Quindío Department
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Department of Quindío Departamento del Quindío |
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| Department | |||
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| Motto: Young, Rich and Powerful (Spanish: Joven, Rico y Poderoso) |
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| Anthem: | |||
 Quindío shown in red |
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 Topography of the department |
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| Coordinates: 4°32′N 75°42′W / 4.533°N 75.700°WCoordinates: 4°32′N 75°42′W / 4.533°N 75.700°W | |||
| Country |
 Colombia
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| Region | Andes Region | ||
| Established | July 1, 1966 | ||
| Capital | Armenia | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Carlos Eduardo Osorio Buritica (2016-2019) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 1,845 km2 (712 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 31st | ||
| Population (2013) | |||
| • Total | 558,934 | ||
| • Rank | 22nd | ||
| • Density | 300/km2 (780/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC-05 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | CO-QUI | ||
| Municipalities | 12 | ||
| Website | www.quindio.gov.co | ||
Quindío (Spanish pronunciation: [kinˈdi.o]) is a department of Colombia. It is in the western central region of the country, crossed by the Andes mountains. Its capital is Armenia. It is famous for the quality of the coffee plantations, colorful architecture, benign weather, variety of hotel accommodations and tourist landmarks. This department is located in a strategic area, in the center of the triangle formed by the three main cities of the country: Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. Quindío is the second-smallest Colombian department (0.2% of the national territory) with 12 municipalities. Ethnographically and culturally it belongs to the Paisa region.
Before the Spanish invasion the entire area was inhabited by the peoples of the Quimbaya civilization until the 10th century B.C. At the time of Spanish conquest the area was inhabited by indigenous people of Carib descent known as the Pijao tribes. The native population was gradually reduced due to slavery, armed confrontations, and massacres during the Rubber boom, causing the territory to remain mostly uninhabited over the following centuries. At the present time, only a small population of nearly 2000 Amerindians remains in an indigenous reservation near La Tebaida.
The first settlement to be founded in the area was Salento in 1842. In the 19th century northern peasants from Antioquia set out to settle in the area and their goal was to stay there permanently in a process known as Colonización antioqueña (Antioquian Colonisation). Due to the inaccessibility of the territory and the lack of roads, trade and communications were made through mule caravans (arriería) or by porters such as the silleros.
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