site of the present-day city. In 1871, the region was separated from the Department of Magdalena, and La Guajira became a national territory in its own right. The Intendance of La Guajira was created in 1898.

In 1911, the Colombian government created the Commissary of la Guajira. In the 1930s, numerous immigrants came to the area from the Middle East (Christian Arabs, Maronites in particular, and Shi'i Muslims) from Lebanon,