| Palmira | |||
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| Location of the municipality and city of Palmira in the Valle del Cauca Department. | |||
| Region | Pacific Region (Colombia) | ||
| Department | Valle del Cauca Department* | ||
| Website | www.Palmira.gov.co |
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Palmira (pronounced pälmē'rä) is a city and municipality in southwestern Colombia in the department of Valle del Cauca, located about 17 miles (27 km) east from Cali, the department's capital and main city.
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Palmira is located in the southwestern of Colombia, lying in the Cauca River valley. 3°31’48” north altitude and 76°81’13” longitude west of Greenwich. The city covers an area of 448 square miles (1,160 km2). The average temperature is 23°C (73°F) and its altitude is 1000 m (3284 ft) above sea level.
According to the historian William Mallama Lugo, the city of Palmira arises in 1813 when Don Pedro Simón Cárdenas gave the name of Villa de las Palmas. Its inhabitants are called "Palmireños" or "Palmiranos".
Important agricultural products are sugar cane, coffee, rice, corn, and tobacco. The burning of the waste cane is the main source of air pollution in the city. In 2005, Palmira opened its first large and post modern shopping mall Centro Comercial Llanogrande Plaza, popularly called "La Catorce", after the department store 'La 14' located in the mall. The indoor/outdoor shopping center has become very popular among Palmireños since its opening as there are no other large shopping malls in the city. Nevertheless, Palmiranos can still do their basic shopping in La Marden or any of its other stores located all throughout the city, specially in El Centro. Before the mall was built, Palmireños had to travel to Cali to many of its shopping centers such as La Catorce De Calima and Chipichape. Llanogrande has many restaurants, several outdoor bars, an indoor cinema, casino, and a small amusement park. It is located on the city's southwest side. Its address is Calle 31 No. 44-239. Palmira is also known for having many beautiful parks.
The international airport Alfonso Bonilla Aragon, that serves Cali, is located in Palmira, and it is called (CLO) or Palmaseca. The airport is an important national and international hub for the Southwestern Colombia region. The international terminal is served with daily international flights to and from Houston, Miami, Quito, Madrid, Panama City and other important cities. Nine airlines provide service for the airport, including American Airlines, AeroRepública, and Avianca, Colombia's largest airline. The citizens' most common method of transportation are the bicycle and motorcycle. There are so many of these in the city, that cars on the street have to drive slow and carefully in order to avoid hitting a pedestrian or a cyclist. In fact, the big quantity of motorcycles has become a new business since the past 5 years. Since there are a lot of motorcycles, their owners have started to offer their service of transportating people from one place to other as if they were a taxis. This at the same time, has created a big fight between taxis and "mototaxis", as many people call them, because it has reduced the demand of people willing to pay the cost of a taxi. Similarly, another method of transportation that is very common, but mostly used as an attractive of the colonial architecture, are the white chariots which tourist can pay to get a tour of the city. Also, another similar type of chariots, without seats and with a loading part at the back, are used as wagons to transport materials for construction. These other chariots would play the role of mototaxis with taxis, but this time it will be with dump trucks.
It is also famous for having many colleges, as it has been called "The University City". The Agromomy School of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia is located here. Also located near Palmira, is the headquarters of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) founded in 1967.
Born in Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Robayo is an eight-semester student of law at Pontifical Xavierian University in Cali.