They are a native people of Colombia, who live on the northern slope of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the valleys of the Don Diego, Palomino, San Miguel and Río Ancho rivers. There are about ten thousand people who speak their own language. They are organized in towns, in which the authority is the Mama, a central figure of the Kogui culture, who embodies the sacred law. They speak the Kogui language, which belongs to the Arhuaca group of languages, which in turn belongs to the Tayronas family. They are located on the north and south slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, in the part corresponding to Guatapurí, in what is known as Malduámake of the Arhuaco de la Sierra reservation; Most of the Kogui population lives in the departments of La Guajira, Cesar and Magdalena.