Paisa Region

Paisa Region

A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia including the part of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. Some regions of Valle del Cauca Department (north) and Tolima Department (west) belong to the cultural identity of paisas. The main cities are Medellín, Pereira, Manizales and Armenia.

The name of Paisa derives from the Spanish apocope of Paisano (one from the same country), although they are also known as "Antioqueños" (those from the old Antioquia that included the other Paisa provinces and that was a single administrative body until the creation of the Caldas State in 1905.) Although many refer to Paisas as an ethnic group (raza antioqueña or raza paisa), they are a part of the Colombians and Latin American peoples.

Paisas can be found in other regions of Colombia and the Americas where they have migrated. They have a particular way of speaking Spanish to the point that some writers refer to it as "español antioqueño".