Valle del Cauca

Valle del Cauca is Colombia’s third-largest economy, home to world salsa capital Cali, and one of the most culturally diverse states of the South American country.

The state, called Valle in short, is located along the Pacific and of historic importance for the transport of goods from the Pacific to the capital Bogota and other inland cities.

The name — Spanish for “Cauca Valley” — is entirely derived from its geographic location, it being the valley through which the Cauca river leaves the Andes to flow northward towards the Caribbean.

Valle is inhabited by some 4.6 million people, making it the third most populated state of Colombia, preceded only by Bogota and Antioquia.

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Capital: Cali
Governor: Ubeimar Delgado (Conservative Party)

Territory: 8,550 sq mi
Represents: 1.9%

Population: 4,613,377
Population density: 530/sq mi
Represents: 9.6%

GDP: $31.2 billion
Represents: 9.3%

Poverty level: 30%
GINI coefficient: 0.518

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First communities

Archaeologists have found evidence of human activity in the region now called Valle del Cauca dating back as far as approximately 12,000 BC. This evidence consists of arrowheads that were found north of Cali.

The first real settlements are assumed to have been erected around 5,000 BC based on evidence that local peoples had reached a level of primitive agriculture and were cultivating corn to feed their communities.

The first distinguishable civilization was formed by people belonging to the “Ilama culture,” who settled north of Cali near the towns of Restrepo and Darien.

The Ilama culture was the first of what later became known as the Calima culture, the common culture of the Valle del Cauca region until the Spanish colonization of Latin America in the 16th century.

The Spanish conquest

Captain Muñoz, a Spanish conqueror whose first name remains unknown, founded Cali on July 25, 1536. Other Spanish settlements like Cartago were founded only years later in the north of what is now Valle.

Almost immediately after the Spanish settled in Valle, kidnapped slaves from Africa were put to work on the growing sugar cane plantations as the local indigenous peoples quickly became extinct due to the violent conquest and the infection of European diseases that killed most of the locally-enslaved population.

Independence

Following Colombia’s independence from Spanish in 1819, the newly independent peoples of Great Colombia got engaged in numerous territorial disputes and Valle del Cauca became part of the Cauca department that covered Colombia’s entire Pacific coast for most of the century to come. The department of Valle del Cauca as we know today came to exist and Cali became the capital.

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Gender ratio

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Ethnic composition

Age distribution

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GDP growth

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GDP per sector

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Unemployment

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Valle del Cauca offers a wide range of tourism opportunities for tourists.

For city lovers, Cali offers a vibrant nightlife and arguably the best salsa in the world. Its countryside is green, tropical and home to some of the country’s most beautiful, classical “haciendas.” Valle’s Pacific coastline and its nature reserves are not just a novelty for international visitors, but in August also allow the unique opportunity to see humpback whales while courting.

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Cali

Cali is not just the capital of Valle del Cauca, but also the world capital of salsa and a recommended visit. (Photo: Melanie Bencosme)

Bahia Malaga

Bahia Malaga became part of the newly founded Uramba National Nature Park in 2010. They bay is one of the breeding grounds of humpback whales that every year travel all the way from Antarctica to Colombia’s Pacific coast and back. (Photo: National parks authority)

Calima lake

Evidence of first human life in Valle del Cauca was found around the Calima lake and is estimated to be more than 14,000 years. (Photo: CalimaDarien.com)

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Watching the sun set over the Pacific

The Juan de Dios beach is located on Valle’s Pacific coast, 45 minutes from the port city of Buenaventura by boat. (Photo: Fundacion Aguadua)

Discovering the real salsa

Cali is known worldwide for its extraordinary salsa culture. Salsa bars are spread over the city and several of the world’s most famous salsa schools hold performances throughout the year. (Photo: Julian Castro)

Visiting the zoo

The Cali zoo is widely recognized as the best of Colombia after its foundation in 1969. The zoo is home to 233 animal species, almost ten percent of them butterflies.

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