Buenaventura, Colombia

Buenaventura is a port city and municipality located in the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia (South America). Buenaventura is the main port of Colombia in the Pacific Ocean.

Demographics and Geography

Buenaventura is a city with a population of 324,207 [http://200.21.49.233/Tot_censo05/Index.asp] 2005 census (most of city development lies on Cascajal Island) and it is the size of Los Angeles' metropolitan area; most of the city's land is rural with scattered small villages throughout. It is located a few miles from the western cordillera of the Andes mountain range and the major city of Cali, the department's capital. Buenaventura is one of the rainiest cities in the world with 6000-7000 mm precipitation annually.

History

Founded about 1545, the city was destroyed by Native Americans before 1600. Later rebuilt, Buenaventura thrived after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914. Today, the city is crucial for sending raw materials to nearby areas; this has brought prosperity and allowed recent new development to occur.

Recent Trends

Buenaventura has had a notorious history plagued by drug trafficking, violence, and the presence of guerrilla and paramilitary groups. In the last two years, the amount of reported homicides has doubled. The murder rate that is 24 times that of New York City. To counter the violence, the Colombian government has set up a marine special forces unit in the worst area of the city.