Barranquilla

From Freepedia

Barranquilla is the major industrial city on the Caribbean coast of Colombia. It lies at the mouth of the Magdalena River. It is known as the Golden Gate (Spanish: La Puerta de Oro) of Colombia. Its settlement or initial founding can be traced back to at least 1629. However, its residents have come to traditionally commemorate the city's "birthday", the date in which Barranquilla was legally erected as a village, April 7 1813. As Barranquilla became an important port it also served as a haven for immigrants from both Europe and Middle East.

Barranquilla's Carnival (Spanish:Carnaval de Barranquilla), which is celebrated 4 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".

Barranquilla is lovingly known as Curramba the Beautiful (Spanish: Curramba la Bella) and those hailing from Barranquilla, like international recording artist Shakira and Boston Red Sox shortstop Edgar Rentería, are known as "Curramberos." The adjective for a woman from Barranquilla is Barranquillera, while a man is a Barranquillero.

Climate

The climate is rather hot, but in December the Trade winds cool it to a more comfortable temperature. Barranquilla is a modern, industrial city, with more than 1,700,000 inhabitants (2.8 million metropolitan area including Sabana Grande and Soledad). Barranquilla is located at 10°57'50" North, 74°47'47" West (10.963889, -74.796389). [1]

Education

Barranquilla has several universities, including the first one, Universidad del Atlántico a governmental funded educational organization and Universidad del Norte, a private institution. The Ernesto Cortissoz International airport, the first airport built in South America (1919), is served by domestic and international flights.