parish of Villavicencio in 1855. The parish was named for Antonio Villavicencio, a patriot in the Colombian war of independence. Vaccines, a mule road, and the availability of vast areas of free land, drove new colonizers to continue the settlement of Villavicencio. As the roads improved the access to the Llanos, the farmers could send their produce and cattle to the markets of Bogotá. In 1948, large landowners expelled many farmers out of their lands across the country, explained in part by the momentum of the assassination of Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, a popular Liberal politician. The Llaneros resisted by driving the army out of population centers. The guerrillas never took Villavicencio, but they brought the fighting to the military base of Apiay. As the fighting between the government and the Llanero guerrillas was out of control, a military coup in June 1953, took Gustavo Rojas Pinilla to power who immediately negotiated a cease fire and amnesty for the insurgents. 1948–present Villavicencio has grown from a small settlement of no more than 20 people in the 1850s to a settlement of over 400,000 inhabitants in 2011. A new road of bridges and tunnels has shortened the driving time to Bogotá from two or three hours, depending on the season of the year, to one and half hours to move the oil, cattle, and agricultural products faster. Geography The city is located in the Orinoquia region, where the Oriental Plains begin. Most of the city's land is flat ground draining away from the Andes. The Guatiquia borders the city to the north and east. Caqueza and Chipaque are located northwest of Villavicencio. A true portal to the Llanos, the roads south of Villavicencio lead to Acacias and San Martin, the first historical town of the Llanos, which was an early Jesuit settlement. East of Villavo they point towards Apiay, Puerto Lopez and the fluvial port of Orocue on the Meta river, a strong affluent of the Orinoco. Hydrography Villavicencio, capital of the Department of Meta, lies on the slopes of the Eastern Cordillera a few blocks from the mighty Guatiquía River, surrounded by streams and creeks such as the Parrado and Gramalote, the Ocoa to the east and the Negro and Guayuriba rivers to the south. Among the main tributaries that irrigate the jurisdiction of Villavicencio are the Guatiquía, Guayuriba, Negro and Ocoa rivers. Climate Villavicencio has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen