The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley (

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 ...

: ''Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá'') is the second most important and populated

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

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 ...

. The region is made up of ten

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Medellín Medellín ( ; or ), officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín (), is the List of cities in Colombia, second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia Departme ...

being the most important, largest and the capital city of the

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 the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part o ...

History

The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley was the first metropolitan area created in Colombia, in 1980. The metropolitan area was created in order to produce economic integration, projection, and planning for urban development in the cities over the Aburra Valley. The total population of the ten cities and municipalities part of this metropolitan area is close to four million inhabitants. The development of the Aburra Valley occurred in the 1930s after a rapid population growth that produced a conurbation of

Itagüí Itagüí () is a city and municipality of Colombia, located in the south of the Aburrá Valley in the Antioquia Department. It is part of the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. Demographics The population was estimated to be 289,994 in 202 ...

Envigado Envigado () is a city and municipality due South of Medellín, Colombia in the department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. It is located in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley. It borders El Poblado, Medellín to the north, Sabaneta, An ...

, and Bello.

, as the capital of the Antioquia Department, main economic center and host of most of local government entities contributed to a rapid urban development which absorbed many

corregimiento ''Corregimiento'' (; , ) is a Spanish term used for country subdivisions for royal administrative purposes, ensuring districts were under crown control as opposed to local elites. A ''corregimiento'' was usually headed by a '' corregidor''. The ...

s such as Robledo, La América, La Floresta, Guayabal, and Belén, among others. With the industrialization the middle and higher class moved to the southern parts of the city such as

El Poblado El Poblado is the 14th commune (Medellín), commune in the Metropolitan Area of Medellín, metropolitan area of the city of Medellín, Colombia. According to a 2005 census the population was 94,704, distributed among its land area of 23 km2, ...

, which ultimately reached the city of

, while the working class population of Medellín reached cities to the north ( Bello) and the southwest (

Geography

The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley borders with the municipalities of Ebejico,

Heliconia ''Heliconia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the monotypic family Heliconiaceae. Most of the 194 known species are native to the tropical Americas, but a few are indigenous to certain islands of the western Pacific and Maluku (province), ...

, Angelopolis, and Amagá to the west, with the municipalities of Santa Barbara and Fredonia to the south. To the southwest it borders with the

Eastern Antioquia Eastern Antioquia () is subregion of the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. The region consists of 23 Municipalities of Colombia, municipalities. Geography The region of Eastern Antioquia limits to t ...

region and to the north with the municipalities of San Jeronimo, San Pedro, and

Don Matías Don Matías is a Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Northern Antioquia. Bordered to the north by the municipality of Santa Rosa de Osos, to the east by the municipalities of Santa R ...

covering a total area of 1,152 km². The largest being the territory of the municipality of Medellín with 382 km² and the smallest one Sabaneta with 15 km². Most of the Metropolitan Area is located within the

Aburrá Valley Aburrá Valley (in Spanish ''Valle de Aburrá''), is the natural river basin of the Medellín River and one of the most populous valleys of Colombia in its Andean Region with near 4 million inhabitants in its biggest urban agglomeration: The M ...

Municipalities

References

External links

Government of Colombia - Se Educa: Aburra Valley

Valley of Aburra Google Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Metropolitan Area of the Aburra Valley Regions of Antioquia Department Metropolitan areas of Colombia

History

Geography

Municipalities

See also

References

External links