My city barranquilla

2. Barranquilla is the largest city and
port in the northern Caribbean
Coast region of Colombia, with a
population of 1,885,500 as of 2011
in its metropolitan area, which
makes it Colombia's fourth most
populous city after Bogotá,
Medellin and Cali.
BARRANQUILLA

4. Barranquilla
lies strategically next to the delta of the
Magdalena River, 7.5 kilometer from its
mouth at the Caribbean Sea, serving as
port for river and maritime
transportation within Colombia. The city
is the core of the Metropolitan Area of
Barranquilla, which is constituted by the
municipalities of Soledad, Galapa,
Malambo, and Puerto Colombia.

6. Nicknames
In 1921, President Marco Fidel Suarez called the
city the Portico Dorado de la República (Golden
Gate of the Republic) in recognition of its
economic importance as a port since the late 19th
century.
Barranquilla is also known as La Arenosa
(meaning The Sandy), as called by the president
of New Granada, Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera,
during his stay in Barranquilla in 1849.
The thinker Agustín Nieto Caballero called
Barranquilla "Ciudad de los Brazos Abiertos"
Enrique Ancízar, president of the Colombian
Society of Agriculture, called it "Faro de América"

8. Flag
It consists of three rectangles, red being
the outermost, then yellow, and green in
the center. Red symbolizes the blood of
patriots; yellow, the sun of freedom and
hope; and green, a proud home. In the
Centre, there is an eight point Silver Star
which symbolizes the eight provinces of
the confederacy. The flag was carried by
Simon Bolívar during the campaign of
Lower Magdalena in 1812. In 1910, the
Council approved the flag for
Barranquilla.

10. Coat of arms
The seal of the city was mentioned in
the decree that granted Barranquilla the
status of a city by Manuel Rodríguez
Torices, the then President of the
Sovereign State of Cartagena de Indias,
in reward for the determined and
courageous patriots who participated in
the defense of the independence of
Cartagena de Indias against Santa Marta
in 1813.

12. Anthem
The music and lyrics of Himno de
Barranquilla were chosen in competition
by the Sociedad de Mejoras Publica and
officially adopted as the anthem of the
city by the Municipal Council in a
meeting on October 19, 1942.
The lyrics are authored by the poet
Amira de la Rosa (winner of the contest
in 1942) and the music is of Panama, by
Simón Urbina (1928).

14. Geography
The city is located in the northeastern
corner of the department of the
Atlantic, on the west bank of the
Magdalena River, 7.5 kilometres
(originally 25 km before rapid urban
growth) from its mouth in the
Caribbean. The municipality covers
an area of 154 km 2, equivalent to
4.5% of the area of the Atlántico
Department.

16. Climate
Barranquilla has a tropical
savanna climate (Aw) according to
Köppen climate classification; it
is hot all-year-round, with high
levels of relative humidity. The
average temperature is 28.4 °C (85
°F). Daytime temperature usually
remains around 32 °C (90 °F).

18. Flora
According to the Agustín Codazzi
Geographic Institute, Barranquilla has a
dry tropical forest vegetation (according to
the Hold ridge life zones), which includes
species like cacti, mangroves, Opuntia
elatior, Acanthocereus, Prosopis juliflora,
Divi-divi, Tabebuia rosea, Cordia alba and
varieties of acacia like Flamboyant or
flame tree and Leucaena leucacephala.

20. Fauna
Some animal species can be found in
the city such as birds like the owl ,
wren , the parrot; fish such as mullet in
the marshes; insects such as butterflies ,
flies , mosquitoes , gnats , cockroaches
and termites ; mammals such as dogs
and cats, monkeys and rodents like
zorrochuchos; reptiles such as iguanas ,
snakes, tortoises .

22. The Centro histórico is between
Carreras 35 and 46 and Calles 30
and 46, and includes parts of San
Roque and Downtown districts.
It is part of the town historical
Centre and North-Central
District.

24. The paseo de Bolívar, in the
heart of Barranquilla, is the most
important avenue of the city and
the place from which it
expanded.
Until the late nineteenth century
it was called Calle Ancha (Broad
Street), but in 1886 Mayor
Antonio Abello renamed it
Abello.

26. Plaza de San Nicolas,
opposite the church of San
Nicolas, was the center of the
cultural, commercial and
religious Barranquilla in
early twentieth century.

28. Plaza de la Paz was built in
1986 opposite the
Metropolitan Cathedral to
welcome Pope John Paul II.

30. Parque Tomás Surí
Salcedo
was named in honor of
the Minister of Finance,
and built in 1921.

32. Bocas de Ceniza
and the Magdalena River
Built in 1893 by the Barranquilla
Railway & Pier Company under
the direction of Cuban engineer
Francisco Javier Cisneros, the
pier in the neighboring
municipality of Puerto
Colombia was once one of the
longest in the world.

34. Barranquilla Zoo
Barranquilla Zoo is a wildlife
sanctuary which houses colorful
native animal species and other
continents, with an emphasis on
Colombian fauna and the protection
of endangered species. It has over 500
animals of 140 species, from chickens
to elephants or lions, to many
different mammals, fish, birds,
reptiles, amphibians and primates.

36. Teatro Amira de la Rosa
Housed in a traditional strategic sector
of the city at the confluence of the
deep-rooted neighborhoods of El
Prado, Montecristo and Abajo, this
theatre, as well as venues such as the
Coliseo Humberto Perea and Casa del
Carnaval Colosseum has had an
important role in cultural diffusion
since 1982, with space for gatherings,
presentations, meetings, concerts and
exhibitions.

38. Caribbean Cultural Park
Parque Cultural del Caribe is
ambitious cultural complex,
unique in its kind in the
Caribbean Region and Colombia.
Conceived in the framework of
the restoration of the historic
center of the city, it promotes the
natural, cultural and historical
aspects of the Colombian
Caribbean.

40. Culture
Throughout the year, the city has
considerable cultural activity; its best
known is the Carnival of Barranquilla,
one of the most famous festivals in
Colombia. In 2001 it was declared the
"Cultural Patrimony of the Nation" by
the National Congress of Colombia and
in 2003 "Masterpiece of Oral and
Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by
UNESCO.

42. Language
In Barranquilla, the people
speak a variant of Español
costeño (“Coastal Spanish”)
with well-defined local
variants and accents.

44. Folk music
Cumbia is musical rhythm
and dance most important
and representative of the
city, deeply rooted in the
entire Caribbean region of
Colombia

46. Gastronomy
Barranquilla serves a wide variety of cuisine
to match its cosmopolitan population and
tourists. Very characteristic of the local cuisine
is a pigeon pea stew with salted meat (which
even has its own annual festival), sausage ,
cheese, fried arepas , caribañolas , pies ,
cupcakes , Patacón, black bean rice, chipichipi
and Cucayo ; noodles, drinks like raspao , boli
, sugar water, tamarindo , zapote and níspero ,
coconut candies and Easter candy, cake, fish,
shrimp and oysters, beef, chicken, pork and
chicken dishes and pork rinds.

48. Sports
Sports in Barranquilla are promoted at
the governmental level by the Ministry
of Sports and Deportes de la Alcaldía
Distrital. Since the early twentieth
century, the most important sports have
been football, baseball and boxing. Also
practiced are basketball, athletics,
swimming, chess , cycling, skating ,
bowling , tennis, golf, shooting, karate ,
taekwondo , paragliding , BMX , go-karts
, motor sports , fishing, squash , surfing ,
weightlifting , softball and bowling .

50. Stadiums and venues
The city has developed sports
infrastructure, Estadio Metropolitano
Roberto Meléndez opened on May 11,
1986, with capacity for 49,612 spectators.
Estadio Romelio Martínez was built in
1935 for the National Olympic III,
capacity for 20,000 people. Estadio Tomás
Arrieta was built in 1946 for the V
Central American and Caribbean Games,
and ishome of Major League Baseball
side Edgar Rentería.