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A ruana (possibly from Spanish ruana "ragged" or Quechua ruana "textile"[1]) is a poncho-style outer garment native to the Colombian and Venezuelan Andes. In Colombia, the ruana is the characteristic and traditional garment of the department of Boyacá, initially made by indigenous and mestizo people, although it is also made in the departments of Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Nariño, Bogotá, Santander (Colombia), Norte de Santander and Caldas. In Venezuela it is widely used and made in the Andean states of Táchira, Mérida and Trujillo, used since the colonial times by all Venezuelan inhabitants, currently only in the Andean region its traditional use is maintained.
Similar to other poncho-like garments in Latin America, a ruana is basically a very thick, soft and sleeveless square or rectangular blanket with an opening in the center for the head to go through with a slit down the front to the hem. A ruana may or may not come with a hood to cover the head.
- ^ Orosco, Eujenio del Castillo i (1877). Vocabulario Paez-Castellano catecismo nociones gramaticales i dos platicas con adiciones, correciones i un vocabulario Castellano-Paez (in Spanish). na. p. 19.
Ruana, con r, es quechua tambien, quiere decir tejido.