Chivor

4°53′N 73°22′W / 4.883°N 73.367°W / 4.883; -73.367Country ColombiaDepartmentBoyacáProvinceEastern Boyacá ProvinceFounded16 December 1930Founded byFlorencio NovoaGovernment • TypeMunicipality • MayorDidier Aurelio Martínez Vargas
(2020-2023)Area • Town and municipality108.36 km² (41.84 sq mi) • Urban9.9 km² (3.8 sq mi)Elevation1,800 m (5,900 ft)Population • Town and municipality1,795 • Density17/km² (43/sq mi) • Urban486WebsiteOfficial website

Chivor is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The mean temperature of the village in the Tenza Valley is 18 °C (64 °F) and Chivor is located at 215 kilometres (134 mi) from the department capital Tunja.^[1] Economic activity includes emerald mining.

Borders

Bordered to the north with the municipality of Macanal; to the south with Ubalá, Cundinamarca, on the east with the municipality of Santa María, and the west by the municipality of Almeida.^[1]

Etymology

Chivor comes from Chibcha and means "Our farmfields - our mother" or "Green and rich land". The latter refers to the rich emerald deposits.^[2]

History

Chivor was inhabited by the Muisca in the times before the Spanish conquest. The Muisca were organized in their loose Muisca Confederation with northern ruler the zaque of Hunza and the southern zipa in Bacatá. Already in those times the rich emerald deposits were known and mined by the Muisca. The emeralds functioned as offer pieces in the Muisca religion, as decoration and as money.

The emerald deposits of Chivor were discovered by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1537 but the mines were abandoned until 1886.^[3]

Modern Chivor was not founded until December 16, 1930, by Florencio Novoa.^[1]

Economy

Main economical activities of Chivor are agriculture (maize, yuca, bananas, sugarcane, beans, chayote, coffee and fruits such as papayas, blackberries and the typical Colombian fruits lulo and tree tomatoes) and especially the emerald mining.^[1] In 2014 emeralds worth 30 million US dollars were extracted in Boyacá. The rich deposits have led to numerous conflicts in the region, including in Chivor.^[4]

The Gran Esmeralda de Moctezuma ("Great Emerald of Moctezuma") is a mineral of 21 centimetres (8.3 in) high, 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long and 16 centimetres (6.3 in) thick and has been found in Chivor. Currently the emerald is in Vienna, Austria. Other grand emeralds from Chivor are Patricia weighing 632 carats (126.4 grams (4.46 oz)), and La Magnífica of 1225 carats (245 grams (8.6 oz)).^[5]

The Embalse la Esmeralda ("Emerald reservoir") producing hydroelectric energy is governed from Chivor, Macanal and Almeida.

Climate

Chivor has a subtropical highland climate (Cfb) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

Gallery

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  Emerald reservoir
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  Reservoir
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  Reservoir
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  Reservoir

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  Emeralds from Chivor
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  Emerald
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  Emerald
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  Emerald

See also

• Muzo, another town in Boyacá famous for its emeralds
• Colombian emerald trade
• Colombian Emeralds

References

Further reading

• Branquet, Yannick; Bernard Laumonier; Alain Cheilletz, and Gaston Giuliani. 1999. Emeralds in the Eastern Cordillera of Colombia: Two tectonic settings for one mineralization. Geology 27. 597–600. Accessed 2017-01-05.
• Giuliani, Gaston; Alain Cheilletz; Carlos Arboleda; Victor Carrillo; Félix Rueda, and James H. Baker. 1995. An evaporitic origin of the parent brines of Colombian emeralds: fluid inclusion and sulphur isotope evidence. European Journal of Mineralogy 7. 151–165. Accessed 2017-01-05.
• Ortega Medina, Laura Milena. 2007. Tipología y condiciones de formaciónde las manifestaciones del sector esmeraldífero "Peña Coscuez" (municipio San Pablo de Borbur, Boyacá) (MSc.), 1–121. Universidad Industrial de Santander. Accessed 2017-01-05.
• Pignatelli, Isabella; Gaston Giuliani; Daniel Ohnenstetter; Giovanna Agrosì; Sandrine Mathieu; Christophe Morlot, and Yannick Branquet. 2015. Colombian Trapiche Emeralds: Recent Advances in Understanding Their Formation. Gems & Gemology LI. 222–259. .

External links

• (in Spanish) Hydroelectric energy Chivor