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Chivor
Town and municipality
Emeralds mined in Chivor
Emeralds mined in Chivor
Flag of Chivor
Flag
Location of the town and municipality of Chivor in Boyacá Department
Location of the town and municipality of Chivor in Boyacá Department
Chivor is located in Colombia
Chivor
Chivor
Location in Colombia
Country  Colombia
Department Boyacá
Province Eastern Boyacá Province
Founded 16 December 1930
Founded by Florencio Novoa
Government
 • Type Municipality
Area
 • Town and municipality 108.36 km2 (41.84 sq mi)
 • Urban
9.9 km2 (3.8 sq mi)
Elevation
1,800 m (5,900 ft)
Population
 (2015)
 • Town and municipality 1,795
 • Density 16.565/km2 (42.904/sq mi)
 • Urban
486
Website Official website: http://www.chivor-boyaca.gov.co/

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. 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.

Etymology

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

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.

Modern Chivor was not founded until December 16, 1930, by Florencio Novoa.

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. 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.

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)).

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.

Climate data for Chivor
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 24.2
(75.6)		 24.6
(76.3)		 24.4
(75.9)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.2
(73.8)		 21.8
(71.2)		 21.7
(71.1)		 22.1
(71.8)		 22.7
(72.9)		 23.3
(73.9)		 23.5
(74.3)		 23.6
(74.5)		 23.3
(73.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 18.3
(64.9)		 19.0
(66.2)		 19.4
(66.9)		 19.3
(66.7)		 18.8
(65.8)		 17.8
(64.0)		 17.6
(63.7)		 17.0
(62.6)		 18.0
(64.4)		 18.4
(65.1)		 18.6
(65.5)		 18.3
(64.9)		 18.4
(65.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 12.5
(54.5)		 13.4
(56.1)		 14.5
(58.1)		 14.6
(58.3)		 14.5
(58.1)		 13.9
(57.0)		 13.6
(56.5)		 13.7
(56.7)		 13.4
(56.1)		 13.6
(56.5)		 13.7
(56.7)		 13.1
(55.6)		 13.7
(56.7)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 41.0
(1.61)		 89.2
(3.51)		 137.5
(5.41)		 262.3
(10.33)		 373.5
(14.70)		 401.3
(15.80)		 405.1
(15.95)		 333.8
(13.14)		 242.9
(9.56)		 197.4
(7.77)		 143.2
(5.64)		 67.9
(2.67)		 2,695.1
(106.09)
Average rainy days 9 12 17 24 27 28 28 27 23 23 20 13 251
Source 1: IDEAM
Source 2: Climate-Data.org

Gallery

  • Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11 (4)

    Emerald reservoir

  • Embalse la Esmeralda, Macanal Colombia

    Reservoir

  • Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11 (3)

    Reservoir

  • Represa de Chivor 2014-09-11

    Reservoir

  • Beryl-Calcite-71137

    Emeralds from Chivor

  • Beryl-gem7-72a

    Emerald

  • Beryl-gem7-72b

    Emerald

  • Beryl-tn33a

    Emerald

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Chivor para niños

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