La Guajira Department - Demographics

Demographics

According to the DANE (Colombian statistics bureau) 2005 Census, the Department of La Guajira; 44.9% of the population was indigenous pertaining to the Arhuaco, Koguis, Wiwa and Wayuu primarily; 7.5% of Afro-Colombian descent, while the remaining 47,6% of the population did not consider itself part of a particular ethnic group, except for the Middle Eastern descendants who have migrated throughout the 20th century.

The Department of La Guajira contains the largest population of indigenous peoples in Colombia with 20.2% of the total and followed by the departments of Cauca and Narino with 18% and 11,2% of the total indigenous population of Colombia. The municipalities with the largest indigenous populations are those in which the Wayuu people are present Uribia (95.9%), Manaure (88.2%), and Maicao (40.1%).

The population of 623,250 constituted 1.5% of the total population of Colombia (42,090,502) and 7% of the Caribbean Region of Colombia (8,910,195). The Department of La Guajira had a population density of 29.9 inhabitants per square kilometer. From those 623,250 total inhabitants 50.6% were females and 49.4% were males.