Bolívar is a department of Colombia. It was named after one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. It is in the north of the country, extending from the coast at Cartagena near the mouth of the Magdalena River, then south along the river to a border with Antioquia. Its capital is Cartagena, other important cities include Magangue and Turbaco. According to press reports, the Caribbean Bloc of the FARC-EP (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) controlled several of the department's gold mines and managed 48.000 hectares of land through figureheads.
