Bogotá: Capital city of Colombia

Bogota is the capital (city) of Colombia.

As of 2009, more than 7 million people live in Bogota, which makes it the largest city in Colombia. It is about 2,640 metres (8,660 feet) above sea level, on a plateau. This makes it the third highest capital in the world. With many universities and libraries, Bogotá has become known as "The Athens of South America".The weather is usually nice during the day and cool at night. It has a series of bike paths (trails that are made for bikes) that wind through the city. It has many recreational and amusement parks open to the public. The current mayor is Carlos Fernando Galán.

Bogotá
Flag of Bogotá
Official seal of Bogotá
Motto(s): 
Bogotá, 2600 metros más cerca de las estrellas
Bogotá, 2600 meters closer to the stars
Bogotá is located in Colombia
Bogotá
Bogotá
Colombia
Coordinates: 4°35′53″N 74°4′33″W / 4.59806°N 74.07583°W / 4.59806; -74.07583
CountryColombia
DepartmentDistrito Capital
Foundation6 August 1538 (traditional)
Founded byGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
Government
 • MayorClaudia López
Area
 • Capital District1,587 km2 (613 sq mi)
 • Urban
307.36 km2 (118.67 sq mi)
 • Rank32nd
Elevation
2,625 m (8,612 ft)
Population
 (2013)
 • Capital District7,674,366
 • Rank1st
 • Density4,800/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
 • Metro
10,763,453
DemonymBogotano(a)
Time zoneUTC-5
Postal code
110010000
Area code+57 1
License plateBOG
WebsiteCity Official Site
Bogotá Tourism

History

Originally, Native Americans called Muisca lived in the area. Then, in 1538, Gonzalo Jimenes de Quezada, a Spanish conqueror, founded Bogota. Bogota became a center of trade, art, and education. Some of the oldest universities in the Americas are in Bogota. After Independence from Spain, Bogota became the capital of Gran Colombia in 1819.

Bogota has had extremely awful moments. In 1948, a presidential candidate, Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, was murdered while doing a speech in front of hundreds of persons. This tragic moment brought with it terrible consequences: one of the most remembered one is the "Bogotazo". The "Bogotazo" started as a political party war, the blue party, self named the "conservatives", began to hunt and kill every single member of the red party, the "liberals". The remaining blue party members decided to create the "Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia" (FARC); however, this group was ironically created to protect the oppressed people from their oppressors. Nowadays, this group is known as terrorists and murderers;nevertheless, Colombia's capital city, Bogota, has not being attacked in the last few years.

References

Tags:

AthensCapital (city)ColombiaLibraryPlateauRecreationSouth AmericaUniversitywikt:people

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