Socha is a town and municipality in the

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 Car ...

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Boyacá, part of the

Valderrama Province The Valderrama Province is a subregion of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The subregion is formed by 7 municipalities. The province is named after Antonio Valderrama. Municipalities Betéitiva • Chita • Jericó • Paz de Río • ...

, which is a subregion of Boyacá. It borders Socotá in the east, Sativasur in the north, Tasco in the south and in the west

Paz de Río Paz de Río is a town and municipality in the Valderrama Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The urban centre of Paz de Río, situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau locat ...

Geography

The village is located in the Eastern Ranges at altitudes between and .Official website Socha
– accessed 06-05-2016 Socha is the largest municipality in the

Natural National Park Páramo de Pisba Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

. The

Chicamocha River Chicamocha River is a river of Boyacá and Santander in central-eastern Colombia. It is part of the Magdalena river system that flows into the Caribbean Sea. Chicamocha River originates in the municipality of Tuta in the department of Boyac ...

forms the northern boundary of Socha.

History

Before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of differe ...

on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Socha was inhabited by the indigenous Pirgua and Boche tribes, belonging to the Muisca.

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...

passed through Socha in his march for the independence of Colombia. The town center was moved in 1870 due to a landslide. Close to the Boche waterfall in the municipality

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s have been found. The name Socha is derived from the Chibcha words ''So'' ("Sun"; Sué) and ''Cha'' ("Moon"; Chía), "Land of the Sun and the Moon".Etymology Socha
– accessed 06-05-2016

Economy

Main economical activity of Socha is coal and sandstone mining. To a lesser extent also livestock farming and agriculture are executed.

Born in Socha

* Fernando Soto Aparicio, Colombian poet

References

{{coord, 6, 00, N, 72, 40, W, display=title, region:CO_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of Boyacá Department 1540 establishments in the Spanish Empire