Medellín, city, central Colombia, capital of Antioquia Department, in a mountain valley at an altitude of about 1525 m (about 5000 ft). It is Colombia's largest city after Bogotá (the capital) and its principal manufacturing and transportation center. Products include steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, refined petroleum, and processed food. Large numbers of commercial orchids are also grown. Points of interest include the Orquideorama, where orchids are on display in the botanical gardens, and a huge cathedral from the Spanish colonial period. The University of Antioquia (1822), the University of Medellín (1950), the Pontifical University Bolivariana (1936), and the Autonomous University of Latin America (1966) are here. Medellín was founded in 1675, but it did not become a major industrial center until the 1930s. During the 1980s the city became the center of Colombia's most powerful cocaine cartel. Population (1997 estimate) 1,970,691.
