Manizales

Manizales was founded on October 12, 1849. The city was founded by a group of twenty Antioquians (The Expedition of the 20), who came from Neira and Salamina.

Manizales is the capital city of one of the smallest Colombian departments. The city is described as having an "abrupt topography", and lies on the Colombian Central Mountain Range (part of the longest continental mountain range, the Andes), with a great deal of ridgelines and steep slopes, which, combined with the seismic instability of the area, has required architectural adaptations and public works to make the city safer. Even though Manizales has this very difficult topography, there are many coffee plantations in its fertile lands. The city is located in the northern part of the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis ("Eje Cafetero"), near the volcano Nevado del Ruiz, which has an altitude of 5,321 meters (17,457.3 ft).

It is in the basin of the Chinchiná River and sub-basin of the Guacaica River. Its natural threats are earthquakes, mudslides, and volcanic eruptions.

Under the Köppen climate classification, Manizales is Cfb, a subtropical highland climate but ever moist.[2] Lower elevations approach an equatorial climate (Af) as found in the plains.[3] Despite being located in the tropics, the city seldom gets very hot, featuring spring-like temperatures throughout the year owing to its high altitude. There are only two seasons in the city: the wet and dry seasons that alternate throughout the year, with each lasting about three months. Monthly averages are quite uniform. Manizales receives about 1,500 millimetres (59 in) of precipitation a year, with October being wettest.

The Nevado del Ruiz of Los Nevados National Park seen from the city

Its core economy has traditionally been the cultivation and production of coffee. This fomented the creation of new types of employment and several factories, some of which remain in the metropolitan area while others have reduced their operations or moved to other cities aggravating the unemployment problem. These companies manufacture products such as liquor, shoes, rubber, chocolate, banks, detergents and soaps, threshing and packaged coffee, software, and metallurgy, among others. In addition, there are institutions and companies involved in the coffee sector as the Departmental Committee of Coffee Growers of Caldas, Almacafé, Cenicafé, and a number of other industries involved in the process of coffee (threshers, cooperatives, exporters).

During the latter half of the twentieth century, many universities were founded in the city to the point that some studies regard Manizales as the second largest University city in the country. The universities are attended by students from various regions of the country such as Tolima, Risaralda, Valle, Quindio, Antioquia, Nariño and Huila, among others.

The service sector has thrived, mostly in the form of call centers, and this has become one of the city's primary economic activities.

Manizales won first place in the special category of business promotion in the V Iberoamerican Digital Cities Award, organized by the Latin American Association of Research Centers and Telecommunication Enterprises (AHCIET). In a 2010 study conducted by the World Bank, Manizales was ranked as the best and easiest Colombian city to do business.

Street of Manizales near the major square

The most important cultural events held in the city are the Manizales International Theater Festival,[8] which is one of the major theater events in Latin America created in 1968 by initiative of Carlos Ariel Betancur, and the Manizales Jazz Festival, which gathers jazz musicians from all over the world; both are held annually.

The Manizales Fair was created in 1951 on the first centenary of the city.[9] It began with bullfights and the typical "Manolas" parade (Spanish procession). Due to its hospitality, more shows and presentations have been brought into the fair, such as the International Coffee Beauty Pageant which together with the bullfighting season are the main events of the fair. Currently the fair includes activities such as horseback riding parades, artisanal fairs, "trova" concerts, other parades, sports, national and international musicians and bands, horse and livestock contests, and cultural shows. It is an important celebration in Colombia, as is the Barranquilla Carnival.

The Cathedral of Manizales, a neo-Gothic church

• Gold museum of the Banco de la Republica
• Museum of Natural History Universidad de Caldas
• Museum of Art Universidad de Caldas
• Archaeological Museum Universidad de Caldas
• Botanical Garden Universidad de Caldas
• Natural Museum of Histories CC
• Museum of Science and Games Universidad Nacional de Colombia

CRC Palogrande Stadium – ESP 2011

Manizales has several sports centers, the main one being in the area of the Palogrande Stadium. The city has a professional football team, Once Caldas, which is housed in the Palogrande Stadium, winner of the prestigious South American Copa Libertadores 2004, and 4-time champion of Category First A of Colombia, ranking eighth in the tournament's history. Manizales has also had two professional basketball teams Caldas Bancafetero Aces and Wise Caldas which were champions of the Colombian Professional Basketball tournament in 1989 and 2000 respectively, both played in the Coliseo Mayor Jorge Arango Uribe. The city also has indoor soccer presence through the futsal cup microfútbol in both male with Real Caldas FS and female with Real Caldas, and the FIFA Futsal League in Club Deportivo Linear which won the 2011-II championship, all these are played in the Coliseo Menor Vargas Ramón Marín venue.

Manizales has also been home to sporting events such as the Fourth National Games in 1936, South American Football U-20 in 1987, the Copa America 2001, the South American U-20 2005 and most importantly World Cup 2011 U-20.

Manizales is an important regional cultural and educational center. It has more universities per capita than any other city in Colombia. The city has a student population of some 30,000 that attend 7 colleges and universities:

• Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Universidad de Manizales
• Corporación Universitaria Remington
• Universidad Autónoma de Manizales
• Universidad Católica de Manizales
• Universidad Luis Amigó
• Universidad de Caldas

Manizales is twinned with:

• Bayamón, Puerto Rico
• Benidorm, Spain[10]
• Cork, Ireland[11]
• Miami, United States[12]
• Rosario, Argentina[13]
• San Luis Potosí, Mexico[14]
• Soyapango, El Salvador[15]
• Liberland[16]

• 1999 Armenia earthquake

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Manizales.

• Manizales travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Birds from Manizales
• Checklist of birds from Manizales and surroundings