Apía is a town and municipality in the

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Risaralda,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. It is located at an elevation of 1,630

metres The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its prefi ...

, about 60 km away from district capital

Pereira Pereira (Portuguese and Galician for "pear tree") may refer to: People * Pereira (surname) Places *Brazil **Pereira (Bahia) (est. 1534) in the present-day Barra neighborhood of Salvador in Bahia **Pereira Barreto, municipality in São Paulo **Pe ...

in the valley of the Apia river. It has approximately 11,000 inhabitants according to the 2018 census. The town has excellent views over Cerro Tatamá, which is part of

Tatamá National Natural Park Tatamá National Natural Park (Spanish: ''Parque Nacional Natural Tatamá'' or ''PNN Tatamá'') is a national park in the Cordillera Occidental, Colombia. Established in 1987, the park encompasses of primary west-Andean tropical and subtropic ...

History

The area was colonised in 1872 but the town was founded on 15 August 1883 by settlers from Antioquia. Amongst these were José María Marín and his wife María Encarnación de Marín who were the first to build in the area. The settlement was initially called ''La Villa de las Cáscaras'' ("Town of the Husks") because the roofs were thatched with ''cumulú'', a native plant.

Town plan

The urban area comprises the boroughs of Jaime Rendón, Bermeja, Centenario, Quince de Agosto, El Clavel, Santa Inés, Villa de las Cáscaras, Acozma I, Motoristas, San Juan, San Vicente, Asovice, Villaserrana and Antonio Nariño. The rural area is made up of 45 corregimientos: Dos Quebradas, Guarne, San Andrés, San Agustín, La floresta, La Máquina, La sombra, El Manzano, Matecaña, Las Delicias, Bajo Manzanillo, Monte verde, El Jazmín, Alto Manzanillo, Miravalle, San Carlos, El Guanábano, El Quindío, La Equis, El Bosque, El Vergel, El Encanto, San Rafael, Alta Campana, Las Cumbres, Buena Vista, Baja Campana, La María, Valladolid, El Carmelo, El Jardín, Pavero, La Estrella, Alta Estrella, Jordania, La Línea, La Nubia, El Diamante, Agua Bonita, Candelaria, La Farallona, La Garrucha, Las Cabañas, Agualinda y Campo Alegre.

Economy

The economy's mainstay is agriculture, especially coffee. It is located in one of the world's prime coffee growing areas and is the home of the organic coffee movement. The organic coffee movement is led by Francisco Jose "Pacho" Herrera Gallego

Culture

The town is well known for its cultural contributions at a national level, especially its music bands and musicians such as Rubo Marín Pulgarín and Carlos Fernando López Naranjo. In the months of April, May and June of this year (2019), again three poets of Apía, triumphed in international contests of sonnet in Spanish publishers: Gersaín Antonio Restrepo Agudelo, Juan Hely Morales Bedoya and Francisco Javier López Naranjo.

References

Municipalities of Risaralda Department {{Colombia-geo-stub