Cogua () is a municipality and town of
Colombia in the
department of
Cundinamarca. It is situated on northern part of the
Bogotá savanna
The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Ra ...
with the urban centre at an altitude of at from the capital
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 largest ...
. Cogua borders
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 fo ...
in the north,
Nemocón in the east,
Pacho in the west and
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 Pacho ...
in the south.
[Official website Cogua]
Etymology
The name Cogua is derived from
Chibcha and means "Support of the hill".
[
]
History
Cogua in the times before the Spanish conquest
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predec ...
was inhabited by the Muisca
The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan l ...
who lived on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian A