Quimbaya is a town and municipality in the western part of the department of Quindío,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. It's 20 km northwest of the departmental capital

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. The name of the city derives from the name of the

Precolumbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European c ...

culture that inhabited the area, the Quimbaya civilization. Located along the Colombian coffee growing axis, the municipality was made part of the "Coffee Cultural Landscape"

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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in 2011.

History

Quimbaya was founded in 1914 by Juan de J. Buitrago, and became a municipality in 1922. In 2023 the town had an estimated population of 31,844.

Geography

Quimbaya is bounded to the north and west by the Valle del Cauca Department, with

La Vieja River La Vieja River () is a river in the Colombian departments of Quindío, Valle del Cauca and Risaralda. It is a major tributary of the Cauca River. The river is formed by the joining of the Quindío River and the Barragán River in an area kn ...

forming the western limit. To the south, the Roble River forms the limit with the municipalities of

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and Circasia. The eastern boundary is with the municipality of Filandia.

Climate

Quimbaya has a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

with an average annual temperature of 21°C.

Tourism

The National Agricultural and livestock Park (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: '' El Parque Natural De La Cultura Agropecuaria''), PANACA, is located 7 km west of the main township. The 47-hectare park contains a variety of interactive exhibits, including more than 200 species of animals. Along with the National Coffee Park in

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, the theme park is one of major tourist attractions of the department. The most important cultural event is the Candles and Lanterns Festival (full name in Spanish: ''Fiesta Nacional del Concurso de Alumbrados con Velas y Faroles''), which began in 1982 and is held each year on 7 and 8 December ( Día de las Velitas). Each of the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

s in the township compete to produce the most spectacular lighting arrangements, and many visitors come from throughout Colombia to admire the displays. The festival is held in honor of the Catholic holy day, the Feast of the

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

, on 8 December.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quimbaya, Quindio Municipalities of Quindío Department