The department of Quindío is the smallest of the country's continental territory, with a surface area of 1,845 km2. It stands out in the country for the strong roots of the coffee culture and for its natural wealth, represented by exuberant vegetation and a great diversity of ecosystems.
A couple of facts demonstrate the importance of coffee in this region: all of Quindío's 12 municipalities are coffee producers, and 207 of its 267 villages are coffee-growing. The department is the twelfth largest coffee producer in the country (out of 20), with an estimated annual production of 666,000 60-kilogram bags of green coffee or, in other words, 6 % of the Colombian harvest.
Quindío is one of the departments that make up the Eje Cafetero, which was once abundant in coffee crops before being devastated by a major earthquake in 1999. From then on, its expansion and recognition began to be directed towards tourism for its beautiful landscapes and colonial towns. Today, its fertile land continues to be attractive for coffee and other crops, especially in the mountain range area in the municipalities of: Pijao, Buenavista and Génova where soils rich in organic matter are still preserved.
