The first European to explore the area was Spanish Captain Peter Vadillo, but German Ambrose Alfinger savagely conquered the region in 1532.

[6] From 1996 to 2006 paramilitary groups committed gross human rights violations affecting tens of thousands of victims in the Cesar mining region.

[8] The Department of Cesar contains five Ecoregions; the Serranía del Perijá mountain range, the valley of the Cesar River, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, the valley of the Magdalena River and the Cienaga de Zapatosa marshes complex.

Mountain climate in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá become cooler with higher altitude, reaching freezing low temperatures on the snowy peaks.

The mountainous regions are characterized by low temperatures with snow on high altitude peaks and precipitation reaching more than 2,000 millimetres or 79 inches a year.

[16] Archeological findings has shown that the indigenous in the area worked with stones and wood, including a boomerang shaped weapon found in a cemetery at Los Robles La Paz.

[17] The first European to explore the area was Spanish Captain Pedro de Vadillo, but German Ambrosio Alfínger savagely conquered the region in 1531.

[6] From 1996 to 2006 paramilitary groups committed gross human rights violations affecting tens of thousands of victims in the Cesar mining region.

[23] Amazonas Antioquia Arauca Atlántico Bolívar Boyacá Caldas Caquetá Casanare Cauca Cesar Chocó Córdoba Cundinamarca Guainía Guaviare Huila La Guajira Magdalena Meta Nariño N. Santander Putumayo Quindío Risaralda San Andrés Santander Sucre Tolima Valle del Cauca Vaupés Vichada