Meta Department
Department of Meta
Departamento del Meta | |
|---|---|
View of the Caño Cristales | |
| Motto: Llano Grande de Colombia y Meta | |
| Anthem: Himno de Meta (Colombia) | |
Meta shown in red | |
Topography of the department | |
| Coordinates: 4°9′N 73°38′W / 4.150°N 73.633°W | |
| Country | Colombia |
| Region | Orinoquía Region |
| Established | July 1, 1960 |
| Capital | Villavicencio |
| Government | |
| • Governor | Marcela Amaya (2016-2019) |
| Area | |
• Total | 85,635 km2 (33,064 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 4th |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 1,039,722 |
| • Rank | 19th |
| • Density | 12/km2 (31/sq mi) |
| GDP | |
| • Total | COP 58,440 billion (US$ 13.7 billion) |
| Time zone | UTC-05 |
| ISO 3166 code | CO-MET |
| Provinces | 4 |
| Municipalities | 29 |
| HDI | 0.769 high · 7th of 33 |
| Website | www.meta.gov.co |
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| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 242,664 | — |
| 1985 | 474,046 | +95.4% |
| 1993 | 618,427 | +30.5% |
| 2005 | 783,168 | +26.6% |
| 2018 | 1,039,722 | +32.8% |
| Source: | ||
Meta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmeta]) is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known as the Llanos. Its capital is Villavicencio. The department has a monument placed in the very geographic centre of Colombia, at a place known as Alto de Menegua, a few kilometers from Puerto López.
Achagua, which is similar to Piapoco, is an Indigenous language spoken by a minority in the department.