Boyacá Department Explained

Department of Boyacá
Native Name:Departamento de Boyacá
Native Name Lang:es
Type:Department
Image Map1:Boyaca Topographic 2.png
Map Caption1:Topography of the department
Motto:Boyacá, Duty of Everyone
(Spanish: Boyacá, Deber de todos)
Anthem:"Himno de Boyacá"
Coordinates:5.5333°N -95°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Colombia
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Andean Region
Parts Type:Largest city
Parts Style:para
Established Title:Established
Established Date:1858
Blank Name Sec1:Provinces
Blank Info Sec1:13
Blank1 Name Sec1:Municipalities
Blank1 Info Sec1:123
Seat Type:Capital
Seat:Tunja
Leader Party:Liberal and Green Alliance
Leader Title:Governor
Leader Name:Carlos Andrés Amaya
Unit Pref:Metric
Area Footnotes:[1] [2]
Area Total Km2:23189
Area Rank:20th
Population Footnotes:[3]
Population Total:1217376
Population As Of:2018
Population Rank:13th
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics Type1:GDP
Demographics1 Title1:Total
Demographics1 Info1:COP 38,858 billion
(US$ 9.1 billion)
Timezone1:UTC-05
Iso Code:CO-BOY
Blank Name Sec2:HDI (2019)
Blank Info Sec2:0.760[4]
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Boyacá (pronounced as /es/) is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".

Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end of the department extends to the Magdalena River at the town of Puerto Boyacá. Boyacá borders to the north with the Department of Santander, to the northeast with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Norte de Santander, to the east with the departments of Arauca and Casanare. To the south, Boyacá borders the department of Cundinamarca and to the west with the Department of Antioquia covering a total area of 23189sqkm. The capital of Boyacá is the city of Tunja.

Boyacá is known as "The Land of Freedom" because this region was the scene of a series of battles which led to Colombia's independence from Spain. The first one took place on 25 July 1819 in the Pantano de Vargas and the final and decisive battle known as the Battle of Boyacá was fought on 7 August 1819 at Puente de Boyacá.

Boyacá is home to three universities: the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC), the Universidad de Boyacá (UNIBOYACA), and the Saint Thomas Aquinas University.

Etymology

The word Boyacá derived from the Chibcha word "Bojacá" which means "Near the cacique", or "Region of the royal mantle".

History

The territory of present-day Boyaca was during the Pre-Columbian time the domain of the Muisca indigenous peoples. The Muisca under the chiefdom of the zaque of Hunza lived mainly by agriculture and mining gold and emeralds.

The first European to discover the area was the Spaniard Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who conquered the northern Muisca living in the area led by last zaque Aquiminzaque and distributed the land in encomiendas and forced the indigenous people to work for him.

In 1539, Gonzalo Suárez Rendón, a Spanish conquistador, founded the city of Tunja and other sites where the indigenous people previously had their villages. Tunja became one of the main political and economic centers for the Spanish during the Viceroyalty of New Granada.

During the 19th century, Boyacá was battleground for numerous confrontations between the royalist and patriot armies led by Simón Bolívar during the Spanish colonies' war of independence from Spain. Two of the most decisive battles were the Battle of Boyacá and the Battle of Vargas Swamp (1819) won by the patriot forces against the royalists. In 1824 Gran Colombia created the Boyacá Department (Gran Colombia).

After the creation of the Granadine Confederation by 1858 the territory of now Boyaca became the Sovereign State of Boyacá. It was later rearranged in territory and administration and renamed as "Department of Boyaca" after a series of civil wars like the Colombian Civil War (1860–1862) and the Thousand Days War that struggled over a centralist or federalist system and political instability that changed to many constitutions (such as the Constitution of 1886), Boyaca finally acquired its current definition as territory.

Geography

Boyacá is located in the Andean Region in central Colombia, over the Cordillera Oriental mountain range[5] and covers a total area of 23,189 km2. It borders other Colombian departments as follows: to the north Santander and Norte de Santander, to the east Arauca and Casanare, to the south Cundinamarca and a small part of Meta, and to the west Antioquia and Caldas. It has a territorial dispute with Norte de Santander and Cundinamarca.

The department of Boyacá covers a small portion of the Middle Magdalena valley of the Magdalena River to the west, the Cordillera Oriental mountain range with altitudes of 5,380 m above sea level (Sierra Nevada del Cocuy with 25 snow peaks), flat highland plateaux, and another small portion of territory by the eastern Llanos plains. Among its most prominent geographical features are the Range of the Zorro, Serrania de las Quinchas and the Andean plateaus of Rusia, Guantivá, Pisba, Chontales and Rechiniga.

The Altiplano Cundiboyacense, shared with the department of Cundinamarca, is densely populated with numerous valleys. The southern part is the Bogotá savanna. Boyacá is subdivided into 123 municipalities.

Many rivers originate in Boyacá, the most important are the Chicamocha River and Arauca River and tributaries to other important rivers such as the Magdalena and Meta.

Boyacá also has numerous lakes which include Lake Tota, Lake Sochagota and Lake Fúquene, shared with the department of Cundinamarca, the artificial Chivor Reservoir and others.

National parks

See main article: List of national parks of Colombia. El Cocuy and Pisba National Parks are located in the northeast of Boyacá. Pisba National Park is shared with the department of Arauca. The flora and fauna sanctuary of Lake Iguaque is situated in the centre of the department. The most beautiful páramo in the world, Ocetá Páramo, is in northeast Boyacá.

Climate

The central area of the highlands has two rainy seasons; the first between April and June, and a second between October and November with an average of 1000mm of rainfall per year. The rest of the year is considered to be the dry seasons with intermittent rainfall.

Provinces and municipalities

See also: List of municipalities in Boyacá and Municipalities of Colombia. There are 13 provinces and two special districts in the Boyacá Department, listed below with their 123 municipalities. The department also has 123 corregimientos, 185 police inspectorates and numerous towns and small villages spread throughout the territory.

Municipalities are also grouped into 45 notary circuits with 53 notaries public. One circuit main registry based in the capital of the department; Tunja and 13 other minor registries spread across the territory.

  1. Cómbita
  2. Cucaita
  3. Chíquiza
  4. Chivatá
  5. Motavita
  6. Oicatá
  7. Siachoque
  8. Samacá
  9. Sora
  10. Soracá
  11. Sotaquirá
  12. Toca
  13. Tunja
  14. Tuta
  15. Ventaquemada
  1. Boavita
  2. Covarachía
  3. La Uvita
            1. San Mateo Sativanorte Sativasur Soatá Susacón Tipacoque
  1. Briceño
      1. Buenavista Caldas Chiquinquirá
      2. Coper La Victoria Maripí
  2. Muzo
    1. Otanche Pauna
    2. Quipama Saboyá
      1. San Miguel de Sema San Pablo de Borbur Tununguá
                1. Almeida Chivor Guateque Guayatá La Capilla Somondoco Sutatenza Tenza
        1. Chiscas El Cocuy El Espino Guacamayas
    1. Güicán Panqueba
        1. Labranzagrande Pajarito Paya Pisba
  1. Berbeo
          1. Campohermoso Miraflores Páez San Eduardo Zetaquirá
  1. Boyacá
    1. Ciénega Jenesano
    2. Nuevo Colón Ramiriquí
      1. Rondón Tibaná Turmequé
    3. Úmbita Viracachá
  1. Chinavita
      1. Garagoa Macanal Pachavita
    1. San Luis de Gaceno Santa María
      1. Arcabuco Chitaraque Gachantivá
  1. Moniquirá
  2. Ráquira
    1. Sáchica San José de Pare
          1. Santa Sofía Santana Sutamarchán Tinjacá Togüí
    1. Aquitania Cuítiva
  1. Firavitoba
  2. Gámeza
    1. Iza Mongua
          1. Monguí Nobsa Pesca Sogamoso Tibasosa
    2. Tópaga Tota
          1. Belén Busbanzá Cerinza Corrales Duitama
    1. Floresta Paipa
    2. Santa Rosa de Viterbo Tutazá
  1. Betéitiva
    1. Chita Jericó
  2. Paz de Río
      1. Socotá Socha Tasco
  1. Cubará

Special Handling Zone

  1. Puerto Boyacá

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Boyacá Nuestro Departamento: Localización: Posición Geográfica. Gobernación del Boyacá. https://web.archive.org/web/20130114112452/http://boyaca.gov.co/?idcategoria=1285. 14 January 2013. live.
  2. Book: Maher, Joanne. 2009. Colombia: Statistical Survey. Europa World Yearbook 2009. 1. London. Routledge. 1347. 978-1-85743-541-2. etal.
  3. Web site: Estimaciones de Población 1985 – 2005 y Proyecciones de Población 2005 – 2020 Total Municipal por Área (estimate). Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística. 29 March 2014.
  4. Web site: Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab. hdi.globaldatalab.org. en. 2018-09-13.
  5. Web site: Boyacá Nuestro Departamento: Aspectos Geográfícos. Gobernación del Boyacá. https://web.archive.org/web/20130114113904/http://boyaca.gov.co/?idcategoria=3527. 14 January 2013. live.