Meta () is a
department of
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the
Andean
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...
mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the
Meta River
The Meta River is a major left tributary of the Orinoco River in eastern Colombia and southern Venezuela, South America. The Meta originates in the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Eastern Ranges of the Andes and flows through the Meta Department ...
, 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
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigen ...
spoken by a minority in the department.
Municipalities
See also
*
Juan Manuel González Torres
*
San Martín Territory
*
References
External links
Folklore llaneroGovernment MetaTerritorial-Environmental Information System of Colombian Amazon SIAT-AC website
{{Authority control
States and territories established in 1960
Departments of Colombia
Green and white flags