Metropolitan areas of Colombia

Metropolitan Areas in Colombia

Metropolitan Areas in Colombia are officially designated administrative and census areas, composed of an urban center and its associated municipalities. ^[1]

Description

The following criteria must be met for a group of communities to be designated a Metropolitan Area:^{[ citation needed ]}

• Each one of the Municipalities, the secondary cities as well as the central city, must have a population of at least 50,000 inhabitants.
• The secondary cities must integrate their city planning with that of the central city.
• At least two-thirds of those employed in the area must perform non-rural activities.
• Each of the secondary cities must have at least 10% of their workers employed in the central city.

Commuting to work is, in fact, the major characteristic of a Metropolitan Area. As a result, the secondary cities are often called "dormitory cities"; meaning places where the inhabitants only go home to sleep.

An important function of the Metropolitan Areas is to provide for joint planning between the Municipalities, thereby managing ordered and proportional economic growth according to the necessities of the area and the physical characteristics of each Municipality.

Metropolitan Areas

The following are currently (2007) recognized by the Colombian government:

Metropolitan Area	Status	Conurbation municipalities	Population (2025 Projection){according to macrotrends.net/global-metrics/cities/20837/bogota/population }
Greater Bogotá	Officially the Metropolitan Region Bogota - Cundinamarca	Bogotá, Soacha, Mosquera, Funza, Madrid, Chía, Cajicá, La Calera, Sopó, Tenjo, Tabio, Sibaté, Zipaquirá, and Facatativá	12,704,834
Greater Medellín	Officially the Metropolitan Area of Aburrá Valley	Medellín, Bello, Barbosa, Copacabana, La Estrella, Girardota, Itagüí, Envigado, Caldas,Rionegro and Sabaneta	4,435,922
Greater Cali	Not yet defined officially	Cali, Palmira, Yumbo, Jamundí, Vijes and Florida	4,202,074
Greater Barranquilla [2]	Created by Decree 28 of 1981	Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Soledad, Galapa and Malambo	2,980,966
Greater Cartagena de Indias	Not yet defined officially	Cartagena de Indias, Turbaco, Turbana, Clemencia, Santa Catalina, Santa Rosa, and Villanueva	1,971,656
Greater Bucaramanga [2]	Created by Decree 20 of 1981	Bucaramanga, Floridablanca , Piedecuesta, and San Juan de Girón	1,013,993
Greater Cúcuta [2]	Created by Decree 000508 of 1991	Cúcuta, Villa del Rosario, Los Patios and El Zulia	1,008,633
Greater Pereira	Created by Decree 014 of 1991	Pereira, Dosquebradas, La Virginia, and Santa Rosa de Cabal	786,476
Greater Valledupar [2]	Created in 2005	Valledupar, Codazzi, Los Robles La Paz, Manaure, and San Diego	584,682
Greater Armenia	Not yet defined officially	Armenia, Calarcá, Circasia, La Tebaida, Montenegro and Salento	504,722
Greater Girardot	Not yet defined officially	Girardot, Ricaurte, and Flandes	146,039
Greater Ibagué	Not yet defined officially	Ibagué, Cajamarca, Alvarado, Coello, and Piedras	656,370
Greater Ipiales	Not yet defined officially	Ipiales, Pupiales, Carlosama, and Aldana	173,773
Greater Manizales	Not yet defined officially	Manizales, Neira, Chinchiná, Villamaríanota, and Palestina	559,433
Greater Montería	Not yet defined officially	Montería, Cereté, San Carlos, Ciénaga de Oro, and San Pelayo	694,937
Greater Neiva	Not yet defined officially	Neiva, Rivera, Palermo, Tello, Campoalegre, Baraya, Aipe, and Villavieja	461,479
Greater Santa Marta	Not yet defined officially	Santa Marta, Pueblo Viejo, and Ciénaga	645,007
Greater Popayán	Not yet defined officially	Popayán, El Tambo, Timbío, and Piendamó	413,210
Greater Sincelejo	Not yet defined officially	Sincelejo, Corozal, Morroa, Los Palmitos, and Sampués	422,906
Greater Tunja	Not yet defined officially	Tunja, Sora, Soracá, Siachoque, Toca, Tuta, Sotaquirá, Cómbita, Motavita, Oicatá, Chivatá, Cucaita, Samacá, and Ventaquemada	294,918
Greater Villavicencio	Not yet defined officially	Villavicencio, Acacías, Guamal, Restrepo, and Cumaral	629,029
Greater Sogamoso	Not yet defined officially	Sogamoso, Duitama, Paipa, Nobsa, Tibasosa, Santa rosa de Viterbo, Firavitoba, and Iza	309,922

• 
  Bucaramanga
• 
  View of the Aburra Valley in the city of Medellín
• 
  View of Bogotá
• 
  Downtown Cali
• 
  Barranquilla

References

1. Samad, Taimur; Lozano-Gracia, Nancy; Panman, Alexandra (2012-11-15). Colombia Urbanization Review. Herndon: World Bank Publications. p. 123-124. ISBN   978-0-8213-9524-0.
2. "Functional Urban Areas in Colombia" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-02-27.

External links

• Se consolidan en el país las áreas metropolitanas, PORTAFOLIO, 15 de Junio de 2006
• Sorpresas del censo ^{[ permanent dead link ]}