a city in western Colombia. Cali is located in the foothills of the Cordillera Oriental, at an altitude of 1,000 m in the Cauca River valley; it is the administrative center of the Valle Del Cauca Department. Population, 898, 000 (1971). Cali is linked with Bogota by railroad and highway. It is the industrial and major cultural center of the Cauca valley. Cloth (cotton and artificial silk), footwear, rubber-engineering components, cardboard and paper, pharmaceuticals, paints, soap, tobacco and tobacco products, and bicycles are manufactured in Cali. It hastwo universities. The city was founded in 1536. Bituminous coalis mined near Cali.