A City A Day

Medellín  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [meðeˈʝin] ), officially the  Municipio de Medellín  (Spanish for Municipality of Medellín ), is the  second-largest city  in  Colombia  and capital of  Antioquia . It is in the  Aburrá Valley , one of the most northerly of the  Andes Mountains  in South America. As of 2013, it has a population of 2.4 million.  [3]  With its surrounding area,  the metropolitan area of Medellín  ( área metropolitana de Medellín ), which includes nine other cities, it is the second largest urban agglomeration in Colombia in terms of population and economy, with more than 3.5 million people. Medellín was founded in 1616 by the Spaniard Francisco Herrera Campuzano as  Poblado de San Lorenzo  ( Saint Lawrence  Town) in present-day  El Poblado . In 1675 the  queen consort Mariana of Austria  created the  Villa de Nuestra Señora de la  Candelaria ...

Bogotá  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [boɣoˈta]  (   listen ) ), formally  Bogotá, Capital District  (Spanish:  Bogotá, Distrito Capital ), from 1991 to 2000 called  Santafé de Bogotá , is the capital and largest city of Colombia . It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca , though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent capital district, and no longer belongs administratively to Cundinamarca. Bogotá is the most populous city in the country, with 6,778,691 inhabitants as of 2005. According to estimations the population would have risen to 7,363,782 by 2010. [4]  Bogotá and its  metropolitan area , which includes municipalities such as  Chía , Cota ,  Soacha ,  Cajicá  and  La Calera , had a population of around 8 million in 2010. [5] In terms of land area, Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, and one of the biggest in Latin America. It figur...

Santiago de Cali  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [sanˈtjaɣo ðe ˈkali] ), usually known by its short name "Cali", is the capital of the  Valle del Cauca department , and the most populous city in western  Colombia  with an estimated 2,319,655 [2]  residents according to 2005-2020/ DANE  population projections. The city spreads out across 560,3 km2 and 120,9 km2 of urban area, [3]  surpassing  Medellín  (376.21 km² and 102.10 km² of urban area [4] ) making Cali the second largest city in the country behind  Bogotá . As the only major Colombian city with access to the Pacific coast it is the principal urban, cultural, and economic city in western Colombia, making the city one of the fastest growing economies in Colombia. The city was founded on 25 July 1536 by the Spanish  conquistador   Sebastián de Belalcázar . It is the main sports center of Colombia, being the only Colombian city to have hosted the  Pan ...

Ibarra  (full name  San Miguel de Ibarra ) is a city in northern  Ecuador  and the capital of the  Imbabura Province . It lies at the foot of the  Imbabura Volcano  and on the left bank of the  Tahuando  river. It is about 70 kilometres (43 mi) northeast of Ecuador's capital  Quito .

Quito  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [ˈkito] ), formally  San Francisco de Quito , is the  capital city  of  Ecuador , and at an elevation of 9,350 feet (2,800 meters above sea level), it is the highest capital city in the world housing the administrative, legislative and judicial functions. [1]  It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba   river basin , on the eastern slopes of  Pichincha , [2]  an active  stratovolcano  in the  Andes mountains. With a population of 2,239,191 according to the last census (2010), Quito is the second most populous city in Ecuador, after  Guayaquil . It is also the capital of the  Pichincha province  and the seat of the  Metropolitan District of Quito . The canton recorded a population of 1,842,201 residents in the 2001 national census. In 2008, the city was designated as the headquarters of the  Union of South American Nations . [3]

Guayaquil  ( pronounced:  [ɡwaʝaˈkil] ), officially  Santiago de Guayaquil  ( pronounced:  [sanˈtjaɣo ðe ɣwaʝaˈkil] ), is the largest and the most populous city in  Ecuador , with around 3.75 million people in the metropolitan area, as well as the nation's main port. The city is the  capital  of the Ecuadorian province of Guayas  and the seat of the  namesake canton . Guayaquil is located on the western bank of the  Guayas River , which flows into the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Guayaquil .