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Founded date: December 17, 1535

Name of the founder (s): Sebastián de Belalcázar

The population of Florence was founded by Sebastián de Belalcázar in 1535, until June 30, 1993 it was a district and by Ordinance No. 001 of January 4, 1993 it was elevated to the category of Municipality, acquiring fiscal life as of July 1 1993. The municipality of Florencia, like that of Mercaderes, from which it emerges in its original settlement, follows the model of special distribution of the quillasingas that occupied the plateau to dedicate themselves to livestock and the foothills of the Colombian massif for the practice of the Agriculture.



The process of settlement of Florencia and Mercaderes was given by the flow of settlers who arrived in the region in the mid-nineteenth century attracted by the exploitation of gold and precious stones, this process was also strengthened by the flows of immigrants originated by the war of the Thousand Days. The first settlement of this population was located in the hills surrounding the Santander district (Nariño) and was later transferred to the current site. Florencia was a Parish district, Cantón de Bolívar, Popayán province from 1853 until the mid-1980s, at which time the neighborhood revolted, ignoring the authorities, and as a result of this fact, it came under the immediate mandate of the Mercaderes parish district. .

At that time the country was called the Granadina Confederation, it was divided into provinces, these in Cantons in parochial districts equivalent to the current Municipalities. Towards 1948, the Liberal-conservative political violence marked a trend in the form of land ownership, which was divided up and handed over to the peasant settlers. The current name of Florence is due to the fact that a Jesuit priest of Italian origin found this region similar to that of Florence Italy.





Physical description:

The municipality of Florencia has 5628.50 Has, it is located to the south of the Department of Cauca; Its head is at 1 ° 418217, 408217, 8217, North latitude and 77 ° 04´33´´ longitude west of the Greenwich meridian, with an altitude of 1500 m and an average temperature of 19 ° C.

Limits of the municipality:

According to articles 1, 2, 3 of the ordinance that creates the municipality of Florence, its limits are the following:

EAST with Bolívar, NORTH and WEST with Mercaderes and to the SOUTH with the Nariño municipalities of La Unión and San Pablo.

Total extension: 56.2850 Km2

Urban area extension: 0.0774 Km2

Rural area extension: 56,2076 Km2

Altitude of the municipal seat (meters above sea level): 1500

Average temperature: 19º C

Reference distance: 176 Popayán

Economy

The economy of the Florence Municipality is based on the cultivation of coffee, sugar cane, plantain, cassava, banana, livestock, minor species (curies, chicken, rabbit, fish etc.), fruits such as orange, papaya, tangerine, lemon, pineapple, granadilla.





FESTIVITIES

Return festivals

People born in it, but who live in other municipalities of the department or other cities in Colombia, come to the Municipality. A central party is organized where musical groups are presented and the illustrious children of that land are rewarded.

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