Pasto

Pasto
—  City  —
San Juan de Pasto
Sunset at Pasto (Galeras Volcano in background)
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname(s): Ciudad Sorpresa (Surprise City) Ciudad Teológica (Theological City) Tierra del Galeras (Galeras's Land)
Motto: "Muy Noble Y Muy Leal Ciudad de San Juan de Pasto" ("Very Noble and Very Loyal City of San Juan de Pasto) "Viva Pasto, Carajo!" (Go Pasto, Damnit!)
Location of the municipality and city of Pasto in the Department of Nariño
Pasto Location in Colombia
Coordinates: 01°10′00″N 77°16′00″W / 1.1666667°N 77.2666667°W / 1.1666667; -77.2666667
Country	Colombia
Department	Nariño
Founding	1537
Established	1539-06-24 (Atriz Valley)
Founder	Sebastián de Belalcázar
Named for	Saint John the Baptist
Government
- Type	Municipality
- Mayor	Eduardo Alvarado Santander
Area
- Land	1.181 km2 (0.5 sq mi)
- Urban	26.4 km2 (10.2 sq mi)
Elevation	2.527 m (8.290 ft)
Population
- City	399,723 hab.
- Density	365/km2 (945.3/sq mi)
Time zone	(UTC-5)
Postal code	90-210
Area code(s)	092, 072, 052
Website	www.pasto.gov.co

Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto, is the capital of the department of Nariño, located in southwest Colombia. The city is located in the "Atriz Valley", on the Andes cordillera, at the foot of the Galeras volcano, at an altitude of 8,290 feet (2,527 m) above sea level. The city has a population of approximately 400,000 inhabitants.

Economy

Pasto is the centre of an agricultural region specializing in the production of dairy products. The manufacturing of furniture is an important part of the local economy. The city is an important center of commerce with many modern commercial Malls and often visited by people from the nearby country Ecuador.

It is easy to find a wide variety of handcrafts made of different kind of materials like wood, varnish, leather and wool.

Carnival and arts

One of the most important events held by the city is the Blacks and Whites' Carnival (Carnaval de Negros y Blancos in Spanish), with outstanding displays of craftmanship in 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 all the joy it has bottled up all year. It is not advisable to wear your best clothes during this festival as during these celebrations people have fun painting each other's faces with cosmetics colors (skin safe and created for this special purpose) and throwing talcum powder and party foam. The carnival takes place from the 2nd to the 6th of January each year.

A speciality of this region is a pre-Columbian art technique called Barniz de Pasto, or Pasto Varnish in English. This uses a type of natural rubber (extracted from a tree called mopa-mopa) which is colored and then stretched over woodwork pieces; finally the skillful artisan uses a special knife to cut and create the many beautiful designs that characterise this artistic technique.

History

Pasto was originally founded in 1537 by the Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar. In 1539 another Spanish conquistador Lorenzo de Aldana moved the city to its actual location, and established there under the name "San Juan de Pasto". Pasto is a reference to the name of the indigenous people who inhabited the region at the arrival of the conquerors, the Pastos. However, the Atriz Valley was inhabited by the Quillacingas.

It has been an administrative, cultural and religious center of the region since colonial times. 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. Partly due to this political stance, and because of its geographical location, after independence Pasto remained isolated for long time from the rest of the Colombia. This has resulted in the traditionalist attitude and cultural self-absorption of its people.

On June 25, 2006 Deportivo Pasto became the champion of the 1st division of soccer in Colombia.

Carnival float Pasto, Colombia

the Galeras Volcano', Aerial image by NASA showing activity. City of Pasto on the right.

Education

There are several universities with students from Pasto and from other cities in Nariño, some of them are:

• University of Nariño
• Universidad Mariana
• Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia
• Fundación Universitaria San Martin
• Institución Universitaria Cesmag
• Universidad Antonio Nariño
• Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia - UNAD
• Escuela Superior de Administración Pública - ESAP
• Corporación Universitaria Autónoma de Nariñ
• Empresa de Obras Sanitarias de Pasto EmpopopastoEmpopasto

Infrastructure

The city is connected by road with the cities of Cali, Popayan, Ipiales, Tumaco and Mocoa among others and crossed by the Pan-American Highway. Pasto has a main station for the terrestrial transport called "Terminal de transportes" which gather all the companies offering transport by road.

The city airport Antonio Nariño(PSO) is located at the north of the city in Chachagui.

In the telecommunication infrastructure are several Internet service providers like Une, Telecom and Telmex, offering broadband internet, television and telephony.

The city Football soccer stadium "Estadio Libertad" has capacity for 35.530 spectators.

External links

Pasto travel guide from Wikitravel

• Photos of the "Carnaval de Blancos y Negros"
• Universidad de Nariño
• Photos Carnaval de Negros Y Blancos Pasto
• Mayor's office
• Pasto Volcanological and Seismological Observatory - INGEOMINAS
• Sobre el barniz de Pasto
• Pasto Weather

v • d • e Municipalities in the Nariño Department Albán · Aldana · Ancuya · Arboleda · Barbacoas · Belén · Buesaco · Chachagüí · Colón (Génova) · Consaca · Contadero · Córdoba · Cuaspud · Cumbal · Cumbitara · El Charco · El Rosario · El Tablón · El Tambo · Francisco Pizarro · Funes · Guachucal · Guaitarilla · Gualmatán · Iles · Imues · Ipiales · La Cruz · La Florida · La Llanada · La Tola · La Unión · Leiva · Linares · Los Andes · Magui · Mallama · Mosquera · Nariño · Olaya Herrera · Ospina · Pasto (capital) · Policarpa · Potosí · Providencia · Puerres · Pupiales · Ricaurte · Roberto Payán · Samaniego · San Bernardo · Sandona · San Lorenzo · San Pablo · San Pedro de Cartago · Santa Barbara · Santacruz · Sapuyes · Taminango · Tangua · Tumaco · Tuquerres · Yacuanquer