It is located at an elevation of 1,630 metres,[1] about 60 km away from district capital Pereira in the valley of the Apia river.

The settlement was initially called La Villa de las Cáscaras ("Town of the Husks") because the roofs were thatched with cumulú, a native plant.

[3] The urban area comprises the boroughs of Jaime Rendón, Bermeja, Centenario, Quince de Agosto, El Clavel, Santa Inés, Villa de las Cáscaras, Acozma I, Motoristas, San Juan, San Vicente, Asovice, Villaserrana and Antonio Nariño.

The organic coffee movement is led by Francisco Jose "Pacho" Herrera Gallego[citation needed] The town is well known for its cultural contributions at a national level, especially its music bands and musicians such as Rubo Marín Pulgarín and Carlos Fernando López Naranjo.

In the months of April, May and June of this year (2019), again three poets of Apía, triumphed in international contests of sonnet in Spanish publishers: Gersaín Antonio Restrepo Agudelo, Juan Hely Morales Bedoya and Francisco Javier López Naranjo.