The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The Bogotá savanna is crossed from northeast to southwest by the long Bogotá River, which at the southwestern edge of the plateau forms the Tequendama Falls (''Salto del Tequendama''). Other rivers, such as the Subachoque,

Bojacá Bojacá is a municipality and town of the Western Savanna Province, Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of on the Bogotá savanna at from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Zipacón ...

, Fucha, Soacha and

Tunjuelo River The Tunjuelo or Tunjuelito River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River. The river, with a length of originates in the Sumapaz Páramo and flows northward through the Usme Synclinal to enter the Colombian capi ...

s, tributaries of the Bogotá River, form smaller valleys with very fertile soils dedicated to agriculture and cattle-breeding. Before the Spanish conquest of the Bogotá savanna, the area was inhabited by the indigenous Muisca, who formed a loose confederation of various ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a S ...

s'', named the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. T ...

. The Bogotá savanna, known as ''Muyquytá'', was ruled by the ''

zipa When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

''. The people specialised in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, the mining of emeralds,

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

and especially the extraction of rock salt from rocks in

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tocancipá to the east; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south; and Subachoque and ...

, Nemocón,

Tausa Tausa () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tausa is and was an important town on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense due to its salt mine. It was the third most prolific salt deposit ...

and other areas on the Bogotá savanna. The salt extraction, a task exclusively of the Muisca women, gave the Muisca the name "The Salt People". In April 1536, a group of around 800

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

left the relative safety of the Caribbean coastal city of

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

to start a strenuous expedition up the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

, the main fluvial artery of Colombia. Word got around among the Spanish colonisers that deep in the unknown Andes, a rich area with an advanced civilisation must exist. These tales bore the -not so much- legend of ''

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king ...

''; the city or man of gold. The Muisca, skilled goldworkers, held a ritual in Lake Guatavita where the new ''zipa'' would cover himself in gold dust and jump from a

raft A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

into the cold waters of the high lake to the northeast of the Bogotá savanna. After a journey of almost a year, where the Spanish lost over 80% of their soldiers, the conquistadors following the

Suárez River The Suárez River, originally Saravita, is a river in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The river originates in Lake Fúquene on the border of Cundinamarca and Boyacá and its mouth is the confluence with the Chicamocha River, forming ...

, reached the Bogotá savanna in March 1537. The ''zipa'' who ruled the Bogotá savanna at the arrival of the Spanish was

Tisquesusa Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...

. The Muisca posed little resistance to the Spanish strangers and Tisquesusa was defeated in April 1537 in Funza, in the centre of the savanna. He fled towards the western hills and died of his wounds in Facatativá, on the southwestern edge of the Bogotá savanna. The Spanish conquistador

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

established the

New Kingdom of Granada The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...

with capital Santa Fe de Bogotá on August 6, 1538. This started a process of colonisation, evangelisation and submittance of the Muisca to the new rule. Between 65 and 80% of the indigenous people perished due to European diseases as

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

and

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

. The Spanish introduced new crops, replacing many of the New World crops that the Muisca cultivated. Over the course of the 16th to early 20th century, the Bogotá savanna was sparsely populated and industrialised. The rise in population during the twentieth century and the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation reduced the biodiversity and natural habitat of the Bogotá savanna severely. Today, the

Metropolitan Area of Bogotá Metropolitan Area of Bogotá is the metropolitan area of the Colombian capital city of Bogotá, usually used for statistical analysis or technical use. It is not a formal administrative division and its limits are therefore not defined. The stud ...

on the Bogotá savanna hosts more than ten million people. Bogotá is the biggest city worldwide at altitudes above . The many rivers on the savanna are highly contaminated and efforts to solve the environmental problems are conducted in the 21st century.

Etymology

Bogotá savanna is named after Bogotá, which is derived from Muysccubun ''Bacatá'', which means "(Enclosure) outside of the farm fields".

Geography

The Bogotá savanna is the southwestern part of the larger Andean plateau, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. The savanna is a montane savanna, bordered to the east by the Eastern Hills, the Sumapaz mountains in the south, the hills of

and

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna an ...

in the north and western hills of Cundinamarca in the west. The total surface area is .Pérez Preciado, 2000, p.2

Climate

The average temperature of the plateau is , but this can fluctuate between . The dry and rainy seasons alternate frequently during the year. The driest months are December, January, February and March. During the rainy months, the temperature tends to be more stable with variations between . June, July and August are the months that present the largest variations of temperature, and during the morning frost in the higher terrains surrounding the savanna is possible. Sometimes also ground frost is present, which has a negative impact on agriculture. Hail is a relatively common phenomenon on the savanna.

Hydrology

Bogotá River - Cota-Bogotá - greenhouses

Rivers

* Bogotá River - **

Bojacá River The Bojacá River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a right tributary of the Bogotá River. Etymology Bojacá is derived from Muysccubun, the indigenous language of the Muisca, who inhabited the Bogotá savanna before the Spanish conquest a ...

Fucha River The Fucha River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River. The river originates in the Eastern Hills of the Colombian capital Bogotá and flows westward through the city into the Bogotá River. It is one of the th ...

Teusacá River The Teusacá River is a river in the Eastern Hills of Bogotá and on the Bogotá savanna. It is a left tributary of the Bogotá River, Colombia. The river of long originates at an elevation of at the Alto Los Tunjos, Santa Fe, and flows northw ...

Juan Amarillo River The Juan Amarillo, Arzobispo, or Salitre River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River in Colombia. The river originates from various ''quebradas'' in the Eastern Hills and flows into the Bogotá River at the ...

Soacha River The Soacha River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River. Etymology Soacha is derived from Muysccubun, the indigenous language of the Muisca, who inhabited the Bogotá savanna before the Spanish conquest and ...

** Neusa River ** Río Frío **

Subachoque River The Subachoque River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a right tributary of the Bogotá River. Etymology Subachoque is derived from the indigenous language of the Muisca, who inhabited the Bogotá savanna before the Spanish conquest and mea ...

Lakes

= Natural

= * Lake Guatavita - overlooking the northeastern part of the savanna * Lake Herrera

= Artificial

= * Tominé Reservoir - northeast, biggest waterbody on the Bogotá savanna - * Neusa Reservoir - north - * El Muña Reservoir - south - * Lake Herrera (since 1973)Lake Herrera largest water reserve of the Bogotá savanna
/ref>

Waterfalls

* Tequendama Falls - southwestern limit

Wetlands

There is a system of

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (Anoxic waters, anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in t ...

s (''humedales'') that regulate the soil moisture acting like sponges for the rain waters. Fifteen wetlands have a protected status, with various wetlands as unprotected. In 1950, the total surface area of the wetlands amounted to , but due to the urbanisation of the Colombian capital the total area has been reduced to .Moreno et al., s.a., p.2

Biodiversity

Despite the continuous urbanisation and industrial activities, the Bogotá savanna is a rich biodiverse area with many bird species registered.Calvachi Zambrano, 2002, p.95 The diversity of mammals, amphibians and reptiles is much lower.Calvachi Zambrano, 2002, p.97 Before the arrival of the European colonisers, the savanna was populated predominantly by

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

, the main ingredient of the

Muisca cuisine Muisca cuisine describes the food and preparation the Muisca elaborated. The Muisca were an advanced civilization inhabiting the central highlands of the Colombian Andes (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca in the ...

. Today, this species of deer, as well as the once common spectacled bear, is restricted to protected areas surrounding the Bogotá savanna. The

Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve The Thomas van der Hammen Natural Reserve or Thomas van der Hammen Forest Reserve is an area of the Bogotá savanna that is under environmental protection. The natural reserve was declared as such in year 2000 by the Ministry of Environment and Sus ...

is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in the north of Bogotá.

History

The earliest confirmed inhabitation of present-day Colombia was on the Bogotá savanna with sites

El Abra El Abra is the name given to an extensive archeological site, located in the valley of the same name. El Abra is situated in the east of the municipality Zipaquirá extending to the westernmost part of Tocancipá in the department of Cundinamarc ...

, Tequendama and Tibitó, where semi-nomadic

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fung ...

s lived in caves and rock shelters. One of the first evidences of settlement in open area space was Aguazuque, whose oldest dated remains are analysed to be 5000 years old. This prehistorical preceramic period was followed by the

Herrera Period The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the Andean preceramic and ceramic, time equivalent of the North American pre-Columbian formative and classic stages and age dated by various archaeologists. The Herrera P ...

, commonly defined from 800 BCE to 800 AD.

Muisca Confederation

At the arrival of the Spanish

, the region was inhabited by the Muisca who lived in hundreds of small villages scattered across the plateau. These villages were individually ruled by ''

s'' who at the same time paid tribute to the ''

'', ruler of Bacatá. The Muisca were known as "The Salt People", thanks to their extraction of rock salt from brines in large pots heated over fires. This process was the exclusive task of the Muisca women. The

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

of the Muisca, meaning "person" or "people" in their indigenous version of Chibcha; Muysccubun, was self-sufficient due to the advanced

on the fertile soils of the frequently flooding Bogotá savanna. More tropical and subtropical agricultural products as

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

es and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

were traded with their neighbours, in particular the Guane and

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

in the north and northeast and the Guayupe, Achagua and Tegua in the east. The Muisca were known as skilled goldworkers, represented in the famous Muisca raft, that symbolises the initiation ritual of the new ''zipa'' in Lake Guatavita. This ritual, where the ''zipa'' covered himself in gold dust and jumped in the altitude lake, gave rise to the -not so much- legend of ''

''.

Spanish conquest

In April 1536, a group of around 800

left the relative safety of the Caribbean coastal city of

to start a strenuous expedition up the

''; the city or man of gold. The Muisca, skilled goldworkers, held a ritual in Lake Guatavita where the new ''zipa'' would cover himself in gold dust and jump from a

into the cold waters of the high lake to the northeast of the Bogotá savanna. After a journey of almost a year, where the Spanish lost over 80% of their soldiers, the conquistadors following the

, reached the Bogotá savanna in March 1537. The ''zipa'' who ruled the Bogotá savanna at the arrival of the Spanish was

established the

and

. The Spanish introduced new crops, replacing many of the New World crops that the Muisca cultivated. The Spanish colonizers engaged in the construction of Spanish-style towns to replace all the indigenous villages and in the process of assimilation and religious convert of the Muisca. The majority of those villages kept their indigenous names, but some were slightly modified in time, like ''Suacha'' which became Soacha, ''Hyntiba'' becoming

Fontibón Fontibon is the 9th locality of Bogotá. It is located in the west of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by low and middle class residents. Etymology The origin of the city's name can be traced to the Muisca ''cacique Huintiva'' or '' ...

and ''Bacatá'' becoming

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

Modern history

Over the course of the 16th to early 20th century, the Bogotá savanna was sparsely populated and industrialised. The rise in population during the twentieth century and the expansion of agriculture and urbanisation reduced the biodiversity and natural habitat of the Bogotá savanna severely. Today, the

Timeline of inhabitation

Cities

The main cities of the Bogotá savanna, in addition to the capital city of

, are: Mosquera, Soacha,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Funza, Facatativá, Subachoque, El Rosal, Tabio, Tenjo, Cota, Chía, Cajicá,