Quindío in English
From Wikipaisa
Quindío is a department of Republic of Colombia. It is in the western central region of the country. Its capital is Armenia. Its famous by the quality of the coffee plantations, and touristic landmarks.
Located in western-central area of the country, crossed by the Andes mountains.
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History
The entire area was inhabited in the precolumbian period for the Quimbaya indigenous culture. 14 October /1889: Armenia foundation. 1905, creation of Caldas. department. 1908, it's annexed to Caldas department. 1966, January 16. it's separated as an autonomous department itself.
Geography
Most of its surface is occupied for the western face of Cordillera Central of Colombian Andes. Highest mountain: Nevado del Quindío, (quindío snow mountain) 5.150 m high.
There are in this department about 1.845 km² of mountain landscapes, with many Rainforests and Guadua bamboo forests. The ground is enriched with ancient volcanic eruptions, rising its fertility, there are also many rivers and minor water streams, including the Quindio river and the Cocora valley located in this river origin.
The weather has a wide range, given the variations on termic floors. It has a high annual rain precipitation (around 2500 mm/year) because the humidity of winds from the Pacific Ocean stopped by the Andes
Quindio Wax Palm Tree
With law 61 of 1985, the Colombian Congress adopted Quindío Wax Palm Tree [ Ceroxylon quindiuense (Karsten) Wendl.], a local endangered species of high-altitude-adapted palm tree, as the National Tree. As ratified on September 16 for the current president of Colombia, Belisario Betancur, in the following terms: "1º. It's declared as national tree and symbol of our fatherland the species commonly known as quindio wax palm tree, scientific name ceroxylon quindiuense. 2º. National Government Is faculted to buy as many lands as needed to create wildlife sanctuaries with the purpose of preserve this national symbol and its natural environment. 3º. Chopping down the wax palm tree is forbidden and punished with fine and jail"."
The wax palm tree was nearly extincted for the extraction of the resinous substance that it exudes. Furthermore, its leaves were widely used for the celebration of Holy Week processions, especially Palm Sunday.
Economy
Economy is mainly based in the harvest of coffee plant. There is, however a growing tourism industry.
