Villavicencio

Villavicencio (Spanish pronunciation: [biʎaβiˈsensjo]) 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. The city is located at 4°08'N, 73°40'W, 75 km (about 45 mi) southeast of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá (DC) by the Guatiquía River. It is the most important commercial center in the Llanos Orientales (eastern plains) of Colombia. Villavicencio has a hot and very wet climate, with average daily temperatures ranging from 21 to 30 °C (70 to 86 °F) and an annual rainfall of around 4,500 millimetres or 180 inches. It is affectionately called "Villavo" la bella. Villavicencio lies on the great Colombian-Venezuelan plain called the Llanos, situated to the east of the Andes mountains. Villavicencio is also called "La Puerta al Llano", or "The Gateway to the Plains", due to its location on the historical path from the Colombian interior to the vast savannas that lie between the Andes range and the Amazon rainforest. Villavicencio's proximity to huge mountains and great plains make the city an example of Colombia's geodiversity. Because it is located in the foothills of the Andes, the morning and evening breezes cool the city, which is very hot for most of the day.