7°08N 73°10W, pop (2000e) 401 900. Capital of Santander department, NC Colombia; NE of Bogotá, in the Cordillera Oriental at 1018 m/3340 ft; the garden city of Colombia; founded, 1622; university (1947); coffee, cacao, tobacco, cotton; Parque Santander, Parque García Roviro, El Paragüitas gardens (Jardin Botanico) in Floridablanca suburb; international piano festival (Sep).
| Bucaramanga | |||||
| View of Bucarmanga | |||||
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| Nickname: "The Pretty City" | |||||
| Location in the Department of Santander. | |||||
| Region | Andes Region (Colombia) | ||||
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| Department | Department of Santander* | ||||
| Foundation | 1622 | ||||
| Mayor | Honorio Galvis Aguilar, (L) | ||||
| Area | |||||
| - City | km² | ||||
| Elevation | 1189m m (3901ft ft) | ||||
| Population | |||||
| * | |||||
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Website: www.bucaramanga.gov.co |
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Bucaramanga is the capital of the department of Santander, Colombia, and is the hub of Colombia's sixth-largest metropolitan area (2003 census: 553,046, metro pop.
History
Girón was the first and most significant town founded by Spanish colonizers in the region, and Bucaramanga (founded in 1622) did not overtake Girón in population or economic significance until the early 1800s. In the 1860s and 1870s the city attracted a core of German merchants and adventurers (the most famous of whom was Georg von Lengerke), and tensions between the newcomers and local residents flared in 1879.
Geography
Bucaramanga is located on a plateau in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes, and many residents occupy unstable lands descending steeply from the meseta. (Ivan Sache, 23 March 2001)
Climatology and Surface
Bucaramanga has a municipal area of 165 km² and is located at 959m above sea level.
The City
Bucaramanga is also known as the "Ciudad de los Parques" ("The City of the Parks") and "Ciudad Bonita" ("Pretty City"). In general, the more prosperous areas are along and above Carrera 33 (Cabecera area) and to the south, over the Viaduct in Floridablanca (Cañaveral area), while the poorest areas are to the north (Kennedy area).
City's Neighborhoods
Bucaramanga is divided in 23 Main Neighborhoods
Norte (North) Nororiente (Northeast) San Francisco Occidente (West) García Rovira La Concordia Ciudadela Real de Minas Suroccidente (Southwest) La Pedregosa Provenza Sur (South) Cabecera del Llano La Floresta Pan De Azucar Terrazas El Prado Alvarez Conucos Oriente (East) Morrorico Centro (Downtown) Lagos del Cacique MutisPeople
Many important personalities from Colombia are from Bucaramanga such as Luis Carlos Galán, presidential candidate murdered by orders of Pablo Escobar in 1989 and Horacio Serpa Uribe.
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