Pereira () is the capital city of the Colombian department of Risaralda. It is located in the foothills of the Andes in a coffee-producing area of Colombia officially known as the "Coffee Axis". Pereira, alongside the rest of the Coffee Axis, form part of UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia". It is the most populated city in the Coffee Axis. Pereira is also part of the Central West Metropolitan Area, which has 709,322 residents and is composed of Pereira and the neighboring cities of Dosquebradas and La Virginia. It is considered the most important city in the "Coffee Axis" from a geopolitical and economic standpoint. As the capital of the department of Risaralda, Pereira houses the headquarters of the Government of Risaralda, the Departmental Assembly, the Departmental Court, the Metropolitan Area Authority and the Attorney General. It also serves as the headquarters for numerous public companies and institutions of the Colombian state. Being in the center of the Golden Triangle (which consists of the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali), Pereira has become especially important in the fields of trade and commerce. Toponymy Pereira was named after lawyer, land owner and naturist Francisco Pereira Martínez. He was a supporter of independence of the city, located in the same place as Old Cartago. The city of Pereira is known as "the pearl of Otún". Geography Pereira is located within the Golden Triangle of Colombia, a broad zone informally delimited by tracing this figure over the map of Bogota, Medellin and Cali. More narrowly defined, Pereira lies in the Central Cordillera (mountain range) of Colombia in the Otún and Cauca river valleys. To the north is La Virginia, Marsella and Dosquebradas. To the northeast is Santa Rosa de Cabal and to the east is Tolima. To the south is Quindío and Valle del Cauca and to the west is Balboa and Valle del Cauca. The municipal area is 702 km2 It shares boundaries with the municipalities of La Virginia, Marseilles and Dosquebradas to the north, to the northeast with Santa Rosa de Cabal and to the east with the department of Tolima, to the south with the departments of Quindío and Valle del Cauca, to the west with the municipality of Balboa and the department of Valle del Cauca. Pereira is located on the central mountain range, on the Otún river valley, and part of the