ISTMO, two, Panamá and Veragua.
The principal towns:—In Cundinamarca—Bogotá, the capital not only of the department but of the republic, having a population of about 40,000; Honda, which has about 5000 inhabitants; Rio Negro, 6000; Mariquita, a small town near rich mines of gold, west of Honda; Neyva, pop. 4000; Timana, 2000—both these are noted for their plantations of cacao, and gold is washed near Timana—Ibagué has a college, and is situated nearly 4900 feet above sea-level, at the foot of the Central Andes; in the valley of the Cauca are Antioquia, pop. 4500, and Medellín, 9000.
In Boyaca—Tunja, the capital, has a population of about 7000; Socorro, 12,000; Rosario de Cucuta, a pretty large town carrying on an active commerce in cacao, sugar-cane, coffee, and cotton; Pamplona, with 4000 inhabitants, and several gold mines in its vicinity.
In Magdalena—Cartagena, the capital; Mompo, pop. 10,000; Ocaña, 8000; Santa Marta, 3000; Ciudad de la Hacha, 3000; west of this town, along the coast, pearls were formerly fished.
In Cauca—Popayan, the capital, has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated 5824 feet above sea-level, near the sources of the Cauca river; and the volcanoes Porace and Sotara are in the vicinity; Cali, in the vale of Cauca, from which the chief road over the Western Andes leads to Buenaventura on the Pacific; Buenaventura, a collection of a few miserable huts built on posts, and yet it is the only port that supplies the valley of the Cauca and Popayan with wares, and it has mostly several vessels anchored there, both coasters and foreign. Atacames and Barbacoas are small harbours also on the Pacific. Pasto, with a population of 5100, stands at an elevation above the sea of 8580 feet in the Andes, near the boundary of Ecuador, on a fine plain near the foot of a very restless volcano.
In Istmo—Los Santos has a population of about 1600; David, 2800 inhabitants; Panamá, 6000; and Santiago, 2200.
New Granada was discovered by Columbus 1498-1502. Different governments having been established throughout the country, a vice-royalty was at length, in 1732, formed of what is now the republics of Ecuador and New Granada. In 1810 the Spanish authority was thrown off, and an incessant war against that power maintained until 1824, when the Spaniards were finally vanquished. Bolívar, the most distinguished leader of the Spanish-American revolution in 1818, proposed the union of Venezuela with New Granada; and when the Congress of Angostura met early in 1819, the fundamental law was enacted, which established the republic of Colombia, and which was inaugurated on the 17th December of the same year. This union was never cordial, and lasted only ten years. In November 1829, Venezuela seceded from it; and in May 1830, Ecuador also withdrew. The central part of Colombia constituted itself the Republic of New Granada, 21st November 1831. In 1832 the constitution was promulgated, and the republic divided into provinces. Under the constitution, New Granada became an integral state, and the powers of government were divided into legislative, judicial, and executive, each
independent of the other. The provinces secured to themselves municipal bodies, having powers over all local legislation. In 1843 the constitution was reformed, but without any variation in the organization of the government. On January 1, 1852, slavery was entirely abolished, and no slave has been born in the republic since 1821. In 1855 the Isthmus of Panama was constituted a state under the name of Istmo, subject to the national government, however, in certain specified affairs.