Cundiboyacense highlands

The Cundiboyacense Altiplano is an area of high and flat land located in the eastern Andes, between the Colombian departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá and the capital district of Bogotá. Its territory largely coincides with the former territory occupied by the Muisca, a native civilization of great local importance upon the arrival of the Spanish in what is now Colombia. The altiplano comprises three very distinguishable flat regions, which are: the Bogotá savannah, the Ubaté valley, and the Tunja and Sogamoso valleys. During the winter seasons, the highlands receive, in addition to the large contributions of rain, the water generated by the drainage network of the slopes by rivers and streams and fulfill an important regulatory hydraulic function in recharging aquifers and buffering. of growing

History

The Abriense culture existed on this site (between 10,000 and 600 BC). Later, the Muiscas occupied this region, a people whose language is part of the Chibcha languages.

In the altiplano is the site of the peaceful meeting of three Spanish conquistadors, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Sebastián de Belalcázar and Nicolás de Federmann in 1538 after the founding of Santafé de Bogotá.

In the geographical center of the entire plateau is the historic city of Tunja, which was built from Hunza (Chunsa in muysccubun), one of the capitals of the Muisca Confederation, as well as being a spiritual, administrative center and politician of the east. Later, in colonial times, it would become the most important city in the entire territory located between the current capitals of Venezuela and Colombia. Currently, it is the second most important city in the entire Cundiboyacense highlands, the capital of Boyacá and an important university, cultural, historical and tourist center.

Limits

The altiplano is surrounded by numerous mountains, since it is in the middle of the Eastern Cordillera. To the south is the Sabana de Bogotá, the largest plateau in the Colombian Andes, which at the same time borders the Páramo de Sumapaz. To the north, it borders the mountains of Santander, to the east it borders the numerous hills of the mountain range that separate it from the Piedmonte Llanero and to the west with the other hills that separate it from the hot Magdalena Valley of the departments of Tolima, Caldas and Antioquia..

Cities of the highlands

On the altiplano are the cities of Bogotá, capital of Colombia and the department of Cundinamarca; Tunja, capital of the department of Boyacá and an important university, tourist, cultural and historical center.; the city of Zipaquirá, the salt mining city in Colombia and home to the Salt Cathedral, one of the first of the seven wonders of Colombia.

The most important municipalities of the Cundiboyacense highlands are:

• Bogotá - Capital of the Republic of Colombia and the department of Cundinamarca.
• Tunja - Capital of Boyacá department.
• Madrid
• Mosquera
• Zipaquirá
• Ráquira
• Quote
• Soracá
• Tabio
• Ramiriquí
• Got it.
• Oicatá
• Tabio
• Jenesano
• Facatativá
• Combita
• Chía
• Sogamoso
• Pacho
• Duitama
• Fun
• Chiquinquirá
• Sibaté
• Nemocon
• Sutamarchán
• I used.
• Paipa
• Cajicá.
• Soatá
• Villa de Leyva
• Tocancipá
• Turmequé
• Villapinzón
• Sales
• Soup
• Co.

Hydrology

Main rivers:

• Bogotá

Main lakes, lagoons and dams:

• Tota
• Chivor
• Fúquene
• Juan Amarillo
• Jaboque
• Sisga
• Tominé
• Fúquene
• Guavio
• Muña
• Iguaque
• Guatavita
• Sochagota
• Chingaza
• Neusa

Climate

It has an average temperature of 14 °C, with high daily thermal amplitudes that can oscillate between 0 °C (low temperature) and 24 °C (high temperature). The dry and rainy seasons alternate during the year; the driest months are from December to March; during the rainiest months, April, May, September, October and November, the temperature is more stable, with oscillations between 9 °C and 20 °C. June, July and August are the months of strong winds and the greatest fluctuations in temperature; During dawn there are usually very low temperatures, called frosts, which affect agriculture. The presence of hail rains is also common.

Economy

The city of Bogotá, along with several surrounding towns, is an important industrial and service center. The cities of Bogotá and Tunja are both important university centers.

The city of Tunja stands out as the second most important city in the entire altiplano, in addition to having the best-preserved historic center in Colombia, constituting an important tourist and cultural center, officially declared a national monument.

In Zipaquirá, Cajicá, Nemocón and Sesquilé there are important mines and salt refining plants.

The main activity outside the cities is farming, among which dairy farming and potato and corn crops stand out. Wheat, barley, soybeans, peach, tree tomato, cape gooseberry, and blackberry are also grown. In the Sabana de Bogotá there are important flower crops, and in the province of Huna - Center of Boyacá, there are important agro-industrial centers such as Tunja. The climatic processes related to the behavior of the rains and their seasonality, were the object of special attention for the cultures of the highlands of the Andes. In the Cundiboyacense highlands, the proper management of these systems was transcendental so that the indigenous people could supply themselves with corn, tubers and protein of animal origin such as fish. The Chroniclers of the Indies refer to the fisheries that supported this hydraulic culture —named for its ability to manage swampy or floodable lands—; Probably thanks to the intensive management of the hydrobiological resources of the rivers and wetlands of the time, as well as the products coming from the slopes of the plateau, they were able to feed the large Muisca population, close to a million inhabitants, that the Spaniards found.