The municipality and town are located in the Atrato River basin, on the Chocoan side of Urabá, a region spanning the departments Chocó and Antioquia.

There are no exact data on the foundation of Riosucio, but it could have occurred between 1518 and 1524, after Vasco Núñez de Balboa's second trip to the Atrato River.

[2] Hundreds were killed, many disappeared, and over 22,000 survivors were forced to leave their lands and move to poor neighborhoods of big cities around the country.

The Atrato provides access southward (upriver) to the department capital Quibdó and northward (downriver) to the Gulf of Urabá and its port Turbo.

Although the tourist industry is not well developed in the area due to lack of infrastructure and of general security, areas that attract tourist interest exist and include: The region is populated mainly by Afro-Colombian communities and by indigenous communities whose ancestral groups include but are not limited to the Katíos and the Emberás.