Soracá is a town and municipality in the Colombian

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 subregion of the

Central Boyacá Province The Central Boyacá Province () is a province of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. The province is formed by fifteen municipalities, including the departmental capital Tunja. Municipalities Cómbita • Cucaita • Chíquiza • Chivat� ...

. Soracá borders the municipalities of

Chivatá Chivatá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the department capital Tunja. It borders ...

in the north,

Siachoque Siachoque is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Siachoque is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. It borders Toca in the ...

, Viracacha and

Ramiriquí Ramiriquí is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province. Ramiriquí borders the department capital Tunja in the north, in the south Chinavita and Zetaquirá, in the east R ...

in the east, Boyacá in the south and the department capital

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá department ...

in the west.Official website Soracá
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Etymology

In Chibcha, Soracá means "ruling mansion of the sovereign".
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History

The area of Soracá was part of the '' zacazgo'' of Hunza, presently known as Tunja in the time 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 diff ...

. 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 ...

inhabiting the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

and their

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

were an advanced civilization who spoke

Chibcha 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 lang ...

. In the 1530s the Spanish conquistadores led by

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 nam ...

entered the territories of the Muisca.

Economy

Main economical activities in Soracá are

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

production,

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

and production of bricks.

Born in Soracá

Graciano Fonseca Graciano Fonseca Fuken (born September 4, 1974 in Soracá, Boyacá) is a retired male professional road racing cyclist from Colombia. Major results ;1996 :1st in General Classification Vuelta a Guatemala (GUA) ;2001 :1st in Stage 13 Vuelta a ...

, professional cyclist

Gallery

File:Soraca Near.JPG, View of Soracá File:Soraca panoramic.JPG, Soracá File:Soraca detalle.JPG, Soracá File:Soracá centro de Salud.JPG, Medical center File:Soracá parque.JPG, Central park File:Soraca Rural.JPG, Rural part of Soracá

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soraca Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1776 1776 establishments in the Spanish Empire Muisca Confederation Muysccubun