,772
Nariño	293,918	465,868	569,790	705,611	747,125	1,085,173	1,274,708	1,498,234
Norte de Santander	204,381	346,181	387,450	534,486	675,850	913,491	1,046,577	1,208,336
Putumayo		15,688		56,284	76,000	174,219	204,309	237,197
Quindío					300,075	392,208	435,018	518,691
Risaralda					431,925	652,872	744,974	859,666
San Andrés y Providencia		6,528	5,675	16,731	22,719	35,818	50,094	59,573
Santander	400,084	615,710	747,706	1,001,213	1,114,425	1,511,392	1,598,688	1,913,444
Sucre					355,925	561,649	624,463	762,263
Tolima	282,426	547,796	712,490	841,424	866,950	1,142,220	1,150,080	1,312,304
Valle del Cauca	217,147	613,230	1,106,927	1,733,053	2,129,350	3,027,247	3,333,150	4,052,535
Vaupés		7,767	9,169	13,403	17,700	26,178	18,235	19,943
Vichada		9,094	12,330	10,130	9,200	18,702	36,336	44,592
Totals	5,075,961	8,701,816	11,548,172	17,482,420	20,124,405	30,053,575	33,109,840	41,468,384

Sources: 

1. [1] Nomenclatura de las Unidades Territoriales Estadísticas de la Comunidad Andina (NUTE ANDINA) , Comunidad Andina  (Andean Community). This document defines a set of codes for the subdivisions of the member countries: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, called Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units (dated 2002-10-02, retrieved 2004-11-15).
2. [2] Censo General 2005: Nivel Nacional . Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística (retrieved 2011-04-17).
3. [3] Constitución Política de Colombia 1991 , pp. 82, 104 (retrieved 2003-11-26).
4. [4] Longman's Gazetteer, 1920.