MedellĂn
MedellĂn, city, capital of Antioquia departamento, northwestern Colombia. It lies along the Porce River (a tributary of the Cauca) at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,500 metres) above sea level, in the steep, temperate AburrĂĄ Valley of the Cordillera Central. It is one of the countryâs largest cities and is heavily industrialized, particularly in the steel industry.
MedellĂn was founded in 1675 as a mining town, but few colonial buildings survive. It is a well-ordered city, laid out on modern planning lines. MedellĂn developed a wide industrial base that includes food processing, woodworking, metallurgy, automobiles, chemicals, and rubber products; it is known as âColombiaâs Manchesterâ because of its textile mills and clothing factories. MedellĂn has long been one of Colombiaâs largest commercial centres of the coffee industry.
After 1914 the completion of the Panama Canal and the arrival of the railroad from Cali led to rapid growth of MedellĂn, which became an important transportation crossroads. The city is connected by road to the Caribbean littoral. A new international airport at nearby Rionegro was completed in the mid-1980s. MedellĂn became a centre for the illegal international distribution of Colombian-grown cocaine in the late 20th century. Pop. (2018) 2,382,399.
