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Tolima is located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the east by the department of Caldas; to the east by the department of Cundinamarca; to the south by the department of Huila, and to the West by the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Quindío and Risaralda. Tolima has a surface area of 23,562 km², and its capital is Ibagué. The department of Tolima was created in 1861 from a part of what was previously Cundinamarca.
There are three great regions in Tolima: a mountainous region, occupied by the Cordillera Central, a plain, that corresponds to the valleys of the rivers Magdalena and Saldaña; and another region to the southeast which forms the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental, which contains the source of the Cabrera river.
The territory of Tolima is traversed from the south to north by the
Magdalena River, of which the main rivers of the Tolima are tributary.
Other rivers are the Saldaña river, the Cabrera, Coello, the Tetuán, the Gualí, the Rio Recio, and the Rio Prado. In this one last one is the dam of the same name, the largest fresh water lake of the center of the country and an important Colombian tourist center.
Music is the distinguishing cultural expression of Tolima. Its capital, Ibagué, is well-known as "the musical city of Colombia", and is home to one of the nation's classic conservatoriums. The department also is famous for the Fiestas of San Pedro in Espinal, San Juan in Natagaima and in Ibagué, the Colombian Folkloric Festival and the "Concurso de duetos garzón Y Collazos".
Tolima has produced many poets: Arturo Camacho Ramíez, Juan Lozano y Lozano, Diego Fallon, William Ospina, Martín Pomala, Luz Stella; painters: Darío Jiménez, Jorge Elías Triana, Darío Ortiz Robledo, Carlos Granada, Julio Fajardo; historians Eduardo Santa, Gonzalo Sanchez, Hermes Tovar Pinzón, Hernán Clavijo, Darío Ortiz Vidales.
The department is also widely recognised for its autochthonous cuisine. Famous regional dishes include the Tamal Tolimense, a corn-and-yellow pea-based paste with pork, egg, chicken and vegetable filling, wrapped around a plantain leaf; the Lechona, a yellow pea-and-meat-stuffed pork; Empanadas, small potato, rice and meat stuffed pastries, made with corn dough; Achiras (although not exclusively from this deparmnent) and Bizcocho calentano, smaller flour pastries; and Quesillo, a type of cheese wrapped in a plantain leaf. Drinks include the Avena, a cold oatmea-based drink.
The Departament of Tolima groups its municipalities into six provinces, Norte; Oriente, Sur, Ibagué, Suroriente, and Nevados.
The Pijaos lived in Tolima during pre-Columbian times. Their descendants live in 70 small . The name of the department comes from the Pijao word for "snowed".
Spanish colonization of the region began in 1537 with Sebastián de Belalcázar travelling from the city of Cali to be with his colleague, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, in Bogota. On its way, Belarcázar founds the first establishment that would become the present Ibagué. Belarcázar traveled until he reached the site of Flandes in Tolima before arriving at Bogota. The definitive foundation began with Captain Andrés Lopez de Galarza who founded the city of Ibagué and site on which the municipality of Cajamarca would be based, in the west of the department. These two cities would become an important part of the "coffee axis".
| Municipalities
Ibagué
Nevados
Northern
Eastern
Southern
Southeastern
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