Cesar Department or simply Cesar is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the 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. The department capital city is Valledupar.
Valledupar is a city and municipality in northeastern Colombia. It is the capital of Cesar Department. Its name, Valle de Upar, was established in honor of the Amerindian cacique who ruled the valley; Cacique Upar. The city lies between the mountains of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá to the borders of the Guatapurí and Cesar rivers.
Vallenato is a popular folk music genre from Colombia. It primarily comes from its Caribbean region. Vallenato literally means "born in the valley". The valley influencing this name is located between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía de Perijá in north-east Colombia. The name also applies to the people from the city where this genre originated: Valledupar. In 2006, vallenato and cumbia were added as a category in the Latin Grammy Awards. Colombia's traditional vallenato music is Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding, according to UNESCO.
Los Robles La Paz or simply La Paz is a municipality and a town in the Department of Cesar, Colombia. The town is close to the Capital city of the Department of Cesar; Valledupar. The municipality of La Paz borders to the north with La Guajira Department, to the northeast with the municipality of Manaure. To the east with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela sharing the Serranía del Perijá mountain range. To the south with the municipality of Codazzi, southwest with the municipality of El Paso, Cesar. To the west with the municipality of San Diego and to the northwest with the municipality of Valledupar.
The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch, in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the Guajira Desert, a total distance of about 310 kilometres (190 mi). It separates the Maracaibo Basin from the Cesar-Ranchería Basin. Some of the area has been considered as a Flora and Fauna Sanctuary.
The Cesar River is a river in northern Colombia which is a part of the Magdalena Basin. It flows through the Cesar-Ranchería Basin and separates the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta from the mountain ranges of the Serranía del Perijá, an extension of the Cordillera Oriental. It flows north to south, down from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the Guajira Department onto the Cesar Department and flowing into the Zapatosa Marsh where it turns to the southwest and discharges into the Magdalena River after 280 kilometers. Valledupar is the only major city on its route.
Rodrigo Tovar Pupo, was born in Valledupar, Colombia. He was the leader of the Northern Bloc of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. He demobilized with his two thousand men strong group on March 10, 2006 in La Mesa, Department of Cesar.
Agustín Codazzi, or Codazzi, is a city and municipality of the Department of Cesar in Colombia. It was founded in 1784 by the Spanish Captain Salvador Felix de Arias with the name of El Pueblito del Espiritu Santo but later renamed after the Italian cartographer, Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi, who died in this place in 1859. It is located along the Serranía del Perijá, covering some of the area pertaining to the valley of the Cesar River.
La Guajira is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the department is Riohacha.
Manaure also known as Balcón del Cesar is a Colombian town and municipality located in the northeastern region of the Cesar Department on the Serranía del Perijá.
Barrancas is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of La Guajira. The municipality of Barrancas is located to the left margin of the Ranchería River in a valley formed between the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains and the Serranía del Perijá. Barrancas has a total area of 742 km2 and at 40 meters over sea level. The average temperature is 28 °C throughout the year and distances from the capital of the Department of La Guajira, Riohacha. It became a municipality in 1892.
El Molino is a town and municipality located in the Colombian Department of La Guajira.
Fonseca is a municipality located in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. The town celebrates the Festival del Retorno in honor of St Augustine with religious celebrations, vallenato music events and others.
Distracción is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Founded in 1845 by a man from neighboring Barrancas named Antonio María Vidal on the right margin of the Ranchería River.
La Jagua del Pilar, literally "The Jagua of the Pillar", is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. The municipality has a total area of 187 km² and located some 450 meters over sea level and with an average temperature of 27 °C. La Jagua del Pilar became a municipality of La Guajira in 1998.
Urumita is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of La Guajira.
The Cradle of Accordions Festival is a festival in the Colombian northern town of Villanueva, Department of La Guajira in the month of September. The Cradle of Accordions Festival is celebrated on the same day as Saint Thomas and many vallenato musicians from the Department of Cesar and La Guajira gather to participate in an accordionist contest. The religious event is celebrated with a mass, a procession and fireworks. In 2006 the Senate of Colombia by Law 1052 of this same year declared the Cradle of Accordions Festival as a Cultural and Artistic Patrimony of Colombia. The president of the event is Binomio de Oro de America accordionist and owner Israel Romero.
The Villanueva massacre was a massacre in the Colombian town of Villanueva, Department of La Guajira. The massacre occurred on December 8, 1998 in the neighborhood known as El Cafetal and some 11 people were assassinated by members of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) by orders of Carlos Castaño. Alias "Jorge 40", commander of the Northern Bloc of the AUC, part of the paramilitary structure later admitted to participating in the massacre by order of Castaño, in which the operation was commanded by alias "Daniel" and a unit of some 80 paramilitaries.
The Bahía Portete massacre was a massacre in the Colombian town of Bahía Portete, in the Department of La Guajira on April 16, 2004. It was perpetrated by paramilitary groups of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) Wayuu Counter-Insurgency Bloc led by alias "Jorge 40" killing 12 people and the disappearance of one. Some 600 people were displaced against their will and took refuge in neighboring Venezuela.
The Chimilas or Ette Ennaka are an Indigenous people in the Andes of north-eastern Colombia. Their Chimila language is part of the Chibcha language family, of which there were estimated to be around 1000 speakers in 1998. At the time of the Spanish Conquest the Ariguaní River valley was the strategic centre of their territory. On the Serranía del Perijá mountains the Yukpas were also part of the Chimila confederation of tribes.
Colombia 
