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Bogotá

Capital of ColombiaHigh in the Andes near the centre of Colombia, Bogotá spreads across a plateau called the Bogotá savanna, about 2,640 m above sea level. The Eastern Hills rise just east of the old downtown, and the Bogotá River marks the city's western edge.

Why it's the capital

Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada founded the city on 6 August 1538, after conquering the Muisca people of the plateau, as capital of the New Kingdom of Granada. From 1717 it was capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, and after the Battle of Boyacá in 1819 it became capital of independent Gran Colombia.

Fun facts

  1. The name comes from Bacatá, a Muisca settlement nearby. For a long time the city was called Santa Fe, and Simón Bolívar renamed it Bogotá to honour the Muisca people.
  2. Monserrate, a mountain about 3,150 m high just east of downtown, has a 17th-century church on top that you can reach by cable car, by funicular or on foot.
  3. During the Ciclovía, main roads are closed to cars from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sundays and public holidays, so people can ride their bikes through the city.

Finding it on the globe

Colombia has both a Caribbean and a Pacific coast, but Bogotá is on neither. Aim inland, up in the mountains, roughly in the centre of the country.

Sources: Wikipedia: Bogotá, Wikipedia: Monserrate