Rumichaca Bridge

Rumichaca Bridge Spanish: Puente internacional de Rumichaca
Entering Ecuador on the modern Rumichaca Bridge.
Coordinates	0°48′55″N 77°39′54″W
Location

The Rumichaca Bridge (Quechua rumi stone, chaka bridge,[1] "stone bridge") is the principal highway passage between Colombia and Ecuador. The bridge is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from the city of Ipiales, Colombia and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the city of Tulcán, Ecuador.[2] The bridge is located in the Andes at an elevation of 2,763 metres (9,065 ft).[3] The Pan-American Highway crosses the bridge.

The stone bridge

Rumichaca received its name because here a natural stone bridge crosses the Carchi River (called the Guáitara River in Colombia). The stone bridge is often called the "Inca Bridge." The Carchi River was called the Angasmayo by the Incas and early Spanish colonists. The bridge, according to Spanish chroniclers, was the northernmost outpost of the Inca Empire, wrested from the Pasto people in the early 16th century. Atop this natural bridge are the old Colombian and Ecuadorian customs houses. Prior to the completion of the modern bridge in 1973, the stone bridge was used as a border crossing for goods and people.[4]

The modern bridge

The modern bridge, with a span of 200 metres (660 ft), is 80 metres (260 ft) upstream from the stone bridge, The bridge is the most important artery for commerce and the transport of goods between Colombia and Ecuador. In 2013, 57.9 percent (about US$ one billion) of Colombia's exports to Ecuador crossed the border on the Rumichaca Bridge. In the same year, 77 percent (about US$ 650 million) of Ecuador's exports to Colombia crossed the Rumichaca bridge.[5]

The old customs houses of Colombia and Ecuador sit atop the stone bridge.

Venezuelan refugees and migrants

From May 2017 until July 2019 nearly 1.7 million Venezuelans entered Ecuador, most of them across the Rumichaca Bridge.[6] The Venezuelan refugees and migrants were fleeing hunger and hyperinflation occurring in their country. Four hundred thousand remained in Ecuador and the others continued on to Peru, Chile, and Argentina.[7][8]

References

1. Teofilo Laime Ajacopa (2007). Diccionario Bilingüe: Iskay simipi yuyayk’anch: Quechua – Castellano / Castellano – Quechua (PDF). La Paz, Bolivia: futatraw.ourproject.org.
2. Casas Gragea, Angel Maria and Orbes Revelo, Belky, "Border Integration and Land Transport of Merchandise between Colombia and Ecuador", p. 56, http://www19.iadb.org/intal/intalcdi/integracion_comercio/i_INTAL_IYT_38_2014_CasasGragea_Revelo.pdf, accessed 1 June 2017
3. Google Earth
4. Almeida Reyes, Dr. Eduardo (2015), "El Camino del Inca en las Sierra Norte del Ecuador y su Valoracion Turistica", Revista de Invetigacion Cientifica, No, 7, pp. 75-87
5. Casas Gragea and Orbes Revelo, p. 57, http://www19.iadb.org/intal/intalcdi/integracion_comercio/i_INTAL_IYT_38_2014_CasasGragea_Revelo.pdf, accessed 1 June 2017
6. "Colombia and Ecuador Population Movement - Information bulletin no. 1". Relief Web. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
7. "Acnur: 30 000 ciudadanos venezolanos llegaron a Ecuador en la primera semana de agosto del 2018". El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-08-18.
8. "Venezuelan Migration could Raise GDP Growth in Ecuador by us to 2 Percent". The World Bank. Retrieved 3 March 2021.

0.8153°N 77.6649°W / 0.8153; -77.6649