Editing Cesar Department (section)

{{Short description|Department of Colombia}}
{{Other uses|Cesar (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->| name                     = Cesar Department
| native_name              = Departamento del Cesar
| native_name_lang         = es<!-- ISO 639-2 code -->
| type                     = [[Departments of Colombia|Department]]
| image_skyline            = Negándose a Desaparecer.jpg
| image_alt                = 
| image_caption            = View of the [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta|Sierra Nevada]]
| image_map1               = Cesar Topographic 2.png
| map_caption1             = Topography of the department
| image_flag               = Flag of Cesar.svg
| flag_alt                 = 
| image_shield             = Coat_of_arms_of_Cesar_(Colombia).svg
| shield_alt               = 
| nickname                 = 
| motto                    = 
| anthem                   = [[wikisource:es:Himno del Cesar|Himno del Cesar]]
| image_map                = Cesar in Colombia (mainland).svg
| map_alt                  = 
| map_caption              = Cesar shown in green
| coordinates              = {{coord|10|29|N|73|15|W|region:CO_type:adm2nd|display=inline,title}}
| coor_pinpoint            = 
| coordinates_footnotes    = 
| subdivision_type         = Country
| subdivision_name         = {{flag|Colombia}}
| subdivision_type1        = [[Regions of Colombia|Region]]
| subdivision_name1        = [[Caribbean Region]]
| parts_type               = Largest city
| parts_style              = para
| p1                       = 
| established_title        = [[Republic of Colombia|Established]]
| established_date         = December 1967
| blank_name_sec1          = [[Provinces of Colombia|Provinces]]
| blank_info_sec1          = 
| blank1_name_sec1         = [[Municipalities of Colombia|Municipalities]]
| blank1_info_sec1         = 
| founder                  = 
| named_for                = 
| seat_type                = [[Capital (political)|Capital]]
| seat                     = [[Valledupar]]
| government_footnotes     = 
| leader_party             = 
| leader_title             = [[List of Governors of the Department of Cesar|Governor]]
| leader_name              = Francis Ferdinand Ovalle Angarita (2016-2019)
| unit_pref                = Metric<!-- or US or UK -->
| area_footnotes           = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Departamento: Información general|publisher=Gobernación del Cesar|url=http://www.gobcesar.gov.co/cesar/index.php/es/opinformacdepto|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217001244/http://www.gobcesar.gov.co/cesar/index.php/es/opinformacdepto|archive-date=17 February 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| area_total_km2           = 22905
| area_rank                = [[List of Colombian Departments by area|22nd]]
| area_land_km2            = 
| area_water_km2           = 
| area_water_percent       = 
| area_note                = 
| elevation_footnotes      = 
| elevation_m              = 
| population_footnotes     = <ref>{{cite web|title=DANE |url=http://www.dane.gov.co/daneweb_V09/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113143414/http://www.dane.gov.co/daneweb_V09/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=72 |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 13, 2009 |access-date=February 13, 2013 }}</ref>
| population_total         = 1,200,574
| population_as_of         = 2018
| population_rank          = [[List of Colombian Departments by population|16th]]
| population_density_km2   = auto
| population_note          = 
| demographics_type1       = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes  = <ref>{{citation|title=Producto Interno Bruto por departamento |url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/operaciones/PIB/departamental/anex-PIBDep-TotalDepartamento-2022pr.xlsx|website=www.dane.gov.co}}</ref>
|demographics1_title1     = Total
|demographics1_info1      = [[Colombian peso|COP]] 37,524 billion<br />([[US$]] 8.8 billion)
| timezone1                = [[UTC-05]]
| postal_code_type         = 
| postal_code              = 
| area_code_type           = 
| area_code                = 
| iso_code                 = [[ISO 3166-2:CO|CO-CES]]
| blank_name_sec2          = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2019)
| blank_info_sec2          = 0.729<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref><br />{{color|#0c0|high}} · [[List of Colombian departments by Human Development Index|21st of 33]]
| website                  = [http://www.gobcesar.gov.co/ www.gobcesar.gov.co]
| footnotes                = 
| official_name            = Department of the Cesar
}}

'''Cesar Department''' ({{langx|es|Departamento del Cesar|links=no}}), or simply '''Cesar''', ({{IPA|es|seˈsaɾ}}) is a [[departments of Colombia|department]] of [[Colombia]] located in the north of the country in the [[Caribbean Region of Colombia|Caribbean region]], bordering to the north with the [[Department of La Guajira]], to the west with the [[Department of Magdalena]] and [[Department of Bolivar]], to the south with [[Department of Santander]], to the east with the [[Department of North Santander]], and further to the east with the country of [[Venezuela]] ([[Zulia State]]). The department capital city is [[Valledupar]].<ref name="Objectivos">{{Cite web|title=Estado de avance de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio en el departamento de Cesar y en la ciudad de Valledupar, (Progress on the Millennium Development Goals in the Cesar department and the city of Valledupar)|date=January 2012|language=es|publisher=PNUD Colombia – Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina|url=http://www.valledupar.gov.co/index.php/j-stuff/odm-valledupar/valledupar-hacia-los-odm/lb-cesar-odm-pdf/detail}}{{dead link|date=June 2016}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The region was first inhabited by indigenous peoples known as Euparis in the Valley of Upar and Guatapuris in the Valley of the Cesar river, among these were the Orejones pertaining to the Toupeh, Acanayutos pertaining to the [[Motilon people|Motilon]] and Alcoholades pertaining to the [[Chimila people|Chimila]]. The first European to explore the area was Spanish Captain Peter Vadillo, but German [[Ambrosio Alfínger|Ambrose Alfinger]] savagely conquered the region in 1532.<ref name="ACGI-2003">{{Cite web|title=History of Cesar|publisher=Agustin Codazzi Geographic Institute|language=es|url=http://www.finagro.com.co/colombia/departamento.asp?IDDepartamento=09&Tema=13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031024044528/http://www.finagro.com.co/colombia/departamento.asp?IDDepartamento=09&Tema=13|archive-date=24 October 2003|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1996 to 2006 paramilitary groups committed gross human rights violations affecting tens of thousands of victims in the Cesar mining region.