Map - Chocó Department (Departamento del Chocó)

Choco Department is a department of Western Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It contains all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.

Chocó has a diverse geography, unique ecosystems and unexploited natural resources. However, its population has one of the lowest standards of living of all departments in Colombia. A major factor, cited by the government, is the rugged, montane rainforest environment, limiting any infrastructure improvements to the region. No major highway has been worked on since initial foundations were laid down in 1967. This roadway would have successfully linked Chocó to the nearest large city, Medellin, providing easier access to medical care, necessities, food, and more. Currently, depending on their location, residents of Chocó who are in a medical emergency, and who do have access to vehicular transport, face an unpredictable journey. This trip could take several hours to several days, depending on their starting point. This is provided that the existing small roads aren't flooded, shut down, or otherwise blocked; some remote indigenous communities have no other option than to canoe or boat by river to Quibdó, a trip which can last anywhere from two days to a week. For those needing more advanced services, Medellín is the closest major city to the capital Quibdó

Often, a family’s resources, along with the patient’s potential physical condition, will prevent medical help being sought out; in August 2016, Colombian media reported that some 50 children starved in less than three months, creating awareness of the grave condition Choco’s inhabitants are facing. That same year, an additional 10 adults and senior citizens, of the indigenous Chocó community, died due to preventable causes such as malaria and diarrhea. There is no reliable electrical grid, sewage system or drinkable water (even in the capital Quibdó). In spite of the department’s ranking of “world's rainiest lowland” (the Choco–Darien moist forests ecoregion), with close to 400 in of annual precipitation, Quibdó lacks sanitary drinking water.

The department was created in 1944. Its low population, mountainous and inhospitable topography, and distance from Bogotá resulted in Chocó receiving little attention from the Colombian government. During the reign of military dictator Gustav Rojas Pinilla, his administration proposed to eliminate Chocó and divide its territory between the departments of Antioch and Valley of Cauca. But the 1957 coup d'état of General Gabriel Paris Gordillo overthrew Pinilla's government and ended such plans.