Arenal (Colombia)

The settlement, from which the city later grew, was founded in 1850 . The municipality of Arenal was separated into a separate administrative unit in 1996 .

The city is located in the southeastern part of the department, on the right bank of a small river of the same name (left tributary of the Morales arm of the Magdalena river), east of the Serrania de San Lucas ridge of Central Cordillera , at a distance of approximately 270 kilometers southeast of the city of Cartagena , the administrative center of the department. The absolute height is 76 meters above sea ​​level ^[1] .
The municipality of Arenal borders in the north and northwest with the territory of the municipality of Rio Viejo , in the southwest with the municipality of Montecristo , in the south and east with the municipality of Morales . The area of ​​the municipality is 534 km².

According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia, the total population of the city and municipality in 2015 was 18,876 people ^[2] . The dynamics of the population of the municipality by years:

According to the 2005 census, men made up 54.1% of the Arenal population, women - 45.9%, respectively. In racial terms, whites and mestizos accounted for 58.5% of the population of the city; Negroes , mulattoes and Raysals - 41.5% ^[3] . The literacy rate of the entire population was 84%.

The basis of the Arenal economy is plant growing, livestock , fishing , logging and mining .
91.5% of the total number of urban and municipal enterprises are trade enterprises, 6.4% are service enterprises, 2.1% are industrial enterprises ^[3] .