Cali | |
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City | |
Santiago de Cali | |
| |
Nickname(s): "Branch of Heaven", "Sultana del Valle", "Sports City of Colombia", "Cali es Cali, lo demás es loma", "The Salsa´s capital of the world | |
![]() Location of the municipality and city of Cali in the Valle del Cauca Department. | |
Coordinates: 3°25′14″N 76°31′20″W / 3.42056°N 76.52222°W | |
Country | Colombia |
Department | Valle del Cauca |
Foundation | 25 July 1536 |
Founded by | Sebastián de Belalcázar |
Government | |
• Mayor | Rodrigo Guerrero Velasco |
Area | |
• City | 564 km2 (218 sq mi) |
Elevation | 997 m (3,271 ft) |
Population (2005)[1] | |
• City | 2,244,158 |
• Rank | Ranked 3rd |
• Density | 4,000/km2 (10,000/sq mi) |
• Metro | 2,825,105 |
Demonym | Caleño |
Time zone | UTC-5 (COT) |
Area code | 2 |
HDI (2008) | 0.80 – high |
Website | www.cali.gov.co |
Cali (official name, Santiago de Cali) is the capital of Valle del Cauca department in Colombia and the third most populated city in the country, after Bogotá and Medellín. Like other department capitals, it is home of the Valle del Cauca Governance, Departmental assembly, The Court of Justice, and other official institutions.
Santiago de Cali was founded in 1536 and although is one of the oldest cities in America, only until the 1930s accelerated its development to become one of the major economic and industrial centers of the country and the main urban center, cultural, economic, industrial and agriculture of southwestern of Colombia.