City in Colombia
About Medellín
Medellín, officially the Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín, is the second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central region of the Andes Mountains, in northwestern South America. The city's population was 2,427,129 at the 2018 census. The metro area of Medellín is the second-largest urban agglomeration in Colombia in terms of population and economy, with more than 4 million people.
Toponymy
The valley and its Spanish settlement have gone by several names over the years, including Aburrá de los Yamesíes, "Valley of Saint Bartholomew", "Saint Lawrence of Aburrá", "Saint Lawrence of Aná", Villa de la Candelaria de Medellín, and finally "Medellín". The name "Medellín" comes from Medellín, Spain, a small village in the Province of Badajoz in Extremadura. The village was the birthplace of Hernán Cortés. The Spanish Medellín, in turn, was originally called "Metellinum" and was named after Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius in 75 BC, who founded the village as a military base. Some of the Conquistadors, such as Gaspar de Rodas, the first governor of Antioquia, came from Badajoz Province. …
History
In August 1541, Marshal Jorge Robledo was in the place known today as Heliconia when he saw in the distance what he thought was a valley. He sent Jerónimo Luis Tejelo to explore the territory, and during the night of 23 August, Tejelo reached the plain of what is now Aburrá Valley. The Spaniards gave it the name of "Valley of Saint Bartholomew", but this was soon changed for the native name Aburrá "Painters" because of the textile decorations of the local rulers. In 1574, Gaspar de Rodas asked the Antioquia's cabildo for 10 square kilometers (4 mi2) of land to establish herds and a ranch in the valley. The Cabildo granted him 8 square kilometers (3 mi2) of land. In 1616, the colonial visitor Francisco de Herrera y Campuzano founded a settlement with 80 Amerindians, naming it Poblado de San Lorenzo, now El Poblado. …
Geography
Medellín has 16 comunas (districts), 5 corregimientos (townships), and 271 barrios (neighborhoods). The metropolitan area of Medellín lies within the Aburrá valley at an elevation of 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level and is bisected by the Medellín River (also called Porce), which flows northward. North of the valley are the towns of Bello, Copacabana, Girardota, and Barbosa. To the south of the valley lie Itagüí, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella, and Caldas. The weather in Medellín is warm year-round with few temperature extremes. As a municipality, Medellín has an area of 382 km2 (147 sq mi). Medellín features a tropical monsoon climate (Am). Since Medellín is located at 1,495 m (4,900 ft) above sea level, its climate is not as hot as other cities located at the same latitude near the equator. …
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