Buenavista is a municipality in the south-central part of the department of Quindío

Quindío Department

Quindío is a department of Colombia. It is in the western central region of the country, crossed by the Andes mountains. Its capital is Armenia. It is famous for the quality of the coffee plantations, colorful architecture, benign weather, variety of hotel accommodations and touristic landmarks...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

. It is known and named for the spectacular view over the department. The township is located 33 km south of the departmental capital Armenia

Armenia, Colombia

Armenia is the capital of Quindío, a department in Colombia. The city is located at coordinates 4.5170° north, 75.6830° west, 290 kilometers west of Bogotá. Armenia is a mid-size city located between Bogotá, Medellín and Cali, the 3 largest Colombian cities. The city's area code for phone calls is...

.

In 2005 it had an estimated population of 5,800, of which 2,100 live in the urban center. It is the smallest municipality by population in Quindío.

Geography

Buenavista is situated in the western slopes on the central Cordillera and is characterized by its steep terrain. It is bounded to the north and west by Calarcá

Calarcá, Quindío

Calarcá is a municipality in the eastern part of the department of Quindío, Colombia. It is located 4 km east of the departmental capital Armenia...

, to the east by Córdoba

Córdoba, Quindío

Córdoba is a municipality in the eastern part of the department of Quindío, Colombia. It is located 24 km southeast of the departmental capital Armenia....

 with the Verde River forming the limit, and to the south by Pijao

Pijao, Quindío

Pijao is a municipality in the south-eastern part of the department of Quindío, Colombia. The township is located 31 km south of the departmental capital Armenia....

. It has an area of 41 km², the smallest municipality in the department.

The main town is located at 4°32′N 75°41′W, at an altitude of 1,483 metres, with an area of 14 hectares.

History

Among the first settlers in the region was José Jesús Jiménez Yépez in 1928, who opened a store to buy coffee from the surrounding fincas and to sell basic supplies. The nearby farmers bought lots of land in the area around the store and constructed their homes there, forming a small settlement. Gerardo Loaiza donated the land to form the principal park.

The official foundation date is considered to be 1933. In that year a police inspector was assigned to the settlement. Jiménez donated land for further development, including the site on which the church was constructed.

In 1936 the settlement was elevated to the level of a town (corregimiento) in the municipality of Pijao. On December 10, 1966, shortly after the formation of the department of Quindío, the municipality was separated from Pijao.