About the Region
Located 331 kilometers from the capital city of Bogotá, in the southern part of Tolima, Gaitania boasts altitudes ranging from 1,400 meters above sea level in the city center to 5,355 meters above sea level. Fifty percent of the Nevado de Huila mountain is actually located in Gaitania, making it the third highest mountain in Colombia, surpassed only by the Colón and Bolívar peaks in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. This mountain is a great source of pride and water for the surrounding region. Today, the regional economy's strength comes from Gaitania's coffee production, but during the price crisis of the 1990s, many coffee farmers found themselves planting poppies, a crop that brought further hardship to the area. The "craze" for this crop subsided after five years, and Gaitania's coffee farmers returned to growing their favorite crop.