Caldas Department

Department of Caldas Departamento de Caldas
Department
Nevado del Ruiz
Flag Coat of arms
Caldas shown in red
Topography of the department
Coordinates: 5°06′N 75°33′W / 5.100°N 75.550°W / 5.100; -75.550
Country	Colombia
Region	Andean Region
Department	1905
Capital	Manizales
Government
• Governor	Henry Gutiérrez Ángel (2024-2027)
Area
• Total	7,888 km2 (3,046 sq mi)
• Rank	28th
Population  (2018)[1]
• Total	998,255
• Rank	17th
• Density	130/km2 (330/sq mi)
GDP [2]
• Total	COP 23,953 billion (US$ 5.6 billion)
Time zone	UTC-05
ISO 3166 code	CO-CAL
Municipalities	27
HDI	0.769[3] high · 6th of 33
Website	gobernaciondecaldas.gov.co

Caldas (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaldas]) is a department of Colombia named after Colombian patriotic figure Francisco José de Caldas. It is part of the Paisa Region and its capital is Manizales. The population of Caldas is 998,255, and its area is 7,291 km². Caldas is also part of the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis region along with the Risaralda and Quindio departments, which were politically separated from Caldas in 1966.

Caldas has 6 districts.

The Miel I Dam is situated in Caldas.^[4]

The population of Caldas is 984,128 (2013), half of whom live in Manizales. The racial composition is:

• White / Mestizo (93.16%)
• Amerindian or Indigenous (4.29%)
• Black or Afro-Colombian (2.54%)

The local inhabitants of Caldas are known as caldenses. Of the five main regional groups in Colombia, the predominant group in Caldas are known as paisa, referring to those living in the Paisa region, which covers most of Antioquia, as well as the departments of Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío.

• Government of Caldas official website (in Spanish)