Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. The capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The municipality had a population of 531,275 in 2018.

Economy

In recent years the city has achieved an economic development strengthened by the trade sector, thanks to the dynamics generated by the roads that channel to the interior and the center of the country the agricultural and agro-industrial industry of the Llano, as well as the products entering the region from different parts of Colombia. Construction activity is very important. Gas and oil exploitation in the Apiay field are part of the region's mining activity.

Cattle, agriculture, and the exportation of crude oil fuel the Villavicencio economy. Imports from the surrounding area include coffee, bananas, and rice.

La Vanguardia Airport serves Villavicencio with flights to the rest of Colombia on four airlines, including Colombian major airlines Avianca and Latam Colombia.

Villavicencio continues to be the main collection and supply center for the municipalities of Villavicencio and the municipalities of the Colombian Orinoco region, as well as the main oil and gas-producing municipality; however, most of the jobs are being generated in commercial and service activities, that is, in non-productive and non-tradable sectors. Large constructions, roads, financial resources, and tourism revolve around these commercial dynamics and services. This means that the department's contribution to the National GDP is less than 2%, a figure that has been maintained over the last 49 years, that is, from 1960 to 2009.

Education

The city of Villavicencio has a network of public and private institutions that provide and guarantee the right to education at the primary, secondary, technical, and higher education levels. As the hub city of the Eastern Plains, Villavicencio is the main urban university center of the region to which young people from neighboring departments come.

  • University of the Llanos is a public university located within Villavicencio. Other higher education institutions include Cooperative University of Colombia, Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Saint Martin University, Uniminuto, UAN.
  • Universidad Santo Tomás Offers presential programs, and more than 22 programs in open and distance mode (VUAD), among which are: International Business, Agricultural Business Administration, Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Psychology, Law and Public Accounting. It has High-Quality Institutional Accreditation Res. 01456/29/01/2016.
  • Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia: The Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia is an institution of Higher Education founded in 1958, socially owned, which by its origin and organization belongs to the Solidarity Economy sector. It has branches in other cities of the country.
  • Unimeta: It has 14 undergraduate programs, 25 specializations, 23 diploma courses, and several extension courses.
  • Minuto de Dios University offers the following degree programs and free courses: Social Communication-Journalism, Business Administration, Computer Technology, Graphic Communication Technology, among free courses in Basic Computer Science and Basic Programming.

Sports

The city has a football (soccer) team, the Llaneros fútbol club, which plays in Colombia's second division.

The Colombian Football Federation announced that Villavicencio was to have been one of the venue cities to host the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, however it was replaced by Medellín.

thumb|Coliseo Álvaro Mesa Amaya

Sports facilities

  1. Estadio Manuel Calle Lombana
  2. Estadio La Esperanza
  3. Coliseo Álvaro Mesa Amaya
  4. Coliseo La Grama
  5. COFREM

Tourism

Villavicencio's tourism activity has been the result of progress in commercial activity and services; in other words, its growth depends on commercial dynamics, the services provided, and the efforts of municipal and departmental administrations. Tourism is carried out in both urban and rural areas (corregimientos) and has grown in both sectors.

Due to the growing interest in tourism in the region, the highways have been modernized and improved, shortening the driving time and distance to the capital Bogotá. As a result, Villavicencio and other adjacent municipalities (Acacías, Cubarral, Cumaral, Restrepo, Puerto Lopéz, Puerto Gaitán, Cáqueza) are growing in popularity as tourist destinations. In preparation to meet this demand, tourism development plans and strategies are implemented by the departmental and municipal governments, as well as the Cotelco branch. In relation to physical infrastructure, the city has an acceptable hotel inventory, as well as agro-tourism properties.

Monuments

  • Cristo Rey: This cultural heritage site is located on El Redentor hill, with a height of approximately 30 meters and with the figure of Christ the King, which with his arms outstretched to the sides and looking at the city, symbolizes protection, a cry for peace in times of violence that the territory lived in the 50s.

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Cristo_Rey,_Mirador.jpg|Cristo rey. Photo taken from bluradio.com

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  • Monument to the Founders: It was the last work of the renowned Colombian sculptor, Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt, is located in the park of the same name on the road that leads from Villavicencio to Acacías.
  • Biodiversidad Monument: Represented by a yellow hand with a ring in each of its five fingers, pays homage to the natural heritage of the Eastern Plains Region. Meta department, rich in ecosystems, flora and fauna, proudly shows respect for its characteristic biodiversity.
  • Waterfalls: Meta is considered one of the best departments in Colombia to enjoy tourism, given the variety of flora, fauna, culture, and gastronomy that characterizes it. In addition to the unique experience that can be lived by the natural waterfalls with which it counts.

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WATERFALLS_VILLAVICECNIO.jpg|A waterfalls in Granada, Meta

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  • Los Ocarros Biopark: Located on the road leading to Restrepo and Cumaral, around the lake formed by the waters of the Vanguardia stream and as a gateway to the nature reserve of the same name. It is the only zoological institution in the country dedicated exclusively to the preservation of regional natural wealth, which brings together the biodiversity of fauna, flora, and ecosystems of the Colombian Orinoco region. Exclusively flora and fauna of the region, highlighting the serpentarium, the giant armadillos or ocarros, the Orinoco caiman, and the spectacled bear.

Festival

Villavicencio is the capital of the Llanos Orientales and celebrates its anniversary every April 6 to pay tribute to its history and culture. This is an event where the city attracts much more tourism as artistic events such as concerts, parades, fairs, as well as sports competitions and fireworks are held. All activities are free and all are welcome to attend.

Concurso mundial de la Mujer Vaquera thumb|Encuentro mundial de la mujer vaquera

Occurring annually in Las Malocas Park, participants demonstrate their skills in llano work and rodeo, and where llanera music is also performed by top musicians of this Colombian-Venezuelan genre. This event is in March, Women's Month and lasts three days, it is dedicated to exalting the skills of the llanera women and also summons other sportswomen from other countries. The llanera women compete in different events such as milking, agility and dexterity in horse riding, saddling, and rein handling.

International Joropo Tournament (Villavicencio):

The International Joropo Tournament is the most important cultural and artistic event in the region of Meta. It is held in the first week of July and lasts 5 days. As part of this event, the anniversary of the department is also celebrated. Highlights of the event include the international joropo beauty pageant, competitions such as voice passage, contrapunteo, best artist, best maraquero, best harpist, unpublished voice and unpublished song.

The Hacha Park

The actual name of this central park is Jose Eustacio Rivera, but people in Villavicencio call it Hacha Park because of the monument that presides it. The place pays tribute to the author of The Vortex, while the ax refers to the early settlers that used this tool to open the trails in Meta and change the land.

Gastronomy

In Villavicencio the typical dishes are in turn representative of the gastronomy of the Eastern Plains.

Carne a la Llanera (mamona or veal)

thumb|The classic bonfire is round for cooking meat.

Veal roasted in wood and marinated only with salt and beer. It is served with cassava, potatoes, and plantains; optionally it is accompanied by a stew or sauce based on chili and a beer or lemonade based on panela. In the city, there is a wide variety of restaurants and grills that offer several typical dishes of the region. This dish is also known as Mamona or Ternera a la Llanera, due to the fact that it uses veal, which is slaughtered when the cow is still suckling.

This is the most representative dish of the Llanos region, in such a way that it can be found in other parts of the country. The citizen who is living in Villavicencio is used to cook of meat during festivals and parties. It is common for Villavicences to eat this kind of meat in Joropodromo, at birthday parties, meetings.

Arepas and breads

Rice arepas, rice bread, cassava bread, corn and corn wrapped, tungos, fish dish, three-phase sancocho, pâté broth, minced soup, pajarilla broth.

Rice bread

The rice bread is a snack made with rice and curd which is currently carrying a special safeguard plan before the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and also through the Association of bread producers and marketers of Rice Meta (ASPAMET) with the help of the Chamber of Commerce of Villavicencio, are promoting the product to aspire to have a designation of origin before the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce of Colombia, rice bread is an important link in the cuisine of Villavicencio, currently is the municipality where this food is sold the most locally, nationally and internationally, the most traditional bakery and former rice bread producer is Rosquipan since 1990.

Drinks

Guarulo, Masato, Lemonade with panela, Guarapo de Piña and the coffee . In addition to the typical liquors such as Aguardiente Llanero and Ron San Martín Añejo.

Notable people

  • , film director
  • Carolina Gaitán, Colombian television actress
  • William Pulido, former professional cyclist
  • Luis Ariel Rey, musician and songwriter
  • Óscar Ruiz, former football referee and lawyer
  • Nathalia Sánchez, gymnast

References