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Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)

Word of Mouth is the second solo studio album by American bassist Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981, while he was still a member of the jazz fusion group Weather Report, and also the name of a big band that Pastorius assembled and with which he toured from 1981 to 1983.

Critical reception
Reviewing the album in The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, Cook and Morton favorably assessed the album, they wrote: "A brilliant example of Jaco’s gift for sound (...) A lovely record, full of surprises", while in contrast Swenson saw the album as a troubled follow-up to the previous Jaco Pastorius album.

Background
While his debut album showcased his eclectic and impressive skills on electric bass, Word of Mouth focused more on his ability to compose and arrange for a larger band. The album still shows off Pastorius's skill, most notably in the solo opening to "Chromatic Fantasy" by J.S. Bach and the title track. "Crisis" also features a fast, bass pattern looping, which runs under the frantic soloing. Most of the rest of the album's bass is subdued and blends into the band's arrangement. The song "John and Mary" is dedicated to his children from his first marriage to Tracy; he had two other children, twin sons Julius and Felix with his second wife, Ingrid.

The band included Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine, Jack DeJohnette, Michael Brecker, Don Alias, and Toots Thielemans, who is featured on harmonica on many of the songs.

Crediting controversy
The first 50,000 copies of the album lacked credits for all participating musicians. As the result of a lawsuit against Warner Bros., CBS forbade the names of a few of the (less well-known) musicians to be mentioned on the sleeve. Pastorius defiantly replied that "if they can't be listed, then nobody will be listed". On later copies of the album, the names were listed.

Track listing
All tracks written by Jaco Pastorius except where noted.

 * 1) "Crisis" – 5:17*
 * 2) "Three Views of a Secret" – 6:05
 * 3) "Liberty City" – 11:57
 * 4) "Chromatic Fantasy" (Johann Sebastian Bach) – 3:01
 * 5) "Blackbird" (Lennon–McCartney) – 2:48
 * 6) "Word of Mouth" – 3:53**
 * 7) "John and Mary" – 10:52

* For the original LP, Cassette and CD release, "Crisis" was 5:21. However, for reasons that are unclear, the current MP3 downloads cut the first three seconds of the improvisation. The 1981 Warner Brothers promo disc has the 5:17 listing for "Crisis." ** "Word of Mouth" is listed as being 4:21 in the liner notes, as it begins with the feedback at the end of "Blackbird" and ends with the whispering and giggling at the start of "John and Mary".

Personnel

 * Jaco Pastorius – electric bass (1-7), double bass, organ, piano (2), synthesizer (1-3), autoharp, koto, percussion, vocals (7)
 * Herbie Hancock – keyboards, synthesizers, piano (3)
 * Wayne Shorter - soprano sax (7)
 * Michael Brecker, Tom Scott, Mario Cruz – saxophone
 * Hubert Laws - soprano & alto flute (4, 5)
 * Chuck Findley – trumpet
 * John Clark – French horn
 * Howard Johnson – tuba
 * Toots Thielemans – harmonica (2-6)
 * Don Alias - percussion (1, 4-6)
 * Robert Thomas Jr. – percussion (3, 7)
 * Peter Erskine – drums (1, 3-7)
 * Jack DeJohnette – drums (2)
 * Othello Molineaux and Leroy Williams – steel pans (3, 7)
 * John F. Pastorius IV – vocal (7)
 * Mary Pastorius IV – vocal (7)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Word of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)


text:
Sodomy laws in the United States

[[File:Sodomy laws in the United States.svg|right|thumb|400px|Current status of state statutes regarding sodomy and bestiality. All sodomy statues have been invalidated (ruled unconstitutional) by state courts or Lawrence v. Texas, but 12 have not been repealed by their state legislatures.

{{legend|Lightgrey|No statute banning sodomy}} {{legend|#f2b3be|Statute bans bestiality}} {{legend|#cc2f4a|Statute bans same-sex sodomy}} {{legend|#800000|Statute bans sodomy}}]]

The United States has inherited sodomy laws which constitutionally outlawed a variety of sexual acts that are deemed to be illegal, illicit, unlawful, unnatural and/or immoral from the colonial-era based laws in the 17th century. While they often targeted sexual acts between persons of the same sex, many sodomy-related statutes employed definitions broad enough to outlaw certain sexual acts between persons of different sexes, in some cases even including acts between married persons.

Through the mid to late 20th century, the gradual decriminalization of American sexuality led to the elimination of anti-sodomy laws in most U.S. states. During this time, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of its sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick in 1986. However, in 2003, the Supreme Court changed opinion and reversed the decision with Lawrence v. Texas, invalidating all sodomy laws in the remaining 14 states: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Up to Lawrence v. Texas
Colin Talley argues that the sodomy statutes in colonial America in the 17th century were largely unenforced. The reason he argues is that male-male eroticism did not threaten the social structure or challenge the gendered division of labor or the patriarchal ownership of wealth. There were gay men on General Washington's staff and among the leaders of the new republic, even though in Virginia there was a maximum penalty of death for sodomy. In 1779, Thomas Jefferson tried to reduce the maximum punishment to castration. It was rejected by the Virginia legislature. Justice Anthony Kennedy authoring the majority opinion in Lawrence v. Texas stated that American laws targeting same-sex couples did not develop until the last third of the 20th century and also wrote that:

"Early American sodomy laws were not directed at homosexuals as such but instead sought to prohibit nonprocreative sexual activity more generally, whether between men and women or men and men. Moreover, early sodomy laws seem not to have been enforced against consenting adults acting in private. Instead, sodomy prosecutions often involved predatory acts against those who could not or did not consent: relations between men and minor girls or boys, between adults involving force, between adults implicating disparity in status, or between men and animals."

In 1950, New York enacted a new statute that divided the crime of sodomy into three degrees. First degree sodomy, with a maximum penalty of twenty years imprisonment, is defined as being done by force as in rape, or an act with an animal or a dead body. Second degree sodomy, with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment, includes acts per os or per anum by a person over twenty-one years old with a person under eighteen years old. Third degree sodomy, which is a misdemeanor with a maximum of six months in prison, is any act per os or per anum not amounting to first or second degree sodomy. With this new law, New York became the first state to reduce the crime of sodomy from a felony to a misdemeanor. A psychopathic offender law was included with this statute, but covered only sexual acts with minors or with the use of force or threats. In 1950, the Attorney General issued an opinion that the governing sodomy law covered both participants in an act of fellatio, the wording of the law being broader for oral sex than for anal. This opinion would be affirmed by a court interpretation more than a decade later.

In 1965, New York enacted a new statute repealing the crime of sodomy. Due to opposition to repealing the crime of sodomy, New York enacted a new statute at the same time that criminalized sodomy and reduced the maximum penalty from six months to three months, along with excluded married couples. It created the category of sexual misconduct, defined as engaging in sexual intercourse with another person without such person's consent and engaging in sexual conduct with an animal or a dead human body, which became a class A misdemeanor. Since the new statute repealing the crime of sodomy would only be effective on 1 September 1967, it never took effect.

Prior to 1962, sodomy was a felony in every state punished by a lengthy term of imprisonment or hard labor. In that year, the Model Penal Code (MPC) — developed by the American Law Institute to promote uniformity among the states as they modernized their statutes — struck a compromise that removed consensual sodomy from its criminal code while making it a crime to solicit for sodomy. In 1962, Illinois adopted the recommendations of the Model Penal Code and thus became the first state to remove criminal penalties for consensual sodomy from its criminal code, almost a decade before any other state. Over the years, many of the states that did not repeal their sodomy laws had enacted legislation reducing the penalty. At the time of the Lawrence decision in 2003, the penalty for violating a sodomy law varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction among those states retaining their sodomy laws. The harshest penalties were in Idaho, where a person convicted of sodomy could earn a life sentence. Michigan followed, with a maximum penalty of 15 years' imprisonment while repeat offenders got life.

By 2002, 36 states had repealed their sodomy laws or their courts had overturned them. By the time of the 2003 Supreme Court decision, the laws in most states were no longer enforced or were enforced very selectively. The continued existence of these rarely enforced laws on the statute books, however, are often cited as justification for discrimination against gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals.

On June 26, 2003, the United States Supreme Court struck down in the Lawrence v. Texas decision the following jurisdictions (14 US states, 1 US territory and the Uniform Code of Military Justice) that statutes criminalized consensual sodomy: Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri (rest of the state outside of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District), North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, United States Armed Forces, Utah and Virginia.

On June 26, 2003, at the time of the Lawrence v. Texas decision, the following jurisdictions (20 US states, 1 US territory and the Uniform Code of Military Justice) had statutes criminalizing consensual sodomy: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, United States Armed Forces, Utah and Virginia.

Post Lawrence v. Texas
In 2005, Puerto Rico repealed its sodomy law, and in 2006, Missouri repealed its law against "homosexual conduct". In 2013, Montana removed "sexual contact or sexual intercourse between two persons of the same sex" from its definition of deviate sexual conduct, Virginia repealed its lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute, and sodomy was legalized in the US armed forces.

In 2005, basing its decision on Lawrence, the Supreme Court of Virginia in Martin v. Ziherl invalidated § 18.2-344, the Virginia statute making fornication between unmarried persons a crime.

On January 31, 2013, the Senate of Virginia passed a bill repealing § 18.2-345, the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute enacted in 1877. On February 20, 2013, the Virginia House of Delegates passed the bill by a vote of 62 to 25 votes. On March 20, 2013, Governor Bob McDonnell signed the repeal of the lewd and lascivious cohabitation statute from the Code of Virginia.

On March 12, 2013, a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down § 18.2-361, the crimes against nature statute. On March 26, 2013, Attorney General of Virginia Ken Cuccinelli filed a petition to have the case reheard en banc, but the Court denied the request on April 10, 2013, with none of its 15 judges supporting the request. On June 25, Cuccinelli filed a petition for certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals decision, which was rejected on October 7.

On February 7, 2014, the Virginia Senate voted 40-0 in favor of revising the crimes against nature statute to remove the ban on same-sex sexual relationships. On March 6, 2014, the Virginia House of Delegates voted 100-0 in favor of the bill. On April 7, the Governor submitted a slightly different version of the bill. It was enacted by the legislature on April 23, 2014. The law took effect upon passage.

On February 26, 2019, the Utah legislature voted to eliminate the crime of sodomy between consenting adults. Governor Gary Herbert signed the bill into law on March 26, 2019.

On May 23, 2019, the Alabama House of Representatives passed, with 101 voting yea and 3 absent, Alabama Senate Bill 320, repealing the ban on "deviate sexual intercourse". On May 28, 2019, the Alabama State Senate passed Alabama Senate Bill 320, with 32 yea and 3 absent. The bill took effect on September 1, 2019. Alabama is the southernmost continental state to repeal their sodomy law as of 2023.

While the original text of the bill intended to repeal both the state's sodomy law and unnatural or perverted sexual practice law, amendments from the Maryland Senate urged to solely repeal the sodomy law. On March 31, 2023, the Maryland legislature voted to repeal the unnatural and perverted sexual practice law. The bill was sent to Governor Wes Moore for signature. As he did not veto the bill within 30 days of passage, Moore allowed for the bill to become law without his signature, and the repeal took effect on October 1, 2023.

In March 2022, Idaho repealed its sodomy law. The repeal was a result of a lawsuit brought on in September 2020 by a plaintiff known as John Doe. John Doe alleged his constitutional rights were violated when he was forced to register as a sex offender upon moving to Idaho due to a conviction for "oral sex" two decades prior.

On May 17, 2023, the Minnesota legislature passed an Omnibus Judiciary and Public Safety Bill that included provisions repealing the state's sodomy, adultery, fornication, and abortion laws. On May 19, the Governor signed the bill into law. It took effect the following day.

As of October 1, 2023, the following jurisdictions (12 US states) had statutes criminalizing consensual sodomy: Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. These statutes penalties are not enforceable due to the binding precedent of Lawrence v. Texas, meaning consensual sodomy cannot be prosecuted.

 * Florida (Fld. Stat. 800.02.)
 * Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 16-6-2)
 * Kansas (Kan. Stat. 21-3505.)
 * Kentucky (KY Rev Stat § 510.100.)
 * Louisiana (R.S. 14:89.)
 * Massachusetts (MGL Ch. 272, § 34.) (MGL Ch. 272, § 35.) – 2023 repeal bill
 * Michigan (MCL § 750.158.) (MCL § 750.338.) (MCL § 750.338a.) (MCL § 750.338b.) – 2023 partial repeal bill
 * Mississippi (Miss. Code § 97-29-59.)
 * North Carolina (G.S. § 14-177.)
 * Oklahoma (§21-886.)
 * South Carolina (S.C. Code § 16-15-60.)
 * Texas (Tx. Penal Code § 21.06.)

Sodomy laws by jurisdiction in the United States of America
Below is a table of sodomy laws in the jurisdictions in United States of America and penalties as applicable to the binding precedent of Lawrence v. Texas.

Federal law
Sodomy laws in the United States were largely a matter of state rather than federal jurisdiction, except for laws governing the District of Columbia and the U.S. Armed Forces.

District of Columbia
In 1801, the 6th United States Congress enacted the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, a law that continued all criminal laws of Maryland and Virginia, with those of Maryland applying to the portion of the District ceded from Maryland and those of Virginia applying to the portion ceded from Virginia. As a result, in the Maryland-ceded portion, sodomy was punishable with up to seven years' imprisonment for free persons and with the death penalty for enslaved persons, whereas in the Virginia-ceded portion it was punishable between one and ten years' imprisonment for free persons and with the death penalty for enslaved persons. Maryland repealed the death penalty for slaves in 1809 and modified the penalty for all persons to match Virginia's terms of imprisonment. In 1847, the Virginia-ceded portion was given back to Virginia, thus only the Maryland law had effect in the district. In 1871, Congress enacted the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1871, a law that reorganized the district government and granted it home rule. All existing laws were retained unless and until expressly altered by the new city council. Direct rule was reinstated in 1874. The criminal status of sodomy became ambiguous until 1901, when Congress passed legislation recognizing common law crimes, punishable with up to five years' imprisonment or a fine of $1,000.

In 1935, Congress made it a crime in the district to solicit a person "for the purpose of prostitution, or any other immoral or lewd purpose". In 1948, Congress enacted the first law specific to sodomy in the district, which established a penalty of up to ten years in prison or a fine of up to $1,000, regardless of sexuality. Oral sex was included in the law's application. Also included with this law was a psychopathic offender law and a law "to provide for the treatment of sexual psychopaths". The metropolitan police department eventually had several officers whose sole job was to "check on homosexuals". Multiple court cases dealt with the issue in the following years. Many of the published sodomy and solicitation cases during the 1950s and 1960s reveal clear entrapment policies by the local police, some of which were disallowed by reviewing courts. In 1972, settling the case of Schaefers et al. v. Wilson, the D.C. government announced its intention not to prosecute anyone for private, consensual adult sodomy, an action disputed by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The action came as part of a stipulation agreement in a court challenge to the sodomy law brought by four gay men.

In 1973, Congress again granted the district home rule through the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. It provided for a new city council that could pass its own laws. However laws regarding certain topics, such as changes to the criminal code, were restricted until 1977. All laws passed by the D.C. government are subject to a mandatory 30-day "congressional review" by Congress. If they are not blocked, then they become law. In 1981, the D.C. government enacted a law that repealed the sodomy law, as well as other consensual acts, and made the sexual assault laws gender neutral. However, the Congress overturned the new law. A successful legislative repeal of the law followed in 1993. This time, Congress did not interfere. In 1995, all references to sodomy were completely removed from the criminal code, and in 2004, the D.C. government repealed an outdated law against fornication.

Military
Although the U.S. military discharged soldiers for homosexual acts throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth century, U.S. military law did not expressly prohibit homosexuality or homosexual conduct until February 4, 1921.

On March 1, 1917, the Articles of War of 1916 were implemented. This included a revision of the Articles of War of 1806, the new regulations detail statutes governing U.S. military discipline and justice. Under the category Miscellaneous Crimes and Offences, Article 93 states that any person subject to military law who commits "assault with intent to commit sodomy" shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

On June 4, 1920, Congress modified Article 93 of the Articles of War of 1916. It was changed to make the act of sodomy itself a crime, separate from the offense of assault with intent to commit sodomy. It went into effect on February 4, 1921.

On May 5, 1950, the Uniform Code of Military Justice was passed by Congress and was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, and became effective on May 31, 1951. Article 125 forbids sodomy among all military personnel, defining it as "any person subject to this chapter who engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy. Penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the offence."

As for the U.S. Armed Forces, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has ruled that the Lawrence v. Texas decision applies to Article 125, severely narrowing the previous ban on sodomy. In both United States v. Stirewalt and United States v. Marcum, the court ruled that the "conduct [consensual sodomy] falls within the liberty interest identified by the Supreme Court," but went on to say that despite the application of Lawrence to the military, Article 125 can still be upheld in cases where there are "factors unique to the military environment" that would place the conduct "outside any protected liberty interest recognized in Lawrence." Examples of such factors include rape, fraternization, public sexual behavior, or any other factors that would adversely affect good order and discipline. Convictions for consensual sodomy have been overturned in military courts under Lawrence in both United States v. Meno and United States v. Bullock.

Repeal
On December 26, 2013, President Barack Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which repealed the Article 125 ban on consensual sodomy.

title: Sodomy laws in the United States


text:
Malabar Hill

Malabar Hill are residential areas in Mumbai. It is home to several business tycoons and film personalities. Notable residents include Adi Godrej, Radhakishan Damani, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Cyrus Broacha, Ashish Pandey the Birla family, Shashi Ruia and family, Pallonji Mistry, the Jindal family, the Petit family, the Bhavya Samir Shah family, the Aagam Ashish Sanghvi family, the Bilakhia family, and the Thakkar family. It is one of the most expensive areas in the world regularly featuring in the top 10 world wide localities.

Prominent landmarks include the Chief Minister of Maharashtra's Bungalow, Government Guest House Sahyadri, official residences of VVIP state officials, South Court mansion of the Jinnah family and additionally the Hanging Gardens, Jain Temple and Banganga Tank.

History
Malabar Hill is the location of the Walkeshwar Temple, founded by the Silhara kings. The original temple was destroyed by the Portuguese, but rebuilt again in 1715 by Rama Kamath, and by 1860, 10 to 20 other temples were built in the region.

Mountstuart Elphinstone built the first bungalow in Malabar Hill while he was Governor of Bombay, between 1819 and 1827. Following his example, the place soon became an affluent locality, as it remains today.

Overview
Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the governor of Maharashtra, 'Varsha', which is the official residence of the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, 'Glenogle' the official residence of the General Manager of Central Railway (erstwhile Great Indian Peninsula Railway) are located here.

An unhindered view of Back Bay, with the Girgaon Chowpatty beach in the foreground, and the Nariman Point skyline in the background is one of the reasons for the high real estate prices. In January 2012, Maheshwari House was (partly) sold to industrialist Sajjan Jindal of Jindal Steel for 400 crores. The most expensive private residence lies just outside Malabar Hill on Altamount Road off Pedder Road, namely Antilia, the 27-storey, billion-dollar tower in Mumbai, owned by India's second richest and the world's tenth-richest person Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries.

Buses only started serving this area during World War II.

South Court (informally known as the 'Jinnah House'), the former residence of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan is also present here, but is closed to public due to property disputes.

Also of note in the Malabar Hill district, there is a cremation ground that sits near the sea which is home to the samadhi shrines of several famous Indian saints. Notably among them is the samadhi shrine of the guru of Shri Nisargadatta Maharaj, who was Shri Siddharameshwar Maharaj, as well as the samadhi shrine of his devoted disciple Shri Ranjit Maharaj.

Amongst the notable people born in Malabar Hill included Douglas Jardine, the English cricketer who captained England during the Bodyline tour of Australia in 1932-33.

title: Malabar Hill


text:
Magdalena Department

Magdalena is a department of Colombia with more than 1.3 million people, located to the north of the country by the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Magdalena Department is Santa Marta and was named after the Magdalena River. It inherited the name of one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia that its current territory integrated.

Location
The Department of Magdalena is located on the North Coast of the Colombian Caribbean Region.

On the north it borders the Caribbean Sea. On the northeast it borders the La Guajira Department, being divided by the Palomino River. On the east it borders with the Cesar Department, which is in part divided by the Guaraní River.

On the west, it is divided by the Magdalena River, and it borders the departments of Atlantico in the Northwest, and Bolívar in the West and Southwest.

Basins
The territory of the Department of Magdalena is formed by four drainage basins which are very different in composition and importance.

 * Sierra Nevada's Northern Slope

The drainage basin of the Sierra Nevada's western slope is located in the northern part of the department. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta creates different rivers that run mainly through the municipality of Santa Marta, and that finally end up draining into the Caribbean Sea.

The rivers that form part of this basin are:
 * Palomino River
 * Don Diego River 2
 * Buritaca River
 * Guachaca River
 * Mendiguaca River
 * Piedras River
 * Manzanares River
 * Gaira River

 * Sierra Nevada’s Southwestern Slope

This basin gathers its waters from the rivers coming from the southern and western slopes of the Sierra Nevada. The basin irrigates great extensions of the municipalities of Ciénaga, Zona Bananera, Fundación, Aracataca, and El Retén, which are the heart of the agricultural and livestock economy of the department. The rivers that form part of this basin are:
 * Frío River
 * Sevilla River
 * Tucurinca River
 * Aracataca River
 * Fundación River
 * Rosa Creek

It also consists of a small number of arroyos that only flow during the rainy seasons.

This basin also encompasses the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, the largest marsh in the north of the country, which is formed by 16 smaller marshes that are connected by means of arms within the march. The balance of the march is a delicate one that depends on the fresh waters coming from the Sierra Nevada, and the periodical flooding of the Magdalena River, and the salt water coming from the mouth of the March to the sea, that is carried by the current and winds into the marshland.

 * Magdalena Basin

The Magdalena River Basin is the largest drainage basin in the department, it is formed by the Magdalena River and its tributaries that feed on to the river and the Marsh.

The Mompóx Depression is found within this basin, this depression runs from the Zapatosa Marsh to the delta of the Magdalena River. This depression collects the most water in the department as its where the Cauca River, Cesar River, and the San Jorge River drain its waters. The Magdalena River is by far the most affluent river of these, and during the rainy season when it overflows, it causes the other rivers to flow backwards, not before overflowing the marshes and sometimes flooding some valleys.

 * Ariguaní Basin

The Ariguaní River drains into the Magdalena River through the Zapatosa Marsh and washes over the central valleys of the departments of Magdalena and Cesar that are the principal areas of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Caribbean Region.

 * Marshes

The department of Magdalena is characterized by its many marshes and extensive marshland valleys. The whole western side of the department its dotted with marshes and lakes due to the Magdalena River that borders the department on this side. Most of this marshes are located in the northwestern side. The permanent marshes are, Chilloa, La Rinconada, Tesca, Pijiño, Juan Criollo, Jaraba, Playa Afuera, Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, and Zapatosa.

The Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, is the biggest and by far the most important marsh in the department of Magdalena and one of the most important marshes in the country. It is located in the northwest of the department and is separated from the sea by a very thin margin of land, only a few meters away. It has an extension of 4,280 km², of which 730 km² are just water mirrors with a depth of 2 to 6 meters.

The Zapatosa Marsh, located in the municipality of El Plato in the southernmost part of the department, it is shared with the Cesar Department, who controls most of its waters. It has an extension of 310 km² and at its deepest it reaches about 8m. In it many rivers of different importance merge. The Zapatosa Marsh drains into the Magdalena River by an arm of about 16 km of length.

Climate
The Department of Magdalena, because of its terrain, and proximity to the sea has an unstable weather. Its Climate is mainly dictated by its global positioning, and because the department of Magdalena is located on the Intertropical Convergence Zone it possess an inter-tropical climate. Temperature in the department is affected by ocean currents, precipitation and atmospheric pressure, it mainly has a hot temperatures with high humidity, but temperatures vary as altitude raises.

The altitude of the department goes from 0m to 5,775m above sea levels, the drastic changes of altitude divide the territory into what is called thermal floors. There are no solid or determined divides between these floors as local factors can affect the temperature. The first 200m of altitude are considered the warm lands, they occupy a great extension of the departmental territory, the average temperature is of 30 °C. The main urban centers are located in the warm lands, including all of the downtown urban area of Santa Marta. The altitude increase because of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain, the highest at sea level, and temperatures raise as it goes up.

Winds

The presence of the Sierra Nevada in this area of the country has consequences in the climate of the department, the SNSM stands windward blocking the path of the Trade winds that blow from the North and Northeast creating a greater cloud accumulation and precipitation. The winds that crash into the mountain ascend in an Orographic lift, this cooler air cannot hold the moisture as well as warm air and this effectively raises the relative humidity, creating clouds and frequently precipitation. The clouds that manage to pass over the mountain, move hastily downwards creating foehn winds that raise the temperature of the area west of the Sierra, which include the Santa Marta, and Ciénaga.

In the coastal area, droughts are cause by the diversion of the cold and warm katabatic winds coming down the Sierra, however the sea breezes help to cool down temperatures a bit, but by because of their direction, they end up extending the drought effects farther inland.

Rainfall
The department of Magdalena due to its location in the Intertropical Convergence Zone has only two seasons. The Rainy season takes place between April and November, with a period of less intensity between June and August. The dry season takes place during December and March.

The Mompox Depression presents its own climatic conditions due to its many permanent bodies of water, like the different ciénagas or mashes, and rivers and lakes. This wet habitat, permanently exposed to solar radiation, makes for a very humid environment, with an average annual rainfall of between 1,500 and 2,000mm, these rains are Convection rains as they are created by evaporation of its waters by high temperatures, this is typical precipitation around the equatorial belt.

Due to its complicated geography, the precipitation in the department ranges from 250mm in the driest areas, to 4,000mm in the cold floors of the Sierra Nevada.

Environment
The territory of Magdalena has an area of approximately 23,188 km², small compared to other regions, but in its territory various types of different ecoregions are found. From the beaches and sea landscape in the North, the snow-covered peaks in the Sierra, the swampy marshes in the west, the cloud forests, to the grasslands inland, the urban districts, the farmlands, the dry desert like, the deep rain forest, the rocky rivers to many other small ecosystems. These ecosystem support different fauna and flora and house many delicate species.

Ecoregions
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, in the Magdalena Department 8 different distinct ecoregions are found in its territory.

Administrative divisions
The Department of Magdalena is subdivided into 30 municipalities and one district. The municipalities are governed by a democratically elected municipal mayor and a municipal council. The Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta is administered by the Municipality of Santa Marta and has special distinction within the country.

Municipalities

 * 1) Algarrobo
 * 2) Aracataca
 * 3) Ariguaní
 * 4) Cerro San Antonio
 * 5) Chibolo
 * 6) Ciénaga
 * 7) Concordia
 * 8) El Banco
 * 9) El Piñón
 * 10) El Retén
 * 11) Fundación
 * 12) Guamal
 * 13) Nueva Granada
 * 14) Pedraza
 * 15) Pinto
 * 16) Pijiño
 * 17) Pivijay
 * 18) Plato
 * 19) Pueblo Viejo
 * 20) Remolino
 * 21) Sabanas de San Ángel
 * 22) Salamina
 * 23) San Sebastián de Buenavista
 * 24) Santa Ana
 * 25) Santa Marta
 * 26) San Zenón
 * 27) Sitionuevo
 * 28) Tenerife
 * 29) Zapayán
 * 30) Zona Bananera

Tourism

 * Gold Museum
 * Casa de la Aduana
 * Simón Bolívar National Memorial
 * Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino (National Sanctuary and Museum)
 * Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta
 * Ciudad Perdida (World Heritage Site)
 * Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (flora and fauna sanctuary)
 * Isla de Salamanca (natural monument)
 * Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Park
 * Tayrona National Natural Park

Sports

 * Unión Magdalena Football Team that until c. 2005 that did not make the cut and was sent to the Colombian second division (Primera B). The team is nicknamed "el ciclón bananero" (The Banana Cyclone).

title: Magdalena Department