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Ortega, Tolima

Ortega
Municipality and town
View of the Cerros los Abechuchos in Ortega
View of the Cerros los Abechuchos in Ortega
Flag of Ortega
Flag
Location of the municipality and town of Ortega in the Tolima Department of Colombia
Location of the municipality and town of Ortega in the Tolima Department of Colombia
Coordinates: 3°55′N 75°15′W / 3.917°N 75.250°W / 3.917; -75.250Coordinates: 3°55′N 75°15′W / 3.917°N 75.250°W / 3.917; -75.250
Country  Colombia
Department Tolima
Government
 • Mayor Benjamín Aponte Bonilla
(2016-2019)
Area
 • Municipality and town 945.93 km2 (365.23 sq mi)
Elevation 2,687 m (8,816 ft)
Population (2015)
 • Municipality and town 45,524
 • Density 48/km2 (120/sq mi)
 • Urban 13,098
Demonym(s) Orteguno
Time zone Colombia Standard Time (UTC-5)
Website Official website

Ortega (Spanish pronunciation: [oɾˈteɣa]) is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. Ortega is located at altitudes from 402 to 2,687 metres (1,319 to 8,816 ft) above sea level, and has a surface area of 945.93 square kilometres (365.23 sq mi). The average temperature ranges from 14 to 26 °C (57 to 79 °F).

In 1572, a group composed of captain Diego Bocanegra, Luis de Morales, Vicente Valenzuela, Ambrosio de Morales Bocanegra, and forty soldiers that Diego Bocanegra had taken to conquer the native Pijao, established a town named Santiago de la Frontera. That first foundation was abandoned, due to Diego Bocanegra leaving for the troops commanded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, following a high court's mandate. In 1586, Diego Bocanegra undertook a second foundation and named the settlement Medina de las Torres. Because of the attacks by the Pijao on Medina de las Torres, the town disappeared. A third foundation was also unsuccessful because of the attacks by the Pijao.

Centuries later, on November 30, 1821, the Catholic Father Nicolás Ramírez rebuilt the town and named it Ortega, in an area of 98 square kilometres (38 sq mi).


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