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Nariño is a department of Colombia named after Antonio Nariño. It is in the west of the country, bordering Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Pasto.
Pasto is situated in southwest Colombia in the "Atriz Valley", on the Andes cordillera, at the foot of the Galeras volcano. This volcano has an altitude of 2.527 metres above sea level.
Pasto was founded in 1539 by the Spanish conquistador Lorenzo de Aldana under the name "San Juan de Pasto". Pasto is a reference to the name of the indigenous people (the Pastos) who inhabited this area at the arrival of the Spanish. It has been an administrative, cultural, and religious center of the region since colonial times and because of this, the city is known as the theological city of Colombia. During the Independence Wars against Spain, Pasto was a royalist city unlike the rest of the country, so after gaining independence and because of its geographical location, it remained isolated from the rest of the country for long time, resulting in self-contained culture which is very different to the rest of Colombia.
Pasto is the centre of an agricultural region specializing in the production of dairy products. The manufacturing of furniture is also an important part of the local economy. The city is an important centre of commerce and trade for nearby Ecuador.
A speciality of this region is a pre-columbian art technique called Barniz de Pasto, or Pasto Varnish in English. This technique uses a type of natural rubber (extracted from a tree called mopa-mopa) which is colored and then stretched over woodwork. Skillful artisans use a special knife to cut and create beautiful designs that characterise this artistic technique.
An important event on the Pasto calander is the Blacks and Whites' Carnival (Carnaval de Negros y Blancos), which has outstanding displays and floats portraying legends and traditions, often mixed in with references to current political events in Colombia. During the carnival the city goes wild and unleashes any tensions that have been bottled up during the year. This festival includes body and face paint as well as the throwing of talcum powder and party foam. The carnival takes place on the 5th and 6th of January each year.
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