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Santiago de Cali, better known as '''Cali''', is the main city and capital of the Valle Del Cauca department in Colombia . With an estimated total population (as of 2004) of almost 2.4 million {Link without Title} , Cali is the second most populated city in the country. The adjective for the people born in Cali is Caleño. The name Santiago de Cali comes in one part to honour Saint James the apostle (Santiago in Spanish) whose feast day is celebrated on July 25th . About the word '''Cali''' there are several opinons about its possible origin. Some attribute it to a mispronunciation of the word "Lili", the name of a local tribe. Others believe that the word "Cali" has Quechua origin, and it was brought by the Yanaconas Indians that came from Quito serving Belalcázar. This theory is reinforced from the fact that near Quito there is an indigenous town named ''Cali Cali''. GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE Cali is located on the Cauca Valley between the west coast of the Cauca River and the east slope of the Western Mountain Range near the mountains known as Farallones de Cali. The city is relatively flat with an average elevation of 1000 meters over the sea level (3280 ft). About 100 km west of Cali is the port city of Buenaventura on the Colombian Pacific coast; to the northeast are the industrial city of Yumbo and the international airport Alfonso Bonilla Aragón (CLO) in Palmira; about two hours drive to the south it is found the colonial city of Popayán in the Cauca department. Several rivers descending from the Western Mountain Range into the Cauca River pass through the metropolitan area of Cali. In the western side of the city, the Aguacatal River flows into the Cali River, which continues to the Cauca River. In the south the rivers Cañaveralejo, Lilí, and Meléndez flow into the CVC south channel which ends into the Cauca River. Farther south the bed of Pance River is a popular place for recreation and leisure. The local climate is equatorial with the Western Mountain Range screening the flow of humid air from the Pacific coast; in the afternoons a fresh breeze crosses the city from west to east. The Western Mountain Range goes from 2,000 meters average altitude on the north of the city to 4,000 on the south, this makes the weather in the northwest of the city less rainy than in the southwest. The average annual precipitation goes from 900 mm in the driest zones to 1,800 mm in the rainiest ones with an average of 1,000 mm over most of the metropolitan area. The average temperature is 24°C (74°F) with an average lowest of 19°C and a highest average of 30°C Due to its proximity to the equator there is no major seasonal variation. Locally, "summer" refers to the dry periods and "winter" to the rainy periods. There are two rainy seasons, in April - May and in October - November. There is, however, some rain every month of the year, which keeps the city green. HISTORY Precolombian and conquest Before the arrival of the Spaniards the actual region of Cali was inhabited by many indigenous tribes, mostly of the Caribe family. On the region between the Cauca River and the Western Cordillera, the Gorrones were established between the actual Roldanillo and Cali; the biggest Morron's town was settled on the River Pescador near the actual towns of Zarzal and Bugalagrande. Although canibals, the Morrones traded with the Quimbayas who inhabited the north of the Valle del Cauca. On his way to Cali, Sebastián de Belalcázar first met the Timbas which ran away before the arrival of the Conqueror's men leaving behind their towns and gold. After the Timbas, towards the north, the Spaniards entered in the territory of the cacique Jamundí and his tribe the Jamundíes between the rivers Pance and Jamundi. These Indians offered a strong resistance to the invaders, fighting with poisonous darts and arrows against the harquebuses and swords of the Spaniards. After taking Jamundíes' town the Spaniards looted the Indian's gold. Before taking complete control over the region the Spaniards had to defeat the cacique Petecuy, whose tribe inhabited between the river Lilí and the Western Cordillera. Petecuy formed a big army formed by many tribes and fought the spaniards on the holy Tuesday 1536. The Morrones gave up easily to the Spaniards and were divided in Encomiendas. The already " Mestizo " nature of the spaniards made easy the process of mixing with the Amerindians, in fact, Belalcázar himself had several children born in the Americas from Indian mothers, as did his men. Cali was important for Belalcazar because it was beyond the Quechua empire. After the capture and execution of the Inca Ataualpa at Cajamarca, Pizzaro sent Belalcazar to take possession of Guayaquil and Quito on his behalf. Cali, being beyond the Quechua empire, was claimed by Belalcazar as his territory. After his death, his descendants maintained possession of much of the land until the war of independence against Spain. Founding and colonial period The founder of Cali, Sebastián De Belalcázar , came to the American continent in the third voyage of Columbus in 1498. In 1532, after serving in Darién and Nicaragua , he joined Francisco Pizarro in the conquest of Perú . In 1534 Belalcázar separated from Pizarro's expedition to found the city of Quito , and later in his search of El Dorado he entered the actual Colombian territory founding the cities of Pasto and Popayán . On July 25th 1536 , Belalcázar founded Santiago de Cali, first established a few miles north of the present location, near the actual towns of Vijes and Riofrio . Under the orders of Belalcázar the captain Miguel Muñoz moved the city to its present location in 1537 , where the chaplain Brother Santos de Añasco celebrated a mass in the place today occupied by the Church La Merced today, and Belalcázar designated Pedro de Ayala as the first municipal authority. During the Colonia, Santiago de Cali was part of the gobernación of Popayán , which was part of Quito 's Audiencia. Although initially Cali was the capital of the Popayán's Gobernación, in 1540 Belalcázar moved this function to Popayán due to the better weather. Until the 18th century most of the territory of what is now Cali was occupied by haciendas (ranchs), and the city was only a small town near the rio Cali. In 1793, Cali had 6548 inhabitants, 1106 of whom were slaves. The haciendas were the property of the dominant noble class with many slaves dedicated mostly to stockbreeding and raising sugar cane crops. Many of these haciendas became neighborhoods of the present city like Cañaveralejo, Chipichape, Pasoancho, Arroyohondo, Cañasgordas, Limonar, and Meléndez. Cali was in a strategically positioned for trade, central to the mining regions of Antioquia , Chocó , and Popayán . In the colonial period, the first trail for mules and horses between Cali and Buenaventura was completed. Independence On July 3rd 1810 Santiago de Cali proclaimed its independence from Popayán's Gobernación. This local uprising predates the one in Bogota by 17 days. Soon the independentist look for allies forming the "Ciudades Confederadas del Valle del Cauca" with Anserma, Cartago, Toro, Buga y Caloto. Immediately after the rebelion the Governor of Popayán, Miguel Tacón y Rosique, organized an army to control the uprising. The people from Cali called for help to the "Junta Suprema" in Bogota which sent a contingent under the colonel Antonio Baraya to support the independence cause. On the 28th March 1811 in the battle of Bajo Palacé the Army of Baraya with the help of Atanacio Girardot defeated the royalist army. In the following years there were many battles between royalists and independentists. After having been released from captivity by Napoleon, King Fernando VII of Spain sent a huge army under the command of the Pacificador (peacemaker) Pablo Morillo who reclaimed power for Spain. In 1819 after Simón Bolivar defeated the bulk of the Spaniard army in the Batalla De Boyacá , there were new uprisings in the Valle del Cauca and the Criollos took control definitively. In 1822 Bolivar arrived in Cali, the city was an important military outpost and the region contributed with many men in Bolivar's battles to liberate the nations in the south. Recent history Until the beginning of the 20th century Cali was a small village, compared to other colombian cities, depending of Popayán political and economically. The consolidation of the railroad between the city and the Pacific Ocean in Buenaventura , and the growing trade between this port and the interior cities, transformed Cali from a small town to the most important city in the south and west of the country. In 1911, with 28,000 inhabitants, Cali became the capital of the new Department of Valle del Cauca, which was created in the north part of the Old Cauca Department. The whole region was by now largely cultivated, and its future as an agricultural provider seemed secure. There were, however, no real roads connecting this region to the rest of Colombia, so that until the main road to Bogota was built in the 1930's, all travel and transportaion was done on horse and mule. The road over the Western Cordillera to the Pacific Ocean was only completed in 1945. This was, however, very important for the city as this route was a faster and cheaper way for imported goods to reach Colombia’s main population centers in Bogotá and Medellín, as well as for exporting coffee. Cali’s growth was thus associated with the diminished importance of Barranquilla, as it was no longer the gateway to the main Colombian cities. By the early 1950's Cali (now with 240,000 inhabitants) had embarked on an industrialization plan, fueled mainly by foreign capital. The rural areas surrounding the city were cultivated with sugar cane and many "ingenios", or industrial plants for the extraction of sugar from cane, brought prosperity to the region. Cali almost tripled in population during this decade due mainly to the war between Liberals and Conservatives known as “La Violencia” in the northern part of the department and the Coffee region (currently, the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío). Since then, a growing network of roads and the advent of air transport have finally ended the isolation of Cali and the Valle from the rest of Colombia and the world. On August 7, 1956, about 1,100 were reported killed when seven army ammunition trucks, which had been badly parked right in town, exploded. This catastrophe, however, could have been worse, since these trucks were parked in the Plaza de Cayzedo right in the city's very populated downtown. In 1971, Cali hosted the Pan-American Games , an event which spurred its citizens to rebuild and improve many urban areas, avenues, and sporting venues. From this time many of the sports centers and arenas in the city were built. During the 1970's to 1990's the Cali Cartel had a negative influence in the City. The war of this organization against the Medellín Cartel brought selective violence and terrorist attacks to the streets of Cali. In our days Cali is a sprawling city of over 2 million inhabitants, many of them recent immigrants from poor rural areas, who have created squalid slums on the outskirts while they absorb the skills needed to prosper in an urban setting, while the local government and its citizenry struggle to help them integrate. Like Medellin though, delinquent drug-related violence is responsible for far more homicides in the city than drug cartel activity. POLITICS Cali is governed by a mayor elected for a four year term. Under the mayor there are several administrative departments and secretaries. The legislative branch is a city council whose members are elected by citywide circumscription for four year terms. TRANSPORTATION Cali has started building a massive transportation system in Cali, named ( EL MIO ) (Masivo Integrado de Occidente) which consists of special buses and bus routes. This system is highly needed to organize the transport in the City. It should start operating in 2007. Currently people commute in the city using an intricate and disorganized network of buses with many routes and names. Cali is served by the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International Airport , which serves as an important national and international hub for the southwestern Colombia region. Its international terminal is served with daily international flights to Houston, Miami, Quito, North American cities, via Panamá. EDUCATION The main institution is the Universidad Del Valle (Valle State University), or Univalle , which was founded in 1945; with more than 20,000 students distributed in its schools and departments Univalle is the only institution offering a wide variety of academic programs in the region. The Universidad Santiago de Cali is another academic center with a considerable number of schools and departments. Other universities, offering only few academic programs are Universidad Autonoma, Universidad Javeriana, Universidad ICESI, Universidad Libre, and Universidad San Buenaventura. CULTURAL ACTIVITIES Feria de Cali "La Feria de Cali" is the main cultural event in the city. From December 25th to January 5th people enjoy of many activities like an opening cabalgata, tascas, salsa concerts, bullfightings, paredes, and athletic activities and competitions. Cali is also known as the "Capital de la Salsa" given the city's infatuation with that type of Afro-Caribbean music. In early July there is the Summer Salsa Festival which lasts for one week. It usually includes concerts by the world's great remaining salsa bands as well as dance shows and "melomano" competitions in which salsa connaisseurs try to out do each other by digging deep into the archives of salsa music and related sounds to find and reveal long lost tunes. Rio Cali race Cali has two main athletic events, a mid-year half marathon {Link without Title} and a December 10k race called Carrera del Río Cali. SPORTS Cali's best known and most popular sports clubs are América De Cali and Deportivo Cali football ( soccer ) teams.
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