City South America
Medellín
Medellín is a big city in Colombia. It fills a green valley between mountains.
Medellín is a city in Colombia, the capital of the Antioquia department. It lies about 1,400 meters up in the Aburrá Valley, in the Andes. About 2,553,600 people lived in the city in 2023, according to Colombia's official projection.
Medellín, capital of Antioquia, lies at about 1,400 m in the Aburrá Valley, in the 'temperate' belt of the Colombian Andes. Gold, then coffee, made local families rich, and their cotton mills turned the city into one of Colombia's main industrial centers. DANE projection 30 June 2023: 2,553,600 (urban municipal seat).
Photo: Luis90f, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Medellín
Medellín is a city in Colombia, in South America. It is high up in a valley, with mountains on both sides.
Medellín lies about 1,400 meters above sea level in the Aburrá Valley, in the part of the Colombian Andes that Universalis calls the 'temperate' belt. It is the capital of the Antioquia department.
In 2023 the city had about 2,553,600 people, according to Colombia's official projection. In the list of Colombia's major cities on City Population, only Bogotá is larger.
Universalis: city of Colombia and capital of the Antioquia department; urban area 3.3 million in 2005; at 1,400 m in the Aburrá valley, in the so-called 'temperate' tier of the Colombian Andes; one of the country's main industrial centers despite its relative isolation.
DANE (via City Population), urban municipal seat of Medellín: 1,452,392 (census 1985), 1,551,160 (1993), 2,181,111 (2005), 2,382,399 (2018) and a projection of 2,553,600 for 30 June 2023, rank 2 after Bogotá (7,876,000). Antioquia department, 2023 projection: 6,848,400.
- Country
- Colombia (capital of the Antioquia department)
- People in Medellín (projection, 30 June 2023)
- 2,553,600
- People at the 2018 census
- 2,382,399
- Height above sea level
- about 1,400 m, in the Aburrá Valley
A valley full of city
Look at all the buildings filling the valley! Green mountains rise on both sides.
This photo looks over the Aburrá Valley from Cerro El Picacho, a hill, on 19 August 2016. The photographer calls it a panorama of the valley and the mountains around it on a sunny afternoon.
Reddish-brown buildings fill the valley floor and climb the lower slopes. Groups of tall buildings stand in the distance, a green hill rises in the middle, and mountains close in on both sides.
Commons: own work by Luis90f, 19 August 2016, CC BY-SA 4.0, a cross-wiki upload from Spanish Wikipedia; description (Spanish): panorama of the Aburrá Valley and the surrounding mountains on a sunny afternoon from Cerro El Picacho.
In the picture: reddish-brown low-rise blocks and houses in front, a long row of reddish apartment blocks at the bottom right and green slopes at the right edge; a forested hill in the middle; clusters of high-rise towers in the distance; mountain ridges on both sides of the valley; gray and golden clouds in a blue sky.
- Photo
- the Aburrá Valley from Cerro El Picacho, 19 August 2016
- Photographer's description
- the valley and the mountains around it, on a sunny afternoon
- Cerro El Volador
- a hill about 2.5 km northwest of the city's Wikidata point (Wikidata)
Gold, coffee and cotton
Long ago, people in Medellín traded gold. Later they traded coffee, and then they built big cloth factories.
In colonial times, several families of Medellín grew rich from the gold trade, Universalis says, and from the second half of the 19th century from trading coffee.
At the end of the 19th century and the start of the 20th, these families put their money into cotton mills. Large cotton firms grew up that sold part of what they made to other countries, and Medellín became one of Colombia's main industrial centers.
Universalis: Medellín became one of the country's main industrial centers despite its relative isolation. Several families, enriched in the colonial period by the gold trade and from the second half of the 19th century by the coffee trade, invested their capital in the cotton industry at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Large cotton firms formed, exporting part of their production.
Textiles were later joined by metalworking, chemical, mechanical, car and food industries, partly integrated into large international groups, and by banking firms.
- Colonial times
- families grew rich from the gold trade
- From the second half of the 19th century
- the coffee trade
- Late 19th and early 20th century
- families invested in cotton mills
A metro and cable cars
Medellín has a metro train. It also has cable cars that carry people through the air!
Medellín has a rapid transit system, the Medellín Metro, which Wikidata says was officially opened on 30 November 1995. Next came the Metrocable, an urban cable car, officially opened on 7 August 2004.
The city has an international airport, and road links with Bogotá were improved by building a motorway between the two cities, Universalis says.
Wikidata: Medellín Metro (Q654751), a rapid transit system, official opening 30 November 1995; Metrocable (Q3307447), an urban cable car, official opening 7 August 2004.
Universalis: the city has an international airport, and road links with Bogotá were improved by the construction of a motorway linking the two cities.
- Medellín Metro
- a rapid transit system, officially opened on 30 November 1995 (Wikidata)
- Metrocable
- an urban cable car, officially opened on 7 August 2004 (Wikidata)
- Roads
- a motorway built to link Medellín with Bogotá
Mild all year, with two rainy seasons
In Medellín it is warm in the day and mild at night, all year round. Some months are much rainier than others.
The World Meteorological Organization's averages for 1971 to 2000 show that Medellín's temperatures hardly change through the year. The average daily high is between 26.9 °C and 28.3 °C in every month, and the average low between 16.7 °C and 17.5 °C.
About 1,687 millimeters of rain fall in a year. The rain has two peaks: April and May, and September and October. October is the wettest month, with 212 millimeters, and January the driest, with 65.
WMO World Weather Information Service, Medellín (6.23° N, 75.58° W), 1971–2000: mean daily maximum 26.9 °C (October) to 28.3 °C (July, August); mean daily minimum 16.7 °C (July, September) to 17.5 °C (April). Rainfall sums to 1,687 mm, with peaks in April–May (161 and 199 mm) and September–October (178 and 212 mm); January (65 mm) is the driest month. Rain days sum to 224 a year.
- Average daily highs (WMO, Medellín, 1971–2000)
- 26.9 °C (October) to 28.3 °C (July and August)
- Average daily lows (same normals)
- 16.7 °C (July and September) to 17.5 °C (April)
- Rain in a year (sum of the monthly normals)
- about 1,687 mm
Factories, towers and the valley
Medellín has many factories that make cloth, food and cars. In the middle of the city there are lots of tall towers.
Factories in Medellín make textiles, metal goods, chemicals, machines, cars and food, Universalis says, and there are banks too. The factories stand on the flat floor of the valley.
Because the city center is small, it has filled up with skyscrapers. With little flat land left in the valley, the city has spread onto a nearby plateau called the Oriente.
Universalis: textiles were joined by metalworking, chemical, mechanical, automotive and food industries, partly integrated into large international groups, and banking firms; industry occupies the flat part of the valley. The center, being of limited size, bristles with skyscrapers. Lack of land on the valley floor, water-supply difficulties and pollution slowed the growth of the urban area, which found an outlet on the nearby Oriente plateau.
Wikidata: Botanical Garden of Medellín (Q5926838), 2.33 km N of the city point.
- Industries
- textiles, metalworking, chemicals, machinery, cars, food, and banking firms
- City center
- small in area, so it has filled with skyscrapers
- Botanical Garden of Medellín
- about 2.3 km north of the city's Wikidata point (Wikidata)
Medellín on the map
Find Colombia on the globe, in the north of South America. Medellín is high in the mountains there.
Medellín lies at about 6.3° north, in the Aburrá Valley in the Andes of Colombia.
Measured from the city's center point on Wikidata, Cerro Nutibara, a hill, is about 2.1 kilometers southwest, the Botanical Garden about 2.3 kilometers north and Cerro El Volador, another hill, about 2.5 kilometers northwest.
Medellín lies at about 6.28° N and 75.58° W (Natural Earth point, 3.15 km NNW of the Wikidata point). From the Wikidata point (Q48278): Cerro Nutibara (Q18693006), 1,551 m, 2.06 km SW; Botanical Garden of Medellín 2.33 km N; Cerro El Volador (Q5064920) 2.53 km NW. The WMO station point is 2.63 km SSW of the Wikidata point.
- Latitude
- about 6.3° north
- Longitude
- about 75.6° west
- Valley
- the Aburrá Valley, in the Colombian Andes
Amazing facts
-
Medellín has cable cars that carry people through the air.
Medellín's Metrocable, an urban cable car, was officially opened on 7 August 2004, Wikidata says.
Wikidata: Metrocable (Q3307447), an urban cable car in Medellín, official opening 7 August 2004.
-
In Medellín, it is about as warm in July as in January.
In the WMO averages, Medellín's average daily high is 27.6 °C in January and 28.3 °C in July: almost no difference.
WMO 1971–2000, Medellín: mean daily maximum 27.6 °C in January, 28.3 °C in July; the monthly maxima span only 1.4 °C.
-
Long ago, Medellín's families traded gold and coffee.
Families in Medellín grew rich from gold in colonial times and from coffee in the 19th century, then built cotton mills, Universalis says.
Universalis: families enriched by the colonial gold trade and, from the second half of the 19th century, by the coffee trade invested in the cotton industry around 1900.
-
The middle of Medellín is full of very tall buildings.
Because Medellín's center is small, it has filled up with skyscrapers, Universalis says.
Universalis: the center, being of limited size, bristles with skyscrapers.
Words to know
- valley
- low land between hills or mountains
- department
- one of the large areas that Colombia is divided into
- cable car
- a cabin that hangs from a moving cable and carries people up and down hills
- textiles
- cloth and fabric, such as cotton
- plateau
- a large area of high, fairly flat land
- projection
- an official estimate of how many people live in a place in a given year
Discovery challenge
-
Medellín is a city in which country?
Medellín is a city in which country, in the Andes?
Medellín is the capital of the Antioquia department of which country?
- Colombia
- Spain
- Kenya
Show the answer
Colombia
Colombia!
Colombia.
Colombia.
-
What is Medellín built in?
Medellín lies in which valley?
Medellín lies at about 1,400 m in which valley of the Colombian Andes?
- The Aburrá Valley
- The Nile Valley
- Death Valley
Show the answer
The Aburrá Valley
A valley called the Aburrá Valley!
The Aburrá Valley.
The Aburrá Valley.
-
What kind of ride carries people through the air in Medellín?
What opened in Medellín in 2004, carrying people through the air?
Wikidata gives 7 August 2004 as the official opening of which Medellín system?
- A cable car
- A ferry
- A camel train
Show the answer
A cable car
A cable car!
A cable car, the Metrocable.
The Metrocable, an urban cable car.
-
What did Medellín's first big factories use to make cloth?
Which industry did Medellín's families invest in around 1900?
Universalis says families enriched by gold and coffee invested in which industry around 1900?
- Cotton
- Ships
- Computers
Show the answer
Cotton
Cotton!
Cotton mills.
The cotton industry.
-
Which month is the rainiest in Medellín?
In the WMO averages, which month gets the most rain?
WMO 1971–2000: which month has the highest rainfall, 212 mm?
- October
- January
- July
Show the answer
October
October!
October.
October (212 mm).
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For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Medellín in the Andes and explain why a city in a valley grows along it and up its slopes.
- Describe how gold, coffee and cotton built a city's industry.
- Read a tropical highland climate table: steady temperatures and two rainy seasons.
- Compare census counts from 1985 to 2018.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Why might a city high in the mountains near the equator be mild instead of hot?
- How could cable cars help people who live on steep hillsides?
- What problems might a city have when it runs out of flat land?
Try at home or in class
- Valley model: fold a sheet of paper into a V, add paper houses on the floor and slopes, and see where space runs out.
- Cable car: thread a paper cabin onto a string between two chairs and pull it up and down.
- Rain chart: make a bar chart of Medellín's monthly rain and find the two rainy seasons.
Key vocabulary: valley, department, cable car, textiles, plateau, projection
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Medellín , Encyclopaedia Universalis
- Colombia: Departments and Major Cities , City Population (Thomas Brinkhoff), from DANE (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística)
- Medellin: climatological information , World Meteorological Organization, World Weather Information Service
- File:Panorámica de Medellín desde el Cerro El Picacho.jpg (Luis90f, 19 August 2016) , Wikimedia Commons
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated November 1, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.