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Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, east of the Magdalena River, bordered to the south and east by Boyacá, and to the north by Norte de Santander Department. Its capital is the city of Bucaramanga.
Prior to the arrival of the Spaniards the terrirtory of now Santander was inhabited by Amerindian ethnic groups; Muiscas, Chitareros, Laches, Yariguí, Opón, Carare and Guanes.
Their political and social structure was based on Cacicazgos a federation of tribes led by a cacique, with different social classes. Their main activity consisted on planting maize, beans, yuca, arracacha, cotton, Agave, tobacco, tomato, pineapple, guava, among others, their agricultural skills were somewhat developed, taking advantages of the different mountainous terrains. The Guanes utilized terraces and an artificial system of irrigation and had knowledge on arts and crafts based on ovens to produce ceramics, used the cotton to confection indumentary and accessories such as hats and bags.
Spanish Conqueror Antonio de Lebrija led the first expedition through the area in 1529. The area was later invaded c. 1532 by German Ambrosius Ehinger in a quest to find El Dorado disrrupting and destroying many of the Amerindian villages. Some ethnic groups like the Yariguíes, Opones, and Carares fought the conquerors until becoming extinct. Explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada later made presence in the area in an effort to apeace the tribes. The colonization process in the area was started by Martín Galeano who founded the village of Vélez on July 3, 1539 and Pedro de Ursúa and Ortún Velasco founded the village of Pamplona (now part of the Norte de Santander Department) in 1549.
Once the Amerindian tribes were dominated the Spanish organized the territory based on Cabildos (councils) to maintain the dominance and administer justice in the conquered territory. Amerindian were enslaved and forced to work on agridepartments fields, manufacturing goods and mines. These two villages functioned as centers for the Cabildos territories. In 1636 the Cabildo of Vélez was transferred to a new jurisdiction managed in the village of Girón, which area went from the Sogamoso River, Río del Oro to the Magdalena River. The village of San Gil was created in 1689, segregated from the Jurisdiction of Vélez. In 1789 the village of Socorro was also segregated from Vélez and all them put under the mandate of the Province of Tunja, subdivision of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. On July 9, 1795 the corregimiento of Velez - San Gil - Socorro is created due to the unsustainability of the Province of Tunja, establishing the local government in the village of Socorro.
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