Guajira

Department in northern Colombia. It occupies an arid and sparsely populated peninsula on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Maracaibo, with an area of 12,220 sq km/4,718 sq mi and a population (1996) of 433,361, mostly comprised of Guajiro Indians. It became part of the Republic of Colombia in 1891. Its inland products are cattle, corn, coconuts, and divi-divi (pods of a tree used for tanning leather); its coastal products include salt and pearl fisheries. There is also coal-mining in the area known as El Cerrejón. Fine beaches exist on the Guajira peninsula. The capital is Riohacha.