Ibagué

Ibagué (Spanish pronunciation: [iβaˈɣe]) (referred to as San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas during the Spanish period) is the capital of Tolima, one of the 32 departments that make up the Republic of Colombia.[3] The city is located in the center of the country, on the central mountain range of the Colombian Andes, near Nevado del Tolima. It is one of the most populous cities in the country, with a population of 492,554 (according to the 2018 census), making it the eleventh most populous in Colombia,[2] and with a population of 529,625 in the municipality. It was founded on 14 October 1550, by the Spanish captain Andrés López de Galarza. The city of Ibagué is divided into 13 communes and the rural area has 17 corregimientos.[4] As the capital of the department of Tolima the city hosts the Government of Tolima, the Departmental Assembly, and the Attorney General's Office. It is the main epicenter of political, economic, administrative, business, art, culture, and tourism activities in the area.

Ibagué
Municipio
From the top: Panorama of Ibagué from the east, Ibagué's city hall, Governorate of Tolima, Ocobos flowered in front of the Cathedral of Ibague and Art Museum of Tolima.
Flag of Ibagué
Flag
Official seal of Ibagué
Seal
Nickname: 
Ciudad musical de Colombia (Musical city of Colombia)[1]
Location of the city of Ibagué in Tolima.
Location of the city of Ibagué in Tolima.
Ibagué is located in Colombia
Ibagué
Ibagué
Location in Colombia
Coordinates: 4°26′N 75°14′W
Country Colombia
RegionAndean Region
DepartmentDepartment of Tolima
Foundation14 October 1550 (1550-10-14)
Government
 • MayorAndrés Hurtado
Area
 • Municipio1,498 km2 (578 sq mi)
 • Urban
47.96 km2 (18.52 sq mi)
Elevation
1,285 m (4,216 ft)
Population
 (2018)[2]
 • Municipio529,635
 • Urban
492,554
 • Urban density10,000/km2 (27,000/sq mi)
 • Rural
37,081
Demonym(s)Ibaguereño, ibaguereña
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern Time Zone)
Postal code
730001-730019
Area code57 + 8
Websiteibague.gov.co (in Spanish)

Ibagué maintains one of the major urban economies of Colombia and could grow in prominence within South America[5] with its development potential and competitive national and international business centers, industry, and infrastructure. It is one of three cities in the country chosen by the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) to build headquarters along with Cali,[6] adding to the one existing in Bogotá. The economy of Ibagué is based primarily on the industrial, tourism, and agricultural sectors, with its textile industry[7] being the third largest in Colombia.[8] According to "Doing Business" from the World Bank in Washington DC, Ibagué tops the ranking of the cities with greater ease of doing business and investment in the country after Manizales.[9] The city is also part of the Colombian coffee growing axis.

The city is known as "The Musical Capital of Colombia and America", thanks to the Conservatory of Tolima[10] (one of the most prestigious and important in Colombia),[11] folklore festivities,[12] and its many monuments referring to music. The city's main educational institutions are the University of Tolima, the University of Ibagué, the Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia (UNAD) and the Conservatory of Tolima.

History

Ibagué was founded by Andrés López de Galarza on 14 October 1550, as "Villa de San Bonifacio de Ibagué del Valle de las Lanzas" ("Town of Saint Boniface of Ibagué of the Valley of the Spears") in a nearby location where now lies the urban area of the neighboring municipality of Cajamarca about 42 km (26 miles) to the west of Ibagué's current whereabouts. The indigenous Pijaos commanded by cacique Ibagué were not fond of Spaniards colonizing the area so the city was re-founded in its current location on 7 February 1551.

From April to December 1854, Ibagué was briefly the capital of the New Granada following a coup d'etat promoted by general José María Melo. In 1908, when the department of Tolima was created, Ibagué was designated as its capital. The University of Tolima was founded in 1945, and was raised to state university status in 1954. The city is also the home of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ibagué.

Geography

Ibagué is located in the Colombian Andean region, in the center of the department of Tolima, surrounded by mountains on all sides with the exception of a plateau which extends to the east.

Volcanism

Ibagué lies within the Andean Volcanic Belt. It has two active volcanoes in its immediate vicinity: the Nevado del Tolima, 28 km (17 mi) NW of the city, and the Cerro Machín, 17 km (11 mi) west of the city center but still within the Municipality of Ibagué. The city is one access point to Los Nevados National Park, the other being Manizales.

Cerro Machín has been dormant for the last 800 years, but seismological activity has been registered recently causing several earthquakes. The volcano is classified as "III – Changes in behavior of volcanic activity" by Ingeominas, the Colombian Institute for Geology and Mining.[13] A map of menaced areas has been published indicating that in the event of an eruption the city of Ibagué would not be affected despite its proximity to the volcano.[14]

Demographics
Plaza de Bolívar, the city's main park.

The total population of the municipality of Ibagué (including urban and rural areas), according to the 2018 census, was 529,635 inhabitants, of which 492,554 resided in the urban area.[2]

Infrastructure

Transportation

Municipal transport is managed by several local bus companies that operate minibuses throughout the city and to neighboring villages.

Ibagué lies at the intersection of national roads 40 and 43, connecting the city to Magdalena River Valley and Bogotá to the east, Armenia and the Valle del Cauca to the west, and Honda to the north. There is a long distance bus terminal with connections to most big cities in Colombia. There are frequent connections to Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and several overnight buses to Cartagena, Barranquilla, and seasonal services to Santa Marta.

About 10 km (6 mi) east of the city lies Perales Airport which has several flights a day to Bogotá and Medellín.

Climate

Ibagué features a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification, albeit a relatively cooler version of the climate due to the high altitude. Although the city does experience noticeably drier conditions during and around the months of January and July, the city has no true dry season month, as all twelve months see on average more than 60 mm (2.4 in) of rain. As is commonplace in areas with this climate, temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the course of the year in Ibagué, with average high temperatures of about 28 °C or 82.4 °F and average low temperatures of about 18 °C or 64.4 °F. On average Ibagué sees 1,700 mm (66.9 in) of rain annually.

Climate data for Ibagué, Colombia (Perales Airport) 1981-2010
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 34.4
(93.9)		 35.4
(95.7)		 34.4
(93.9)		 34.2
(93.6)		 33.2
(91.8)		 33.6
(92.5)		 35.0
(95.0)		 36.4
(97.5)		 36.0
(96.8)		 34.8
(94.6)		 31.9
(89.4)		 34.2
(93.6)		 36.4
(97.5)
Average high °C (°F) 28.8
(83.8)		 29.1
(84.4)		 28.8
(83.8)		 28.2
(82.8)		 28.2
(82.8)		 28.9
(84.0)		 29.8
(85.6)		 30.8
(87.4)		 29.9
(85.8)		 28.2
(82.8)		 27.5
(81.5)		 28.0
(82.4)		 28.8
(83.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) 23.8
(74.8)		 24.2
(75.6)		 24.0
(75.2)		 23.7
(74.7)		 23.8
(74.8)		 24.1
(75.4)		 24.5
(76.1)		 25.2
(77.4)		 24.6
(76.3)		 23.5
(74.3)		 23.1
(73.6)		 23.3
(73.9)		 24.0
(75.2)
Average low °C (°F) 18.8
(65.8)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.3
(66.7)		 19.1
(66.4)		 18.9
(66.0)		 19.2
(66.6)		 19.0
(66.2)		 19.0
(66.2)		 19.0
(66.2)		 18.9
(66.0)		 19.1
(66.4)
Record low °C (°F) 15.3
(59.5)		 15.2
(59.4)		 14.8
(58.6)		 15.6
(60.1)		 16.2
(61.2)		 15.2
(59.4)		 15.2
(59.4)		 10.6
(51.1)		 14.4
(57.9)		 16.0
(60.8)		 15.2
(59.4)		 15.4
(59.7)		 10.6
(51.1)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 86.5
(3.41)		 109.1
(4.30)		 138.2
(5.44)		 227.1
(8.94)		 228.2
(8.98)		 110.6
(4.35)		 75.9
(2.99)		 78.2
(3.08)		 149.9
(5.90)		 205.6
(8.09)		 173.7
(6.84)		 108.6
(4.28)		 1,691.6
(66.6)
Average rainy days (≥ 1 mm) 12 13 16 20 19 12 10 10 14 19 19 14 178
Average relative humidity (%) 77 77 79 81 81 77 70 66 72 80 83 81 77
Mean monthly sunshine hours 179.8 144.1 139.5 138.0 155.0 168.0 192.2 195.3 180.0 158.1 141.0 164.3 1,955.3
Mean daily sunshine hours 5.8 5.1 4.5 4.6 5.0 5.6 6.2 6.3 6.0 5.1 4.7 5.3 5.3
Source: Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales[15][16][17]

Neighborhoods
  • Picaleña
  • Combeima
  • Ricaurte
  • Kenedy
  • Jordan (I-IX etapa)
  • Sta Helena
  • Belen
  • Pueblo Nuevo
  • Galan
  • Sta Rita
  • Venecia
  • Ambala
  • Pedregal
  • Vergel
  • Martires
  • Estadio
  • La Francia
  • San Francisco
  • Claret
  • Hipodromo
  • Las Ferias

Notable people

Sports

The Colombian Football Association announced that Ibagué will be one of the venue cities to host the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup,[19] although in the end it was not designated as the venue for the sporting event.[20]


Ibague has one professional soccer team Deportes Tolima three times Liga BetPlay winner in 2003, 2018 and 2021. Club Deportes Tolima [21]was founded on 18 December 1954, under the leadership of Manuel Rubio Sánchez, who was in charge of registering the team with Dimayor for the sum of 10,000 pesos. In 1957, one of the most important men in the history of Deportes Tolima, Jorge Guzmán Molina, arrived, achieving the first sub-championship of the team.

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Colombia

Ibagué is twinned with:[22]

References
  1. City of Ibagué (Tolima) Archived 23 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Mycities.co. Retrieved 2 June 2014
  2. "Información capital" (PDF). dane.gov.co (in Spanish). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  3. "What are the departments of Colombia". colombiainfo.org. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  4. "mapa de comunas de ibague" (PDF) (in Spanish). 2010.
  5. "world trade center ibague" (in Spanish). 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  6. "world trade center Colombia" (in Spanish). 2010. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  7. colombianparadise (2010). "economía de ibague" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  8. El tiempo (2010). "ibague,ciudad de la confeccion" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  9. ibague es la segunda ciudad negociante del país (2010). "ibague seuna ciudad finanicera y de negocios del pais/web2/joomla/documentos/mapa_comunas.pdf" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  10. conservatorio de ibague (2010). "conservatorio de ibague" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 18 May 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  11. conservatorio del tolima (2010). "conservatorio del tolima" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 28 February 2021. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  12. reinado nacional del folclor (2010). "reinado nacional del folclor" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 19 June 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  13. "Ingeominas" (in Spanish). Manizales, Colombia: Ingeominas. 1 August 2009. Archived from the original on 26 June 2007. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  14. "Mapa de amenaza del Cerro Machín" (in Spanish). Manizales, Colombia: Ingeominas. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
  15. "Promedios Climatológicos 1981–2010" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  16. "Promedios Climatológicos 1971–2000" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  17. "Tiempo y Clima" (in Spanish). Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  18. "Darío Ortiz abrió su 'Ventana al Mundo'" Archived 14 June 2018 at the Wayback Machine, El Espectador, 29 September 2008 (in Spanish).
  19. "Copa Mundial de Futsal de la FIFA se jugará en Colombia en 2016". fcf.com.co/. 28 May 2013. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
  20. "Cali, Medellín y Bucaramanga, sedes del Mundial de Futsal". 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  21. "Historia – Club Deportes Tolima" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 13 July 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  22. "Menu: International cooperation". ibaguecreativa.gov.co. Ibagué Creativa. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
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