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  Seal | |
| Motto(s): Bogotá, 2600 metros más cerca de las estrellas Bogotá, 2600 meters closer to the stars | |
  Bogotá Colombia | |
| Coordinates: 4°35′53″N 74°4′33″W / 4.59806°N 74.07583°W | |
| Country | Colombia |
| Department | Distrito Capital |
| Foundation | 6 August 1538 (traditional) |
| Founded by | Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Claudia López |
| Area | |
| • Capital District | 1,587 km2 (613 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 307.36 km2 (118.67 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 32nd |
| Elevation | 2,625 m (8,612 ft) |
| Population (2013) | |
| • Capital District | 7,674,366 |
| • Rank | 1st |
| • Density | 4,800/km2 (13,000/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 10,763,453 |
| Demonym | Bogotano(a) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 |
| Postal code | 110010000 |
| Area code | +57 1 |
| License plate | BOG |
| Website | City 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
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