Resumen

Colombia is progressing in a process of regionalization, in which departments participate through the integration of regions. An example of the foregoing can be seen in the formation of the Central RAPE Region. For the department of Tolima it is pertinent to analyze the economic dynamics of the ANoR region since in this way it can be determined if the Department of Tolima has competitive advantages that position it as a winning department in terms of regional development within the Central ANoR region. Regional analysis is a multidimensional activity in which the object of study is the region and the dynamics presented there. The region can be understood as a type of organized territory that contains, in real or potential terms, the factors of its own development, with total independence of scale. With a defining attribute: the very complexity of a system abierto‖ (Boisier, 1979). Regional analysis through information that simplifies reality and the application of methodologies validates knowledge and finds relationships between the parts that make up the region. Therefore the importance from the academic and institutional point of view, of the work presented here, is that an analysis of the regional economic dynamics in the department of Tolima RAPE center 2000-2014, can provide a frame of reference both conceptual and theoretical, which allows to identify in what level of regional development is the department with respect to other departments and with respect to the main cities that are in the region. All of which ultimately contributes to the formulation of action plans and programmatic frameworks that tend towards symmetrical socio-economic development and that dynamize the department of Tolima with respect to other regions.