Meta Department

{{Short description|Department of Colombia}}

{{for|similarly named areas|Meta (disambiguation)#Places{{!}}Meta (disambiguation) § Places}}

{{Expand Spanish|date=October 2019}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Department of Meta

| native_name = {{lang|es|Departamento del Meta}}

| native_name_lang = es

| type = Department

| image_skyline = CAÑO_CRISTALES_RÍO_EN_LA_MACARENA_META.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_caption = View of the Caño Cristales

| image_map1 = Meta Topographic 2.png

| map_caption1 = Topography of the department

| image_flag = Flag of Meta.svg

| flag_alt =

| image_shield = Escudo del Meta.svg

| shield_alt =

| nickname =

| motto = Llano Grande de Colombia y Meta

| anthem = Himno de Meta (Colombia)

| image_map = Meta in Colombia (mainland).svg

| map_alt =

| map_caption = Meta shown in red

| coordinates = {{coord|4|9|N|73|38|W|region:CO_type:adm2nd|display=inline,title}}

| coor_pinpoint =

| coordinates_footnotes =

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = {{flag|Colombia}}

| subdivision_type1 = Region

| subdivision_name1 = Orinoquía Region

| parts_type = Largest city

| parts_style = para

| p1 =

| established_title = Established

| established_date = July 1, 1960

| blank_name_sec1 = Provinces

| blank_info_sec1 = 4

| blank1_name_sec1 = Municipalities

| blank1_info_sec1 = 29

| founder =

| named_for =

| seat_type = Capital

| seat = Villavicencio

| government_footnotes =

| leader_party =

| leader_title = Governor

| leader_name = Marcela Amaya (2016-2019)

| unit_pref = Metric

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 85635

| area_rank = 4th

| area_land_km2 =

| area_water_km2 =

| area_water_percent =

| area_note =

| elevation_footnotes =

| elevation_m =

| population_footnotes = {{cite web|title=DANE |url=http://www.dane.gov.co/daneweb_V09/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=72 |access-date=February 13, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091113143414/http://www.dane.gov.co/daneweb_V09/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=72 |archive-date=November 13, 2009 }}

| population_total = 1,039,722

| population_as_of = 2018

| population_rank = 19th

| population_density_km2 = auto

| population_note =

| demographics_type1 = GDP

| demographics1_footnotes = {{citation|title=Producto Interno Bruto por departamento |url=https://www.dane.gov.co/files/operaciones/PIB/departamental/anex-PIBDep-TotalDepartamento-2022pr.xlsx|website=www.dane.gov.co}}

| demographics1_title1 = Total

| demographics1_info1 = COP 58,440 billion
(US$ 13.7 billion)

| blank_name_sec2 = HDI

| blank_info_sec2 = 0.769{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}
{{color|#0c0|high}} · 7th of 33

| timezone1 = UTC-05

| postal_code_type =

| postal_code =

| area_code_type =

| area_code =

| iso_code = CO-MET

| website = [http://www.meta.gov.co/ www.meta.gov.co]

| footnotes =

}}

{{Historical populations

|type =

|footnote = Source:{{cite web|title=Reloj de Población|url=http://www.dane.gov.co/reloj/|website=DANE|publisher=Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísitica|access-date=6 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161028083854/http://www.dane.gov.co/reloj/|archive-date=28 October 2016|url-status=dead}}

|1973 | 242664

|1985 | 474046

|1993 | 618427

|2005 | 783168

|2018 | 1039722

}}

Meta ({{IPA|es|ˈmeta}}) is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known as the Llanos. Its capital is Villavicencio. The department has a monument placed in the very geographic centre of Colombia, at a place known as Alto de Menegua, a few kilometers from Puerto López.

Achagua, which is similar to Piapoco, is an Indigenous language spoken by a minority in the department.