Chocó has a diverse geography, unique ecosystems and unexploited natural resources; however, its population has one of the lowest standards of living of all departments in Colombia.

In August 2016, Colombian media reported that some 50 children starved in less than three months, creating awareness of the grave condition Chocó’s inhabitants are facing.

[6] In spite of the department’s ranking of “world's rainiest lowland” (the Chocó–Darién moist forests ecoregion), with close to 400 inches (10,000 mm) of annual precipitation,[7] Quibdó lacks sanitary drinking water.

During the reign of military dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, his administration proposed to eliminate Chocó and divide its territory between the departments of Antioquia and Valle del Cauca.

The Baudó Mountains on the coast and the inland Cordillera Occidental are cut by low valleys, with an altitude less than 1,000 meters, that form most of the territory.

However, with advances in LiDAR imaging and the efforts of various nonprofit conservation organizations, there is much documentation to identify and quantify the environmental degradation and biodiversity loss.

[14] El Pangán ProAves Reserve, in the biogeographic region of Chocó, charged with protecting area's biodiversity, with special consideration of protecting bird species, is greatly challenged and not sufficiently equipped to meet the numerous conservation threats to a great diversity of fauna and flora that include 300 bird species.

[15] The Chocó is inhabited predominantly by Afro-Colombians, descendants of enslaved Africans imported and brought to this area by the Spanish colonizers after conquering the Americas.

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