Barranquilla
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Barranquilla, an Industrial, Special District, and major port, is a city and municipality located in northern Colombia. Capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port on the Colombian Caribbean region and the fourth largest city of Colombia. Barranquilla is one of the most beautiful cities in the country.
Barranquilla is the city where Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez started his career as the author of magical realism novels, and where Shakira composed her first songs. The atmosphere is inspiring, vibrant and exhilarating. Barranquilla is a multicultural capital, known as the "Golden Gate" of Colombia. This city is recognized as the pioneer of aviation, radio broadcasting and riverboat transportation in Colombia.
Located on the northern coast of Colombia, Barranquilla is strategically located on the delta of the Magdalena River, (the most important river in the country). Barranquilla is a city of four ports. It is the only city in the country which offers a maritime port, a river port on the Magdalena River, an international airport and now a telecommunications port with a terminal for fiber optic network. In addition to the four ports, Barranquilla also boasts solid industrial and commercial activity and a free-trade zone. Thus, Barranquilla is positioning itself to greet the 21st century with a focus on economic development. It is the city of the future.
As a result of the city's lengthy tradition as a port of entry, Barranquilla's culture is marked by a cosmopolitan streak, only comparable in the national context to Colombia's capital, Bogotá. The city is home to numerous immigrant groups: Lebanese, Italian, Catalonian, Jewish, German and Chinese. From its gastronomy to the local Spanish accent, Barranquilla culture is markedly different from the rest of the regions in the country.
In addition to the culture, the weather is an added bonus. Barranquilla's climate is hot and very humid. Daytime temperatures usually remain around 32°C. Nevertheless, from late November to early April, the trade winds more or less cool it to a more comfortable temperature during the day. The rainy seasons are from April to June and from August to November, when some streets flood producing "arroyos" (streams) that are very dangerous, given the lack of appropriate rain drainage in some sectors of town.
Above all, it is worth traveling to Barranquilla and being witness to one of the most representative festivities in the whole Latin-American region: "El Carnaval de Barranquilla." It is ranked as second in South America, only to the carnival of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, but truly it has its own charm and can be a very exciting and memorable experience. It is celebrated four days before Ash Wednesday, and is broadly recognized as one of the world's largest carnivals. In November of 2003, UNESCO proclaimed it as one of 28 different "masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity."
