a city in Colombia, the capital of the department of Córdoba and a port on the Sinú River, 50 km from the Caribbean coast. Population, 188,000 (1971). Montería is linked by road with the Medellin-Cartagena highway. The city serves as the commercial and transportation center for the surrounding agricultural region, in which bananas, rice, cotton, and various other subtropical crops are produced. Livestock is raised in the area. There is also a local cement industry.