article

For other uses of Medellín, see Medellín (disambiguation).


Location of Medellín's Metropolitan Area in the Antioquia Department
City of Medellín
City Flag City Coat of arms
City nickname: "The City of Everlasting Spring", "Mountain's Capital", "City Of The Flowers", "Orchids' Capital", "Beautiful Village", "Little Silver Cup", "Medallo".
Area
 - Total
382 km²
Population
 - Total (2006)
 - Density
 - Metro area (2006)
2,223,078 5320.75 hab./km²
3,312,165 [http://eltiempo.terra.com.co/naci/mede/2006-06-14/ARTICULO-WEB-_NOTA_INTERIOR-2947892.html
Time zone UTC–5
Location
Mayor Sergio Fajardo
International dialling code +57 4
Government of Medellín official website

Medellín is the capital city of the Antioquia Department in Colombia. It was founded in 1675 by Miguel de Aguinaga. As of 2006, Medellín municipality has a population of 2 223 078 inhabitants*, making it the third most populated city in Colombia after Bogotá and Santiago de Cali. Medellín also serves as the core of the Valle de Aburrá metropolitan area, the second largest in Colombia, with more than 3.3 million inhabitants, and a leading and productive industrial and urban center.

Until the late 1990s, the city unfortunately became known for being a base for the most powerful international drug trafficking organizations and for being constantly affected by the violent Colombian conflict. Recent social changes have led to make Medellín a peaceful place. The city's major concern, shared by many other Colombian cities, is the ongoing unemployment and sub-employment problem.

History

The valley of Aburrá was discovered by Spanish explorer Jeronimo Luis Tejelo in 1541 but the settlement of Medellín was founded later, in November 2, 1675 by Spanish conqueror Miguel de Aguinaga. Not until 1813 did the villa get a denomination of city. Thirteen years later it was proclaimed capital of the Department of Antioquia, after government officials decided to move out from Santa Fe de Antioquia.

Throughout history Medellín has gone by different names: Aburrá de los Yamesíes, San Lorenzo de Aburrá, San Lorenzo de Aná, Valle de San Bartolomé, Villa de la Candelaria de Medellín and Medellín. The name of Medellín originally came from "Metellium", the ancient Latin name for today's town of Medellín, Extremadura in the province of Badajoz, Spain. "Metellium", in turn, is derived from the name of the Roman founder of the city in 75 AD, Cecilio Metello. The capital of Antioquia was named after said Spanish town in honor of the earl of that city, Pedro Portocarrero, who was the president of the Consejo de Indias of Spain at the time.

Like the other Colombian large urban centers, Medellín remained quite small until recent times, namely the postwar period up until the 1970s, when it developed into the nation's industrial powerhouse and attracted many rural people seeking work or safety from political and social turmoil. In the 1980s it gained notoriety as the infamous druglord Pablo Escobar's base of operations; the presence of Escobar's cartel brought a wave of major violence stemming from intercartel rivalries and intimidation; the city's international reputation suffered horribly as a result and it was known mainly for its seemingly uncontrollable crime rate and drug trade. Though it must be said that the vast majority of homicides in the city were committed by drug-dealing delinquent street gangs and bandits rather than organized crime. Following Escobar's assassination in 1993, the violence had decreased notably though it has positively plummeted in just the last 3 years, and the city is currently enjoying a period of relative prosperity and peace, despite the high unemployment rates and the increasing problem of displaced people from rural areas, fleeing the ongoing war among guerrillas, paramilitaries and the regular army. Medellín had in the 90s the highest ever recorded homicide rates of any city outside a war zone .

Geography and climate

Medellín has an area of 382 km². It has 16 comunas (districts), 5 corregimientos and 271 barrios. The metropolitan area of Medellín lies within the Aburrá valley at an elevation of 1,538 meters and is bisected by the Medellín river which flows northward. North of the valley are the towns of Bello, Copacabana, Girardota and Barbosa. To the south of the valley Itagüí, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella and Caldas can be found.

Because Medellín is located at 5,000 ft above sea level, its climate is not as hot as other cities located at the same latitude near the equator. Because of its altitude above sea level and privileged location in the Andes Range, Medellín's weather is more characteristic of a Humid subtropical climate rather than that of a Tropical climate. the city's average annual temperature is 22ºC (72ºF) and because of its proximity to the equator, its temperature is constant year round with minimal temperature variations. Temperatures range from 10ºC (52ºF) to 30ºC (86ºF). The plesant spring-like climate year round makes it known as 'La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera' or 'City of the Eternal Spring'.

Economy

The actual economy of Medellín is the second largest of Colombia after Bogotá and is lead by a powerful group of people from the private sector known as the Sindicato Antioqueño (Antiocheans Union) and formally known as the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (Antiochean Industrious Group). Represented by Nicanor Restrepo; who owns Suramericana de Seguros (an insurance conglomerate), Fabio Rico; with the Compañía Nacional de Chocolates (Food industry), Adolfo Arango; Cementos Argos (a multinational Cement company) and Darío Múnera; leading Coltabaco, (a national cigarette industry). Together they consolidated this group that has an aproximate yearly income of US$ 7 Billion dollars and directly employ more than 150,000 colombians (1). This group also has participation in other sectors of the city industry and is an active trader in the Colombian stock exchange.

Since recent decades, illicit money laudering has contributed indirectly to the local economy, such as the "drug boom" in the 80's mainly orchestrated by Pablo Escobar and the Medellín Cartel and more recently the AUC paramilitary groups and the guerrillas FARC, ELN.

Medellín strongly competes with Bogotá as an industry center, having similar economies. The city serves as headquarters for many national and multinational companies and its centers of higher education constantly contribute to the modernization of the region and its industry.

Medellín main economic produces are in steel, textiles, confections, food and beverage, agriculture (from its rural area), public services, chemical products and medical drugs, refined oil and flower exports.

Education

Medellín is also home of many universities that serve mainly the province of Antioquia. Among the most important are the public universities Universidad de Antioquia and Universidad Nacional, and the private Universidad EAFIT, Universidad de Medellín, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Escuela de Ingenieria de Antioquia, Universidad Santo Tomas and CES.

Transportation

Air transportation

International flights are served through José María Córdova International Airport, located in Rionegro, outside the city and outside the Aburra Valley, thus avoiding the dangerous updrafts that render the Olaya Herrera Airport, located inside the city, useless for international traffic and large commercial aircraft. Olaya Herrera Airport serves mainly small, shortrange aircraft and regional flights.

Land transportation

Public transportation is served by diesel buses, taxis and, most notably, a Metropolitan train, Metro de Medellín, which consists of 2 lines, from south to north and another from the center to the west. There is also an elevated cable car system, Metro Cable, which connects the slums from the northeast part of the city with the Metropolitan train. Medellín is the only Colombian city with such transportation systems.

Despite the variety of options, traffic in Medellín has become chaotic, as the number of taxis has exceeded the demand for the service; furthermore, the contamination produced by the diesel buses has become a major issue, most notably in the center of the city and the south part known as El Poblado. The city has no further space for the construction of new highways.

In 2006, begins the construction of Metroplus, a service of buses with an exclusive road, that will allow faster transit for the service's buses, and stations, much like Bogotá's TransMilenio. The service will be inaugurated in 2007, and it will cover most of the city. The service will help to decrease the city's contamination and traffic problems, as many old buses will be retired and the service's buses will work with natural gas.

Ethnicities

The ethnicities in Medellín are made up of Europeans, African slave descendants, and Amerindians, with an strong influence of people from the Middle Eastern countries, that came in different migration waves and mixed with each other to form a very ethnically diverse society.

Culture

People from Medellín are called actually by their Department denomination; Antiocheans, or from the region of the coffee growers "Paisas"; an abbreviation for Paisano (fellow country men). They make up one of the five different regional cultures within Colombia.

Festivals and events

La Feria de las Flores (The Festival of Flowers) is the most important festival of Antioquia and it takes place in Medellín in early August. The event has been celebrated every year since 1957. This festival has several activities such as antique cars parade, desfile de silleteros (flower carriers parade), horse ride down the streets, exhibition of fondas from much of the towns in Antioquia, etc.

Other festivals are the International Poetry Festival (June), and the Parade of Myths and Legends (December).

Sports

Medellín's best known and most popular sports clubs are Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín football ( soccer ) teams. They play at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium. Medellín is also known for it's 2 main swimming teams which are Calamares Pilsen and Huracanes.

Nicknames

Besides being called the "industrial capital of Colombia", Medellín is also called "Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera" (The City of Everlasting Spring), "Capital de la Montaña" (Mountain's Capital), "Ciudad de las Flores" (City Of The Flowers), "Capital de las Orquídeas" (Orchids' Capital), "La Bella Villa" (Beautiful Village), "Tacita de Plata" (Little Silver Cup), and "Medallo". At the height of its crime wave in the 80s and 90s, it also was given the unflattering nickname "Ciudad de la Eterna Violencia" (The City of Everlasting Violence) and "Metrallo" (shrapnel).

Sister cities

  • Fort Lauderdale
  • Monterrey
  • Bilbao

References

External links

Cities in Colombia

Medellín | Medellín | Medellín (Colombia) | Medellín (Kolombio) | Medellín | Medellín (Colombia) | Medellín | Medellín | Medellín | Medellín | Medellín

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Medellín".

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