Pradera
 | This article does not cite any sources. (August 2020) |
Pradera | |
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Municipality and town | |
 Flag  Seal | |
 Location of the municipality and town of Pradera in the Valle del Cauca Department of Colombia. | |
| Coordinates: 3°25′16″N 76°14′41″W / 3.42111°N 76.24472°W | |
| Country |  Colombia |
| Department | Valle del Cauca Department |
| Founded | 1862 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Orlando Mina |
| Area | |
| • Municipality and town | 407 km2 (157 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 1,070 m (3,510 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Municipality and town | 45,360 |
| • Density | 110/km2 (290/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 48,747 |
| Demonym(s) | Praderaño, Praderaña |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time) |
| Area code(s) | 57 + 2 |
| Website | Official website (in Spanish) |
Pradera (Spanish pronunciation: [pɾaˈðeɾa]) is a town and municipality located in the Department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia.
Pradera is one of the 42 municipalities that make up the department of Valle de Cauca in Colombia, located in the southern part of the department. It is a municipality of small geographical contrasts; with extensive and hot mountain ranges and meadows planted with sugar cane next to sugar mills. Pradera is characterized by a population that celebrates the Sweet Fair in October with verbenas, cavalcades and different events; in February the Festival of Andean Muisc; in May it carries out the Art Festival, the Micro-business Fair in November and the anniversary of Mary's immaculate conception in December. Its main natural sites are El Charco del Río Bolo, Quebrada la Cristalina, El Potrerito Natural Spa, the Páez Indigenous Reserve and Council, Piedra del Canadá or Piedra Grande, Lusitania, El Oasis, Chapultepec and several fishing lakes such as the Ingenio Castilla. They are famous for their sancochos in a wood stove, shampoos, tamales, fillings and desserts of milk rice and panelas, also producing banana, beans, corn, chontaduro, and cocoa. Its main rivers are the Bolo, Párraga and Vílela. Pradera has many schools and colleges, among the most outstanding are the Ateneo Educational Institution, which has 5 headquarters and more than 1500 students. The Alfredo Posada Correa Educational Institution that has 6 locations and the Francisco Antonio Zea Educational Institution.
History[]
Founded: October 15, 1862 (158 years old as of 2021)
Names of the founders: Rafael González Camacho, Sergio Carvajal, Sixto María Sánchez, Sixto Prado Concha and Apolinar Obregón.
In the 19th century, the hamlet of the Bolo depended on the neighboring municipality of Palmira, by 1860 it was proposed to elevate it to the category of Village, suggesting various names such as Mosquera and Nazareth: (the first in relation to Tomás Cipriano of Mosquera who on several occasions assumed the presidency of the Republic in the decade from 1860 to 1870 and finally in 1871 when he was elected president of the sovereign state of the Cauca).
In 1867 the name Pradera "Tierra de Prados" (English: Land of Meadows) was accepted, and in December of 1870, by municipal ordinance, it was erected as a municipality with sidewalks that had a commissioner or sheriff, and in 1871 the first official distillery of the municipality was installed and came into operation. Towards 1917 the first automobile arrived, in 1925 the Pacific railway arrived and in 1929 the first 90 kW power plant was installed.
Economy[]
Since the creation of the Pradera District, by Ordinance No. 1 of January 27, 1871, the economic base of the municipality has been agriculture and livestock. Trade constitutes as a smaller-scale activity.
As of the decade of 1991, with the economic opening and the internationalization of the economy, the problems became more acute and the fragility of the agricultural sector was verified. As a consequence of the above, cities such as Cali and Palmira have become poles of job creation, intensifying the routes to these cities, which ultimately reverts to low community participation and the loss of sense of belonging to identify with the municipality.
In order to change the current economic model, it is proposed: first, to make a review of the use of the land, emphasizing mitigation, a solution of the conflicts over the use and management of this resource, and second, forming a regrouping of the townships by productive regions, according to the ecological and environmental conditions of each one of them, integrating them and also giving them: autonomy and self-management capacity to achieve their own development.
Pradera's economy revolves around the cultivation of sugar cane (the Central Castilla sugar mill and the El Vergel and Santa Helena sugar mills) and the shopping centers, the Santa Anita Poultry Farm and agriculture in general, with the cultivation of green beans. It owns two banks: Banco Agrario, Banco de Colombia. It has 15 micro-companies: sweets, leather, crafts, spare parts, silver nitrate.
Geography[]
Physical description[]
It includes flat and mountainous areas and has rivers, such as the Bolo, Parraga and Vílela.
It has a Basic Infrastructure of all public services, 7 colleges, 25 schools, banks, hospital, social security, stadium, parks, churches and a large territory where sugar cane is grown.
Municipality limits[]
It limits to the north with Palmira (Quebrada Flores Amarillas), to the south with Florida (Parraga river), to the east with the Department of Tolima (Cordillera Central de los Andes), and to the west with Candelaria (Parraga river).
Total extension: 407 km²
Extension urban area: 152 km²
Rural area extension: 255 km²
Altitude of the municipal seat (meters above sea level): 1,070
Average temperature: 28° C
Reference distance: 50 km from Cali
Ecology[]
Its hydrology is abundant, it has three large rivers, Bolo Blanco, Bolo Azul and Bolo, as well as the Vilela and Párraga rivers, 12 streams, 4 lagoons and the "Nirvana" natural park located in the Arenillo district. The association of users of the Bolo river, "Asobolo" for their work in the conservation of the hydrographic basin earned the right to represent Colombia at the World meeting on waters and rivers in Kyoto, Japan.
Communication routes[]
Air: as it is a second-order municipality, it does not have an air terminal
Terrestrial: Via Cali - Candelaria - Pradera
Via Cali - Palmira - Pradera
Via Cali - Florida - Pradera
River: as it is a municipality in the valley, it does not count as a form of river transportation
Symbols[]
Flag[]
The blue means infinite space, as it is the sky that serves as a roof for Pradera. The emerald green represents the meadows, the green areas, the fields that surround the town, its natural resources and the hope of being better every day. The yellow means power, light, wealth, and wisdom. The red represents the joy of its people, the strength and nobility of its kind.
The creator of this flag was the journalist and former mayor Hernán Barona Sosa, the council welcomed it as such through agreement No. 019 of 1986 and the mayor institutionalized it by decree No. 060 of 1986.
Shield[]
The shield was created by the journalist Hernan Barona Sosa and the artistic elaboration was done by the teacher Belisario Gómez. The council welcomed it as such through agreement No. 019 of 1986 and the mayor institutionalized it by decree No. 060 of 1986
Superior Barracks (Dexter):
The symbols of the municipality; The beautiful tower of the parish temple that can be seen from afar the Bolo river that crosses the municipality from east to south, the palms and trees of the park and in the background the mountainous landscape that supports the rising of the sun from the east.
Superior Barracks (Sinister):
A parchment with the classic dates is shown, with the date of 1862 referring to the foundation of the Bolo farmhouse, and 1867 referring to the recognition as village of the Pradera with total economic and administrative independence in its category of Municipality
Lower Barracks (Dexter):
Against a background of oblique stripes of slate-gray and gold-yellow, stand out the pine nuts that symbolize the progress and the industry of the sugar cane bush, symbol of Pradera's crop of excellence, from which the sweetest guarapo is extracted to produce sugar and panela, one of the most important industrial products in the region.
Lower Barracks (Sinister):
A hand carries the torch that is a symbol of freedom and also states "siempre adelante en busca del futuro" (English: "always forward in search of the future"), the shield has a yellow band on the field with the name of the municipality; on this band as a crest is the creeper, the bell, and its beautiful flower, next to it the beautiful iridescent and aerodynamic figure of the bird called hummingbird or flower lily, they represent the most common of our flora and fauna that we see daily in the Pradera plots and gardens.
At the top in the form of a bow is the motto; "PAZ TRABAJO AMOR" (English: "PEACE WORK LOVE") is the banner that denotes Pradera's idiosyncrasy and human and social identity.
Hymn[]
| Author: Hernán Barona Sossa
Himno de Pradera (English: Hymn of Pradera)
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Art and culture[]
Among the Praderaña gastronomy, the Sancocho de Gallina, the mazato, the arroz atollado, the Shampoos, the mango viche, the chontaduro, chancarina, the Pandebono, the white delicacy, the pandeyuca, the manga, the aborradados, and the gelatin de pata stand out, among many other delicacies. Among the most outstanding artists from Pradera are Willy Caicedo, a poet and writer, Juan Camilo Sierra, a musician and actor, and Hernán Barona Sosa, the author of the Hymn.
References[]
Municipalities in the Valle del Cauca Department | ||
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Coordinates: 3°25′N 76°10′W / 3.417°N 76.167°W
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