Apía is a town and municipality in the
Department of
Risaralda,
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 is located at an elevation of 1,630
metres
The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...
, about 60 km away from district capital
Pereira in the valley of the Apia river. For 2023 it has approximately 12,613 inhabitants. 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 subtropical ...
.
History
The area was colonised in 1872 but the town was founded on 15 August 1883 by settlers from
Antioquia Antioquia is the Spanish form of Antioch.
Antioquia may also refer to:
* Antioquia Department
Antioquia () is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders th ...
. 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.
Climate
Apía 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 19 °C.
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
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