10 Facts about Medellin Colombia

Facts about Medellin Colombia present about the second largest city in Colombia and Antioquia is the capital. This city located in the Aburra Valley, a central region of the Andes Mountains in South America. The more you read this article the more fun facts you will get. Here are the detail about this amazing city.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 1: The Name

This name of city has changed by several times. Under Spanish settlement, this city named Abura de los Yamasies, Valley of Saint Bartholomew, Saint Lawrence of Ana, Villa de la Candelaria de Medellin, then finally Medellin. The final name derived from Medellin, a small village in the Badajoz province of Extremadura, Spain.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 2: The Spanish Colonial Era

Before this city established, the indigenous was scattered throughout the valley, it is just only few families concentrated at the confluence of the Ana and Medellin rivers. The settlers decided the Ana site as the the central of the future city with the Candelaria Church after the royal decree. The first census was taken in 1675 and the city contained 3,000 people and 280 families.

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Facts about Medellin Colombia 3: Industrial Development

Amazingly, the amount of population of Medellin increased sixfold in the first half twentieth century, which was from 59,815 in 1905 to 358,189 in 1951. The war in 1899-1902 had stopped the regulation of industry in city although the civil war did not affect directly to the region. Initially, gold production was the most important comodity then in the 20th century, the export of coffee contributed the most impetus to the industrial growth.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 4: Recent Condition of Medellin

In 1980s and 1990s, Medellin has had big involved in overcoming its crisis of economics. As an evidence of globalised economy of Colombia to the world, an international centre for congress and expositions was constructed, it was named Plaza Mayor of Medellin. Amazingly, this city was nominated as the most innovative city of the year in 2012, including New York and Tel Aviv because of the advancement in public transportation.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 5: Geography

Medellin lies within the Aburra valley at an elevation of 1,500 metres above sea level and it is separated by the Medellin River. In the northern of valley are the towns of Bello, Copacabana, Girardota, and Barbosa. On the other side, to the south of the valley, there are Lie itagui, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella, and Caldas. The region of Medellin has 16 districts, 5 township, and 271 neighbourhoods.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 6: Law and Government

The Governmental in Medellin city is divided to executive and legislative branches. The major of the city is electe by public for a term of four years.

facts about medellin colombia

Facts about Medellin Colombia 7: Gross Domestic Product

Interestingly, the Medellin city contributes 67% of the total GDP of the Department of Antioquia and 11% of the national economy of Colombia.

Facts about Medellin Colombia 8: Poverty

based on the data taken by the Measuring Monetary Poverty and Inequality Mission in November 2009, the poverty in Medellin declined significantly which was 22.5%, from 49.7% to 38.5% during 2002 to 2008.