CHOROGRAPHIC COMMISSION: CAUSES, TRAVEL AND IMPORTANCE - HISTORY - 2025

The Chorographic Commission was an important cartographic and scientific project commissioned by the government of the Republic of Colombia to the Italian military and engineer, Agustín Codazzi in 1850. The objective was to go through and elaborate a complete description of Colombia.

The aim was to draw up a detailed and detailed chorographic map of each province, as well as a general letter. It developed over two stages. The first was directed by Agustín Codazzi between 1850 and 1859, and consisted of 10 expeditions that covered the entire Colombian territory.

Map of the Republic of Colombia published in 1890, drawn up by Agustín Codazzi.

The second stage corresponded to the period 1860-1862, after the death of Codazzi, and was headed by Manuel Ponce de León. The word chorographic refers to the elaboration of representative maps of large regions, countries or continents on a smaller scale.

These maps can contain information with details such as the natural configuration, characteristics of the country, borders and major cities.

Background

After the separation of Gran Colombia in 1830, the provinces of Nueva Granada (Colombia), Ecuador and Venezuela decided to have their own governments, but the New Granada government encountered the problem of not knowing the territory it governed.

Except for the most prominent cities during the Colony, the rest of the country was unknown. Huge tracts of the territory remained unexplored in detail.

In this sense, Congress issued a law in 1839 to contract the development of a complete cartographic and scientific survey that would describe the territory: geography, resources, population, culture, etc.

The idea was to hire several geographic engineers who would be in charge of making a detailed description of the entire national territory and who, in addition, would draw up a general map of New Granada in which maps of each of the provinces were included.

These maps had to contain the corresponding itineraries as well as their particular descriptions.

Six years later, the then president of the republic, Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, dictated the institutional and administrative bases of the Chorographic Commission.

However, due to the change of government, it was finally in 1850 when the project began by order of President José Hilario López.

Protagonists

The New Granada Chorographic Commission project was devised by Francisco José de Caldas y Tenorio, another Colombian military engineer and geographer.

He, along with the other hero of the Independence of Colombia, Francisco de Paula Santander, tried without success to carry it out. Since Independence in 1819, that had been the wish of the liberators.

The team coordinated by Agustín Codazzi from 1850 onwards included other engineers, cartographers, geographers and illustrators, such as Manuel Ancízar, Carmelo Fernández, Santiago Pérez, Enrique Price, José Jerónimo Triana, Felipe Pérez, Manuel María Paz and Manuel Ponce de León.

However, after Codazzi's death in 1859, it was necessary for the other members of the team to take charge of completing the work.

In 1859, under the government of Mariano Ospina Rodríguez, Manuel Ponce de León and Manuel María Paz were hired to continue coordinating the preparation of the maps.

Then, in 1861, President Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera ratified the hiring of Ponce de León y Paz to prepare the general map and atlas of Colombia. Felipe Pérez was also commissioned to write the physical and political geography.

Publication of the atlas and map of Colombia

The work of the Choreographic Commission took three decades until the publication of the last map. In 1864, during the government of President Manuel Murillo Toro, contracts were signed to publish the work of Manuel Ponce de León and Manuel María Paz in Paris.

However, after the political reform of 1886, the states were eliminated and the departments were created.

The United States of Colombia, as the country was called, acquired the name of the Republic of Colombia. As a result of these changes, the geographic chart and atlas that had been published a year earlier became obsolete.

Again that year, during the government of President Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, the cartographer and cartoonist Manuel María Paz was hired. His mission was to prepare the new chart and the new atlas of the country.

Then, in 1889 he published in Paris the Geographical and Historical Atlas of the Republic of Colombia, in collaboration with the botanist and explorer José Jerónimo Triana. In 1890 the Map of the Republic of Colombia (New Granada) was also published in Paris, which had been drawn up by Agustín Codazzi.

Causes

The Chorographic Commission had a double purpose: political-administrative and scientific. In the first instance, the Colombian government needed to exercise greater control over the national territory. Secondly, the work also made it possible to obtain valuable information of a scientific nature.

The commission had to prepare a complete description of the territory of New Granada, in addition to drawing up a general letter and a chorographic map of each of the provinces.

However, there was another objective of an economic and political nature: the New Granada (Colombian) State needed to know the magnitude of the wealth it housed.

To build communication routes and boost the economy and international trade, it was necessary to know the relief and potential of the soil. The Colombian government wanted to encourage foreign investment and immigration in the country.

Travels

Agustín Codazzi's chorographic expedition began in 1850 the arduous work of traveling kilometer by kilometer through Colombian territory.

The objective was not only to draw up a map but to know first-hand the culture and idiosyncrasies of its inhabitants, apart from describing the landscape and representing the national geography.

From mountains and plains, rivers, lagoons and coasts to every trail and military barracks, all were faithfully described in the works.

However, the most important work consisted in making a survey of soils suitable for agriculture. In this way, the government could quantify the potential of the territory the country had for its development.

View of the Meta river taken from Orocué.

Expeditions

The Chorographic Commission carried out its work during ten long and tiring expeditions between 1850 and 1859. These were:

First expedition (1850)

He traveled the areas of Santander, Soto, Socorro, Ocaña, Pamplona and Vélez in the northern direction of the country.

Second expedition (1851)

He headed northeast to complete the maps of the provinces of Vélez, Socorro, Soto, Tunja, Tundama, Ocaña, Santander and Pamplona.

Third expedition (1852)

He continued northwest to visit Medellín, Mariquita, Córdoba, Cauca and Antioquia. In this expedition, the option of navigating the Cauca River was analyzed.

Fourth expedition (January, 1853)

The team traveled down the Magdalena River to its lower part. During the return trip, the Patía Valley was explored with the respective visits to the territories of Pasto, Túquerres, Popayán and the Cauca River Valley.

Fifth expedition (end of 1853)

During the stay in Chocó, the option of opening a channel that would connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was studied. In this regard, the map of this area was raised.

Sixth expedition (1855)

The map was surveyed describing the lower part of the Bogotá River.

Seventh expedition (1856)

The research team headed east from the cities of Bogotá and Villavicencio. The map of the course that the Meta River follows was drawn up.

Eighth expedition (1857)

The headwaters of the Magdalena River were studied and a detailed description of the archaeological sites of San Agustín was made.

Ninth expedition (beginning of 1858)

His objective was to trace the road between Facatativá and Beltrán.

Tenth expedition (end of 1858)

He walked the road towards the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, thus completing the map of the northern provinces.

In the middle of the expedition, Codazzi died in February 1859 in the town of Espíritu Santo, near Valledupar. Later, the town was renamed Codazzi, in his honor.

Importance

Indians of Puracé. Drawing by Manuel María Paz, 1853.

It was the first time that the entire territory had been methodologically explored. Observations of the flora and fauna, the soil resources, the Colombian way of life, and other data, allowed to have a very complete geographical and human picture.

The commission's studies provided the necessary information on the type of soils and crops that could be grown in a country. The Colombian agricultural economy, which revolved around tobacco and a few other crops, could experiment with other options.

The inventory of natural and human resources drawn up by the Chorographic Commission contributed to the knowledge of the country. It was the starting point for the use of the natural and social heritage, and for the conformation of the Colombian nation.

References

1. The Chorographic Commission. Retrieved on March 6, 2018 from Bibliotecanacional.gov.co
2. The Chorographic Commission. Consulted from es.scribd.com
3. The Colombian Chorographic Commission and the Mission Héliographique (PDF). Consulted of magazines.unal.edu.co
4. Chorographic Commission. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org
5. The legacy of Agustín Codazzi. Consulted of elespectador.com
6. February 7: Mourning for the death of General Agustín Codazzi. Consulted of venelogia.com
7. Map of Colombia (1890). Consulted of commons.wikimedia.org