Yopal () is a municipality and capital city of the department of Casanare in

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 ...

and the second most populated and important city in the Orinoquía region after

Villavicencio Villavicencio () is a city and municipality in Colombia. The capital of Meta Department, it was founded on April 6, 1840. The municipality had a population of 531,275 in 2018. The city is located at 4°08'N, 73°40'W, 75 km (about 45 ...

History

Before the period of the

Spanish colonization of the Americas The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoa, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella ...

, the land on which Yopal stands was occupied by the indigenous

Achagua people The Achagua (also Achawa and Axagua) are an Indigenous peoples of South America, Indigenous people of Indigenous peoples in Colombia, Colombia and Indigenous peoples in Venezuela, Venezuela.Anadenanthera peregrina ''Anadenanthera peregrina'', also known as yopo, jopo, cohoba, parica or calcium tree, is a perennial tree of the genus ''Anadenanthera'' native to the Caribbean and South America. It grows up to tall, and has a thorny bark. Its flowers grow ...

'', often otherwise called yopo.

Geographic information

*Population: 191.133 inhabitants *Elevation: *Area: *Distance from

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

: *Median temperature:

Born in Yopal

* Camila Avella, Model and Miss Universe Colombia 2023 * Jeffry Romero, professional cyclist

Climate

Yopal has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(Köppen ''Am''). Although it borders closely on a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...

(''Aw''), Yopal’s climate is much more typical of a tropical monsoon climate in having a short but distinct

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The t ...

that covers the months of December to March, and a very long

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

covering the remaining eight months.

References

External links

*
Yopal official website
*
La Voz de Yopal (Radio)
Capitals of Colombian departments Municipalities of Casanare Department {{Casanare-geo-stub