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Barranquilla
View of Barranquilla's skyline, the mouth of the Magdalena river and the Caribbean sea in the background
Flag Seal
Map of the Atlántico Department.
Coordinates: 10°57′50″N 74°47′47″W / 10.96389, -74.79639
Region	Caribbean Region (Colombia)
Department	Atlántico Department*
Foundation	(Officially) April 7, 1813*
Government
- Mayor	Guillermo Hoenigsberg
Area
- City	166 km² (64.1 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population (2005)[1] [2]
- City	1,112,837
- Metro	1,694,879
Website: www.alcaldiabarranquilla.gov.co

Corner of 72nd Street and 53rd Avenue, Barranquilla, Colombia. At left, one of the most important buildings of the city: Miss Universo.

Barranquilla, an industrial, portuary, and special district, is a city and municipality located in northern Colombia. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port on the Colombian Caribbean region and the fourth largest city of Colombia. It lies strategically by the delta of the Magdalena River, serving as port for fluvial and maritime transportation. It is also known as the cradle of Colombian aviation and as home to a very picturesque carnival.

It is known as Colombia's Golden Gate (Spanish: La Puerta de Oro de Colombia) as well as La Arenosa (the Sandy City). While the city bears no established record of its foundation, its settlement or foundation can be traced back to at least 1629. However, its residents traditionally have come to commemorate the city's "birthday" as the date when Barranquilla was legally established as a village, April 7, 1813. By 1834 Barranquilla had a population of 11,212 (official census), which made it slightly smaller than Santa Marta and not quite half the size of Cartagena.^[3] As Barranquilla became an important port, it also served as a haven for immigrants from Europe during World War I and World War II, and for different waves of immigrants from the Middle East and Asia.

Barranquilla was Colombia's first port and is proud of its level of industrialization and modernity, which earned it the name of Colombia's Golden Gate. The first airport in South America was also built in Barranquilla, and the world's second oldest commercial airline doing business today was founded there, SCADTA (now known as Avianca). The Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, the first airport built in South America (1919), is served by domestic and international flights.

In the 1940s, Barranquilla was the second largest city in Colombia and one of the most modern cities on the Caribbean, but later local administrations, given to widespread corruption, brought about a decline in the standard of living. As government investment increased in other Colombian cities, Barranquilla's national stature was surpassed.^{[citation needed]} As of the 2005 census, Barranquilla was Colombia's fourth largest city after Bogotá (capital), Medellín, and Cali.

View of the Alto Prado neighborhood from Villa Country.

The climate is hot and very humid. Daytime temperature usually remains around 32°C. Nevertheless, from late November to early April, the trade winds more or less cool it to a more comfortable temperature during the day. During the evening and through the night the temperature can change due to the strong winds it receives. The rainy seasons are from April to June and from August to November, when some streets flood producing "arroyos" (streams) that are very dangerous, given the lack of appropriate rain drainage in some sectors of town.

Barranquilla is a modern, industrial city, with more than 1,700,000 inhabitants (2.2 million within a metropolitan area including nearby Soledad and Puerto Colombia).

The city is also known as "La Arenosa" (The Sandy One), alluding to the fine sand occasionally present in the air, due to its proximity to the Caribbean beaches.

The city's topographical layout is simple: to the east, it's bordered by the Magdalena river; to the west, it's bordered by a bypass called Circunvalar. The city grid is divided in the typical Colombian way: calles (streets, going from north to south) and carreras (avenues, going from east to west). Downtown is located near the river, on the eastern edge of town. The two main axes of the city are Olaya Herrera Avenue, which goes from downtown to the western edge of town, becoming the highway to nearby Cartagena de Indias, and Murillo Street, which goes from the southern, working-class neighborhoods to the city's downtown. Upper-class and middle-class neighborhoods are to the west and north of the city.

View of Barranquilla from the Magdalena River.

Satellite View of Barranquilla.

Barranquilla's Carnival (Spanish: Carnaval de Barranquilla), which is celebrated four days before Ash Wednesday, is broadly recognized as one of the world's largest carnivals; residents claim it is second only to the carnival of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In November of 2003, UNESCO proclaimed it as one of 28 different "masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity"(1).

As a result of the city's lengthy tradition as a port of entry, Barranquilla's culture is marked by a cosmopolitan streak^[4], only comparable in the national context to Colombia's capital, Bogotá. The city is home to numerous immigrant groups: Lebanese, Italian, German, Jewish, and Chinese. From its gastronomy to the local Spanish accent, Barranquilla's culture is markedly different from the rest of the regions in the country.

The city is recognized also for its carnival declared by Unesco as Patrimony of the Humanity (Oral and Cultural). It is also considered as the biggest carnival of the world because of it cultural content, gathering together more than 300 cultural expressions from the immigration waves during the Colombian Caribbean Coast history.

Barranquilla differentiates itself from other big cities of Colombia through the diversity of cultural and religious backgrounds. Around 52% of its population descend from foreigners in 2nd degree and, although the predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, there are big groups of Protestants and Jews. The Lebanese people, emigrés of the Turkish Ottoman empire, who arrived during various immigration waves throughout the twentieth century, were Orthodox Christians but they converted to Catholicism. The estimated percentage of Catholics is 69,3%, a very low number compared with other Colombian cities. With 4 synagogues, Baranquilla is home to the biggest Jewish community of Colombia, representing 1,1% of the city's population. Protestantism is the second largest religious group in Colombia and this is the same for Barranquilla where 19,4% of the population are Protestants. The remaining 10,7% of the population declares itself nonreligious.^{[citation needed]}

Barranquilla was home to Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez during his early years as journalist and bears substantial weight on his literary production. García Márquez's old bohemian hangout, La Cueva, has been restored and is open to the public as an artsy bar. It was here that the writer met with the Grupo de Barranquilla, an informal group of local writers and journalists.

Barranquilla is lovingly known as Curramba La Bella (Curramba The Beautiful) and those hailing from Barranquilla, like international recording artist Shakira and Detroit Tigers shortstop Edgar Rentería, are known as "curramberos" (curramberos literally means party people, hinting at the locals' gregarious temperament). The adjective for a woman from Barranquilla is barranquillera, while a man is a barranquillero.

In 2006, the city unveiled a massive six-ton statue of famous local Shakira after she attended the groundbreaking ceremony of a school she is sponsoring in La Playa, a depressed suburb of Barranquilla. [1].

Sofia Vergara, a Latino TV actress who works mainly in US-based shows and sitcoms, was also born in the city.

Nina Garcia, a fashion director at Elle Magazine and judge on the Bravo reality television program Project Runway, was also born in this city.

Also, Barranquilla is the birthplace of the Grupo Santodomingo (Santodomingo family), one of the major business conglomerates in Colombia.

Other local celebrities include Esthercita Forero, a popular composer and singer, also known as "The Bride of Barranquilla."

Marcos Coll, who scored the only Olympic goal ever scored in a FIFA soccer World Cup Game, is also from Barranquilla. He scored this goal during a match between Colombia and The USSR in the Chilean World Cup in 1962 against the best goalkeeper of that time - Yashin "The Black Spider". Colombia tied that game and almost beat the USSR also known as CCCP (Con Colombia Casi Perdemos) (Spanish for "we almost lost against Colombia".

The Teatro Municipal Amira de la Rosa is the city's main cultural scenario. Barranquilla is also home to the Cinemateca del Caribe, the Alliance Française (Barranquilla Chapter), the Centro Cultural Avianca, and the Centro Colombo Americano. Performances by touring bands or artists are usually held at the city's Coliseo Cubierto or within the facilities of the local Country Club.

Starting in November (at times, as early as October), the city prepares for the end of the year festivities. The city is filled with multicolored lights and many houses are adorned with nice Christmas decorations. The festive atmosphere floods the city and this is also reflected in the music played by radio stations, which is mostly related to the festivities. During this time of the year, the weather in the city is usually characterized as sunny and windy. The most special celebration date is the eve of December 7th (as important as Christmas), the night before the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, which also marks the "official" start of the festive season. A couple of hours before the sunrise of December 8th, Barranquilla's citizens salute the Virgin Mary by lighting their houses' porches with thousands of multicolored lanterns. It is a beautiful event called "Las Velitas" (Spanish for "The Little Candles"). Another very important celebration is New Year's eve. It is tradition that every neighborhood burns a doll, representing an end to all problems occurred during the previous year.

View of the Parque de los Fundadores near the Romantic Museum

Barranquilla is home to a number of universities, like the Universidad del Norte, Universidad del Atlántico, the Universidad Metropolitana, the Universidad Autónoma del Caribe, the Universidad Simón Bolívar, and the Corporación Universitaria de la Costa. There are also many bilingual schools, such as Marymount, Karl C. Parrish, Altamira International School, German School (Deutsche Schule), Lyndon B. Johnson, and the British International School, generally accessible to the city's elite. Barranquilla is also home to a number of more traditional Catholic schools, like Colegio Biffi La Salle, Liceo de Cervantes, Colegio Sagrado Corazón, and the Jesuits' Colegio San José. Other schools include the Colegio Hebreo Unión (a Jewish school), and Presbyterian academic centers like the Colegio Americano. The city is also remarkable for having one of highest literacy rates in the country: 96.4 percent and also one of the most bilingual young rates[2].

Barranquilla is home to a thriving trading industry, as well as to a number of staples of the Colombian economy, such as Bavaria S.A., Carulla-Vivero, Monómeros, Olímpica y SAO, Expreso Brasilia S.A. and Cementos Argos. The city is the birthplace of Grupo Santo Domingo, one of the major business conglomerates in Colombia.

The city's two main newspapers are El Heraldo[3] and La Libertad. Other dailies include newspapers of nationwide distribution, such as Bogotá's El Tiempo[4]. The local TV channel is Colombia's Caribbean regional network, Telecaribe. Local radio includes the customary assortment of tropical music and news. The two main highbrow alternatives, Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia and Uninorte FM Estéreo, broadcast on 640 AM and 103.1 FM, respectively.

Though baseball is popular, the locals fervently follow Barranquilla's soccer team, Atlético Junior. The team plays at the Estadio Metropolitano, one of the largest soccer stadiums in the Americas.

A typical public transportation bus.

Land Transportation
Public transportation in Barranquilla mainly consists of buses and taxis. The main bus terminal is located near the southern edge of town, at the end of Murillo Street. A bus rapid transit system called Transmetro, similar to Bogotá's TransMilenio, will begin operating by late 2007.

Recently, an illegal form of transportation denominated mototaxismo developed. A regular motorcycle is used to carry a passenger for a lower fare than a bus or taxi. This unregulated and potentially dangerous practice has led to protests by the legally operating transport companies and drove many of them into bankruptcy.

Air Transportation
The city's airport, the Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, receives domestic and international flights. Domestic flights are mainly operated by Avianca.

Fluvial and Maritime Transportation
The port of Barranquilla is located by the Magdalena River, and accessible to ships coming from the sea thanks to dredge ships, that constantly make way for the ship canals, named Canal de Acceso (Access Canal).

Sister cities of Barranquilla include:

• Tampa, Florida
• Nanjing, People's Republic of China
• Kaohsiung City, Republic of China

1. ^ Colombia. Proyecciones de población, por área, según municipios: A junio 30 de 1995-2005 an Excel file
2. ^ Censo General 2005 - Resultados (2005 census results for some municipalities), a PDF file
3. ^ Nichols, Theodore E. (May 1954) "The Rise of Barranquilla" The Hispanic American Historical Review 34(2): pp. 158-174
4. ^ "House of Cards" Colors Issue:62, Art. 9

Barranquilla travel guide from Wikitravel

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Barranquilla, Colombia

• (Spanish) Alcaldía de Barranquilla Municipality Page
• Barranquilla Free Zone
• (Spanish) Carnaval de Barranquilla Official Page on the Carnival
• (Spanish) Terminal Metropolitana de Transportes de Barranquilla (main bus terminal)
• (Spanish) Uninorte FM Estéreo (online broadcast)
• (Spanish) Zoológico de Barranquilla Official zoo page, small section in English
• (Spanish)Carnaval de Barranquilla 2008

v • d • e Municipalities in the Atlántico Department
Baranoa • Barranquilla • Campo de la Cruz • Candelaria • Galapa • Juan de Acosta • Luruaco • Malambo • Manatí • Palmar de Varela • Piojó • Polonuevo • Ponedera • Puerto Colombia • Repelón • Sabanagrande • Sabanalarga • Santa Lucía • Santo Tomas • Soledad • Suan • Tubará • Usiacurí

Coordinates: 10°57′50″N, 74°47′47″W