Pereira () is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It is located in the foothills of the Andes in a coffee-producing area of Colombia officially known as the "Coffee Axis". Pereira, alongside the rest of the Coffee Axis, form part of UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia"."Colombia green guide Michelin 2012-2013." Michelin. 2012. Accessed at Google Books December 29, 2013. It is the most populated city in the Coffee Axis. Pereira is also part of the Central West Metropolitan Area, which has 735.769 residents and is composed of Pereira and the neighboring cities of Dosquebradas and La Virginia. It is considered the most important city in the "Coffee Axis" from a geopolitical and economic standpoint.
As the capital of the department of Risaralda, Pereira houses the headquarters of the Government of Risaralda, the Departmental Assembly, the Departmental Court, the Metropolitan Area Authority and the Attorney General. It also serves as the headquarters for numerous public companies and institutions of the Colombian state. Being in the center of the Golden Triangle (which consists of the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali), Pereira has become especially important in the fields of trade and commerce.
Toponymy Pereira was named after lawyer, land owner and naturist Francisco Pereira Martínez. He was a supporter of independence of the city, located in the same place as Old Cartago.
The city of Pereira is known as "the pearl of Otún".
Geography Pereira is located within the Golden Triangle of Colombia, a broad zone informally delimited by tracing this figure over the map of Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. More narrowly defined, Pereira lies in the Central Cordillera (mountain range) of Colombia in the Otún and Cauca river valleys.
The municipal area is 702 km2 It shares boundaries with the municipalities of La Virginia, Marsella and Dosquebradas to the north, Santa Rosa de Cabal the northeast, Tolima to the east, Quindío and Valle del Cauca to the south and Balboa and Valle del Cauca to the west.
Pereira, like many Colombian cities, has high-elevation areas with difficult access or flat or steep parts. The streets are laid out according to the elevation of the respective zones.
The greater part of the municipal territory corresponds to the sheer elevations of the Central Mountain range. Among the orographic accidents are the snowcapped Quindio, Ruiz, and Santa Isabel, located in the limits with the departments of Quindío, Caldas and Tolima respectively. It also has other accidents like Santa Barbara, also known as the Alto del Nudo. The hydrographic system of the municipality includes the rivers Cauca, Barbas, La Vieja, Otún and Consota, with its many tributaries. The area enjoys a variety of climates, with the following thermal floors: warm, 60 km2; Medium, 367 km2; Cold, 70 km2 and páramo, with 107 km2.
Climate The climate of Pereira oscillates between warm climate 9.9%, moderate climate 60.7%, cold climate 11.5%, paramo 17.7%. Its annual average rainfall is 2,750 mm.
The Pereirano territory, which extends mainly from east to west, gives the city different climates within its boundaries. For example, the areas of Caimalito and Cerritos to the west of the city, near the river Cauca, have temperatures up to 27 °C, since the height in this zone is from 950 to 1250 m. At the other end is the Julita area, where the Technological University of Pereira is located. Due to the territory occupied by large forests, it is one of the coldest areas of the city, with high humidity. The temperature in this zone ranges around 17 °C, with an average height of about 1550 msnm.
This diversity of climates and terrain offers a rich range of vegetation and landscape coverage, providing Pereira with one of the richest biodiversities of the nation. However, the city is also an area of high seismic vulnerability due to the type of soils that make up it and the geological faults that cross it.
Pereira's climate is subtropical highland. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 17 °C (63 °F ) to 26 °C (79 °F) and is rarely below 16 °C (61 °F) or above 29 °C (83 °F).
The average temperature of Pereira is 21 °C (69 °F).
Waterways Lake Otún, which feeds the River Otun, is the main body of water in the city. The river system of the municipality includes the Cauca, The Barbas River, the La Vieja River, the Otún River, the Consota, and many tributaries.
History The history of the city goes back to the pre-Columbian era, in which the current city area was inhabited by the Quimbaya and Pijao cultures, widely recognized for their goldsmiths. In this region, Marshal Jorge Robledo founded the city of Cartago (Carthage) on August 9, 1540, but due to the siege of the pijaos or reasons of economic expediency this city was moved in 1691 to the site that currently occupies the north end of the Valley of the Cauca, towards the banks of the La Vieja river. The original site became jungle again and buried the remains of civilization. On the few ruins of the Spanish population, crossed by the route that led from Valle del Cauca to Medellín, through Manizales, a group of 20 Antioqueno families had already built their homes when a handful of Vallecaucanos appeared to find the population of Carthage La Vieja, today Pereira. Although the formal foundation came from the Caucano group, the emergence of Pereira was another chapter of the Antioqueno colonization, and the contribution of other social groups such as the Caucano was in its beginning relatively scarce.
Later, with the ideal of reviving this city, which until then was a jungle area, on August 24, 1863, the presbyter Remigio Antonio Cañarte and Jesús María Ormaza Niño, among others, returned to the ruins of ancient Carthage, where they established a few huts that were blessed on August 30 of the same year. For 6 years the settlement was called Carthage, but in 1869 it was renamed Villa de Pereira, in honor of the doctor Francisco Pereira Martínez, who in 1816 took refuge in the area, along with his brother Manuel Pereira, after the defeat of the Patriotic forces in the Battle of Cachirí during the Spanish reconquest of New Granada.
From 1870 and especially as a result of the civil wars of 1876 and 1885, the region received a new wave of immigrants from Antioquia. The settler group of 1863 and following years had been formed by forest reclaimers who only aspired to have a single plot of land, while the second group was made up of men of greater ambition and greater entrepreneurial capacity. Some of them were linked to Antioquian capitalists who financed their activities, which involved leveling mountains and starting cattle ranches using peonadas and heavy capital investments. The arrival in the city of a group of merchants and professionals at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th introduced education as a new reason for social differentiation. A new elite group emerged that became a leader of the economic, civic, and political activities of the city.
Pereira was the city where the last execution in Colombia took place. David López, 19, was indicted for the murder of Ricardo Torres on November 30, 1888. Lopez unsuccessfully exhausted all appeals to spare his life; he was executed in Pereira on July 26, 1890, after telling the firing squad to shoot directly at his heart.
In the 1920s, settlers from Antioquia moved to Pereira for its economically strategic location, fertile soil, and good weather. The settlers grew large quantities of high-quality coffee in the mineral-rich, volcanic Andean soil.Sharpless R. E. "Gaitán of Colombia: a political biography." University of Pittsburgh 1978 p16. , 9780822976196. Accessed at Google Books December 29, 2013. Other produce included sugarcane and cattle. Settlers also came from cities such as Valle del Cauca and Bogotá. In the 1950s, during a period of bipartisan political struggle in the country, Pereira became a refuge for thousands of Colombians, quadrupling its population and creating a national melting pot that changed its community forever. In recent years, the city has achieved an urban identity and a significant growth in its cultural development. Social integration and higher levels of education are providing the city sustained economic and cultural growth.
In the economic recession of 1999, and the stagnant years of 2000 and 2001, some residents of Pereira emigrated to the United States and Spain. Towards the years 2005 and 2006, Pereira recovered from decline and went into an economic boom, with new office, retail and housing development, and most importantly Megabus, the main public transportation system, opening to the public. In 2015 the new Biopark Ukumari was opened to the public in its initial phase with 2 bioregions. It is planned to have up to 8 bioregions including the Andean Mountains, African desert, Amazonas and many more, including a section designed for mechanical rides.
Up until 2016, Pereira has been an epicenter of massive urban redevelopment with many international companies opening new stores, factories, and logistical centers. The unemployment rate has decreased significantly from being one of the highest in the country, to the national standard of 9%. Pereira is beginning to transform into the capital city of the Coffee Axis or Eje Cafetero region, with many residents from neighbouring cities such as Armenia and Manizales coming to Pereira to shop for goods in stores that are unique to Pereira.
Governance
The Pereira municipal area covers . Pereira is divided into 19 neighbourhoods: Ferrocarril, Olímpica, San Joaquín, Cuba, Del Café, El Oso, Perla del Otún, Consota, El Rocío, El Poblado, El Jardín, San Nicolás, Centro, Río Otún, Boston, Universidad, Villavicencio, Oriente y Villasantana.
Pereira has also rural neighbourhoods called Altagracia, Arabia, Caimalito, Cerritos, La Florida, Puerto Caldas, Combia Alta, Combia Baja, La Bella, Estrella-La Palmilla, Morelia, Tribunas. Together with La Virginia and Dosquebradas, Pereira forms the Area Metropolitana de Centro Occidente (AMCO). The three cities cooperate on various affairs and share many services such as the Megabus system.
Demographics In 2023, Pereira had about 481,768 residents, the fourteenth largest city of Colombia. Pereira has a twin city, Dosquebradas (about five minutes drive from the Plaza de Bolivar), which has about 225,540 residents. With a total population of about 735,796, the Pereira conurbation also includes La Virginia. Pereira, Dosquebradas and La Virginia comprise the Pereira metropolitan area. As a result of urbanisation, Pereira has one of the most equitable distributions of wealth in Colombia.Hudson R. A. "Colombia, a country study." Government Printing Office, Library of Congress, USA. p95 , 9780160882777.
Economy
The municipality of Pereira has a diversified economy in its economic structure, with the primary sector accounting for 5.7% of the GDP, the secondary sector 26.2%, and the tertiary sector 68.1%. Pereira's economy grew 3.7% in 2004, due to the flagship program of the national government, greater fluidity in the financial system, contributions from overseas residents who have an important impact on consumption, and improved prices for oil, coal, nickel, and coffee. These developments were reflected in the increase in both the supply and demand for goods and services.
Trade is the second-most significant generating employment activity. An important part of the city's trade is already in shopping centers (Alcides Arevalo, Bolivar Plaza, Lake Plaza, Novacentro, Parque Arboleda, Pereira Plaza, Victoria, Unicentro, etc.) where there is a wide variety of products and services.