RISARALDA
Inhabitant: Risaraldense
This amazing department created in 1966, has an area of 4,140 square kilometers and lies on the Western and Central
cordilleras (mountain ranges) and the
Risaralda River valley in central-west Colombia. It borders Caldas, Antioquia, Quindío, Valle del Cauca, Tolima and Chocó. Before its creation, it was part of Caldas Department.
Risaralda is strategically located for commerce, being the central point of the so called "Gold Triangle" formed by the three main cities of Colombia: Bogotá, Medellín and Cali.
Its uneven terrain is excellent for agriculture, mainly coffee crops. It is part of the great Coffee Axis of the country. Besides coffee, there are large plantations of sugar cane, banana, cocoa, yucca and bamboo.
Livestock is also very important for the economy, mainly bovine for the production of dairy products. Textile, footwear, food and beverages industries are also significant.
Several rivers run through department, such as the
Cauca, the San Juan, the Otún, the Risaralda, the Tamaná, the Río Negro, La Vieja, the Quinchía, the Mondo and the Guarato.
Risaralda has a population of more than one million people, with traditional families of
antioqueño and
vallecaucano origin. The region is also home for about four thousand people of native
quimbaya origin.
It has many tourist attractions such as the thermal water of
Santa Rosa de Cabal, the
Tatamá, Ucumarí and
Los Nevados national parks and
La Nona forest reserve.
Capital: Pereira
“The pearl of
the Otún” and known nowadays as
“The city without doors” or “
La querendona trasnochadora y morena", is inhabited by half a million people.
It is a modern city, with important buildings, cozy colonial houses, parks, an excellent hotel network, and great monuments such as
El Bolívar desnudo, el Prometeo encantado, el Hombre de fuego and
El Cristo sin Cruz.
Among the tourist attractions, you will find, the Archaeological Museum
Jaime Mejía or Museum of the gold and the ceramics, the
Matecaña zoo, Comfamiliar funfair, the Coffee Metropolitan Park, the Botanical Garden of Pereira's Technological University, the sanctuary of fauna and flora
Otún-Quimbaya and the majestic cathedral of Our Lady of Poverty.
It has an important conventions center.
Its industry and technology, place Pereira in a very important standing among Colombian cities.
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