Yukpa
Encyclopedia
Cesar Department
Cesar Department or simply Cesar is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with the Department of Magdalena and Department of Bolivar, to the south with Department of Santander, to...
in northern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
by the Serrania del Perija
Serrania del Perija
The Serranía del Perijá, Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch , in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela, ending further north in the Guajira Desert, a total distance of about 310 km...
bordering Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Their territory covers the eastern areas of the municipalities
Municipalities of Colombia
The Municipalities of Colombia are decentralized subdivisions of the Republic of Colombia. Municipalities make up most of the departments of Colombia with 1,119 municipalities...
of Robles La Paz, Codazzi
Codazzi
Agustín Codazzi or Codazzi, is a city and municipality of the Department of Cesar. It was founded in 1784 by the Spanish Captain Salvador Felix de Arias with the name of El Pueblito del Espiritu Santo but later renamed after the Italian cartographer, Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi, who died in...
and Becerril
Becerril
Becerril or Becerril de Campos is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Cesar.-Geography:The municipality of Becerril borders to the east with the country of Venezuela where the Serrania del Perija mountain ranges is shared, the municipality of Codazzi to the north, to the west...
in Resguardos (indian reserve
Indian reserve
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." The Act also specifies that land reserved for the use and benefit of a band which is not...
) named Socorpa, Menkue, El Cozo Iroka and some other small areas in Venezuela. According to an Inter Press Service
Inter Press Service
Inter Press Service is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development....
story, the majority of the Yukpa, who number nearly 10,000, live in Venezuela although some communities are still located in the mountains across the border in Colombia.
Some members of this ethnicity have developed genetic Dwarfism
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
and average a height of 1.30 meters.