NORTE DE SANTANDER

departamento, northeastern Colombia, bounded east by Venezuela and located where the Andean Cordillera Oriental bifurcate, one arm continuing northward as the Sierra de Ocaa and Serrana (mountains) de los Motilones, the other bending eastward to form the Venezuelan Andes. Cedar and pine are the principal forest trees. The departamento was created in 1910. The Catatumbo River region, near the Venezuelan border, is an important oil-producing area with a refinery at Tib and pipelines running west and southwest from the fields. In the cooler uplands, grains, potatoes, and horsebeans are the principal crops. Coffee and sugarcane are cultivated on the middle slopes and lower valleys, as in the vicinity of Ccuta (q.v.), the capital of the departamento. The highway network is well developed, and Ccuta has an airport. Area 8,362 square miles (21,658 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 1,022,816.