Bogotá Introduction

(Image source: www.banrepcultural.org)

City Introduction

Bogotá, officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C. (during the time of Spanish rule, and also from 1991 to 2000, called Santafé de Bogotá) is the capital and largest city of Colombia administered as the Capital District, although often thought of as part of Cundinamarca. Bogotá is a territorial entity of the first order, with the same administrative status as the departments of Colombia. It is the political, economic, administrative, industrial, artistic, cultural, and sports center of the country.

The city is located in the center of Colombia, on a high plateau known as the Bogotá savanna, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes. It is the second-highest capital in South America (after Quito), at an average of 2,640 meters above sea level.

History

Bogotá was founded as the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada on August 6, 1538, by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada after a harsh expedition into the Andes conquering the Muisca. The Muisca were the indigenous inhabitants of the region and called the settlement where Bogotá was founded Bacatá. After the Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819, Bogotá became the capital of the independent nation of Gran Colombia. 

Natural environment

Bogotá is located in the southeastern part of the Bogotá savanna at an average altitude of 2,640 meters above sea level.

Climate

Bogotá has a subtropical highland climate. The average temperature is 14.5 °C (58 °F).