Bogotá

(Redirected from Bogotá, Colombia)

Categories: Cleanup from April 2005 | Bogotá | Cities in Colombia | Capitals in South America | World Book Capital

This article is about the Colombian capital; for the town in New Jersey, see Bogota, New Jersey.

Bogota (Spanish: Bogotá) officially named Bogotá D.C. (D.C. for "Capital District"), is the capital of Colombia, as well as the largest and most populous city in the country with a population of roughly 7.8 million people (about 8.5 million in the metropolitan area). It is also the capital of the department of Cundinamarca.

Geography

Bogotá is located at an altitude of 2640 m (8660 ft) above sea level on the Cordillera Oriental of the Northern Andean Mountains. The city is situated at the base of two mountains, Guadalupe and Monserrate. On the summits of these mountains, which are over 3200 m (10,500 ft) high, stand two small churches which are widely visited by tourists and locals. The population of Bogotá is currently increasing at a rate close to 5% per year, mostly due to people coming from rural areas of Colombia. The city is constantly expanding in size to meet this influx of people. Currently the urban area covers 384.3 km² and the more mountainous outlying regions extend 1222.5 km².

Several rivers, one of which, the San Francisco, passes through the city, converge near the southwestern edge of the Cundinamarca-Boyacá plateau and form the Río Funza, also known as the Río Bogotá. This river flows all the way to Salto del Tequendama, a vertical waterfall 145 meters (475 feet) high. Currently, most of the river's water is used to power a hydroelectric project.

Bogotá's climate is mild and temperate, the average annual temperature is about 14 °C, with about 1100 mm (44 inches) of rainfall.

The city is planned on a grid, with numbered carreras (avenues), from south to north, intersecting numbered calles (streets) going east-west. Among the city's squares is the Plaza de Bolívar, where many important government buildings and churches are located. Bogotá is connected by road to the Atlantic coast to the north and to the Pacific coast to the west, as well as to all other major cities in Colombia. The Pan-American Highway and the Simón Bolívar Highway both pass through the city.

The city is served by El Dorado International Airport. The TransMilenio bus rapid transit system is the most modern form of public transit serving the city. It was opened to the public in November 2000.

History

Bogotá, originally called Bacatá by the Muiscas, was the center of their civilization before the Spanish conquest, and sustained a large population. The European settlement was founded in August 6, 1538, by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and was named "Santa Fé de Bacatá" after his birthplace Santa Fé and the local name. "Bacatá" had become the modern "Bogotá" by the time it was made the capital of the viceroyalty of New Granada, and the city soon became one of the centers of Spanish colonial power and civilization in South America.

In 1810-11 its citizens revolted against Spanish rule and set up a government of their own, but had to contend with Spanish military loyalists, who controlled the city until 1819, when Simón Bolívar captured the city after his victory at Boyacá. Bogotá was then made the capital of Gran Colombia, a federation combining the territories of modern Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. When that republic was dissolved into its constituent parts, Bogotá remained the capital of New Granada, which later became the Republic of Colombia. See History of Colombia.

In 1956, the municipality of Bogotá was joined to other neighboring municipalities forming a "Special District" (Spanish: Distrito Especial). With the Constitution of 1991, Bogotá was confirmed as the Capital of Colombia acquiring the name "Santa Fe de Bogotá", and changing the category from Special District to "Capital District" (Spanish: Distrito Capital).

In August 2000 the capital's name was officially changed back from "Santa Fé de Bogotá" to the more usual "Bogotá". The local government consists in a Capital District, the current chief of government is Luis Eduardo Garzón.

Flag

The Flag of Bogotá originates from the insurgency movement against the colonial authorities which began on July 20, 1810. During this insurgency, the rebels wore armbands with yellow and red bands, as these colours were the ones in the Spanish flag which was the one used as the flag for the New Kingdom of Granada.

In October 9, 1952, exactly 142 years after these events, decree 555 of 1952 (available at [1]) officially and definitively adopted the patriotic armband as the flag of Bogotá.

The flag itself is divided vertically in two, the top half being yellow and the bottom half being red. The yellow colour denotes the virtues of justice, clemency, benevolence, the so-called "mundane qualities" (defined as nobility, excellence, richness, generosity, splendour, health, steadfastness, joy and prosperity), long life, eternity, power and constancy. The red colour denotes the virtue of charity, as well as the qualities of bravery, nobility, values, audacity, victory, honour and furour.

Coat of Arms

The Coat of Arms of the city of Bogotá was ceded by emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) to the New Kingdom of Granada, in the Royal Decree given in Valladolid, Spain on December 3, 1548. It contains a black eagle in the center, which symbolises steadfastness. The eagle is crowned with gold and holds a red pomegranate inside a golden background. The border contains olive branches with nine golden pomegranates in a blue background. The two red pomegranates symbolize audacity, and the nine golden ones represent the nine states which constituted the New Kingdom of Granada at the time. In 1932 the coat of arms was officially recognized and adopted as the Symbol of Bogotá.

Anthem

Main article: Anthem of Bogotá The lyrics to the anthem of Bogotá were written by Pedro Medina Avendaño, the melody was composed by Roberto Pineda Duque. The song was officially declared the anthem of Bogotá by decree 1000 of July 31, 1974, by then Mayor of Bogotá, Aníbal Fernandez de Soto.

Economy

Bogotá is Colombia's largest economic center, followed by Medellín, Cali, and Bucaramanga—residents refer to it as Colombia's "first city". Most companies in Colombia have their headquarters in Bogotá, as it is home to most foreign companies doing business in Colombia as well as Colombia's main stock market. After mining, the three largest sectors of Colombia and Bogotá's economy are the export of coffee, emeralds, and flowers.

One of the largest drivers of the Colombian economy, Colombian coffee is prized for being some of the world's finest. Colombia is the world's largest producer of smooth coffee and the second overall coffee exporter. Although it is not grown in Bogotá, the offices of most coffee producing and exporting firms reside in Bogotá.

The emerald trade is a huge business in Bogotá. In downtown Bogotá, millions of dollars in domestically produced rough and cut emeralds are bought and sold daily.

Colombia is also one of the world's largest flower exporters. As a matter of fact, as much as 55% of all flowers sold in the United States are imported from Colombia. In Bogotá, greenhouses up to 5 miles long are kept stocked with flowers year round, which are then transported to the United States, Europe and Japan.

Culture

Bogotá has traditionally been a major center of art, culture, and learning in northern South America. Bogotá is home to several universities. The oldest is Universidad del Rosario, founded in 1653. Others include the National University of Colombia, Los Andes University, Pontifical Javerian University (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana), the Universidad Externado de Colombia, and the University of Santo Tomás.

Bogotá is a city of museums. Museo del Oro or Gold Museum, the most important of its type, holds the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold. There is also the National Museum of Colombia which contains a large collection of pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial artifacts and Colombian art. Bogotá has many other history and art museums, among them the Children's Museum of Bogotá, museum of science and technology ("Maloka"), a museum of natural history, the Bogotá Planetarium, La Casa de la Moneda (Bogotá Mint) to which an important collection of modernist art was recently donated, The Botero Museum and several modern art galleries.

Bogotá was selected by Unesco as the World Book Capital City 2007 [2][3] for its excellent network of private and public libraries and the great variety in precise initiatives and activities to promote reading.

Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro

This is the most important theatre festival in Latin America and Spain. Fanny Mikey, a local actress and threater director, has been the guiding force since the festival´s inception. The Festival Iberoamericano de Teatro takes place in Bogotá every two years and it runs for 17 days.

Top theatre groups from around the world participate in the festival and their performances contribute to making this a truly unique event. Moreover, each year one honoured country is invited.

On the opening day of the festival, a grand parade takes place along the Carrera Séptima (7th Avenue). Some theatre events are free to the public. These are usually performed in open public places such as Plaza de Bolívar, Parque el Tunal, Parque Nacional and other parks around Bogotá. The main theatres are open to the public during the festival; the list includes theaters such as Teatro Colon, Teatro Colsubsidio, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, La Castellana, Nacional de la 71, Libre de Chapinero, William Shakespeare, Gimnasio Moderno, Leonardus and La Casa del Teatro Nacional.

Music festivals

Music Festivals are presented in parks. These "Al parque" festivals present different kind of performances including rock, hip hop, jazz, opera, ranchera and classical music. Venues for these activities are: Simon Bolivar park, Tunal park, Media Torta square, Olaya park, Renacimiento park, National Park among others.

These activities are performed in open air and mainly, they are for free. The most important ones are: Rock al parque in October, Opera al parque in August, Jazz al parque in September, Hip hop al parque in November. There are also one Ranchera al parque and a Colombian Music Festival. The performancers are both renowned and new groups, bands or soloists. These activities are promoted by "Ministerio de Cultura", or the Ministry of Culture, through the division of "Instituto Distrital de Cultura y Turismo."

Bogotá's Half-Marathon

The biggest sport event is the international half marathon. Every year, between June and August, the Bogotá Mayor´s office organizes a massive running competition with more than 200 million pesos in prizes , where both native and foreigners can compete. And everyone can see the race just in front of them because this race is done in the streets of the city. To make it possible, the Bogotá Mayor's office and other sponsoring firms are in charge of hiring adecuate amount of people to organize and cover the whole event to make audience feel comfortable.

The total route is about 21 km. It begins on "Plaza de Bolivar" and crosses the center of the city ending in "Simon Bolivar Park". Every participant has his or her own runner kit that includes a handbook, a uniform with his/her respective number, water, etc. Moreover, every participant that arrives to the finish line receives a medal.

The registration process is supervised by the Mayor´s office and by the National Police that also cooperates with the security. People can register by buying the registration form or by asking for information on-line, and it must be done five months before the race. The registration can be both individual or in groups. The registration cost is between COP $12,000 and $14,000. This event has an official hotel for foreigners: The International Tequendama Hotel.

Ciclovia

Every Sunday and holiday the main streets of Bogotá are blocked off for traffic and used as Cycleway (Ciclovia). From 7 am to 2 pm, walkers and bicyclists take over the streets. At the same time, stages are set up in city parks. Aerobics instructors, yoga teachers and musicans lead people through various performances.

Also, some Sundays in December, a night Ciclovia is organized. This is done to give Bogotá's citizens a chance to explore the Christmas decoration in the main streets, and is done from 7 pm to midnight.

La Candelaria

La Candelaria is an amazing neighborhood, a great number of cultural events in Bogotá take place there. It is considered the cultural and historical center of the city.

It is located on the east of the Plaza de Bolivar. An interesting site to visit there is the Chorro de Quevedo. The Chorro de Quevedo is a charming small square surrounded of picturesque bars and an old Spanish style chapel. Bogotá was originally funded in this neighborhood by the Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada in 1538.

Walking through La Candelaria, you can admire its houses which have big well-decorated balconies, red tile roofs and black big iron door knobs. They also have metal and wooden doors and windows. This is the only neighborhood in Bogotá whose streets have names and several of its routes have cobblestone streets.

La Candelaria has several universities, libraries, museums, theaters, galleries, cathedrals and churches to visit. Moreover, the principal government buildings of Colombia are in this neighborhood. For instance, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Universidad de La Salle, Universidad del Rosario, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango, Casa de la Moneda, Museo Militar, Museo de Arte Colonial, Museo de Trajes Regionales de Colombia, Teatro Colón, Catedral Primada de Bogotá, Iglesia de San Ignacio and Palacio de San Carlos.

Transportation

Bogotá is a modern city with a modern transportation system. It includes airlines, buses, taxis, the Transmilenio, and even a train that serves as transportation for the outskirts of the city.

Buses are the main means of mass transportation. There are two bus systems: traditional system and "Transmilenio". The traditional system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several enterprises , and operating on normal streets and avenues:

• bus, large buses.
• buseta, smaller buses.
• microbus or colectivo, vans.

The buses are divided in two categories: "ejecutivo", which is supposed to be a deluxe service and is not supposed to carry passengers outside their seats, and "corriente" or normal service. Bus fares range from COP 1000 to 1200 (as of May 2005).

Transmilenio is a system of modern articulated buses that operate on exclusive roads and smaller buses (feeders) that operate in residential areas bus stops bringing passengers to the main system. Transmilenio's main routes are: Caracas Avenue, 80th Street, Avenue of the Americas, Northern Highway (Autopista Norte), Jimenez Avenue and the 30th Avenue (also refered to as Norte Quito Sur or N.Q.S. for short). The routes of Suba Avenue and the southern leg of 30th Avenue route are expected to be complete in 2006. The third phase of the system will cover the 7th Avenue, the 10th Avenue and the 26th Street (or Avenida El Dorado). The system is expected to cover the entire city by 2016.

In addition, Bogotá has different types of taxis. Yellow taxis (cars) are much more common. People often use them in order to go faster despite their higher fees. Bogotá also has white taxis, used mostly for hotels and El Dorado airport services.

Bogota's principal airport is El Dorado International Airport, it operates different national airlines (Avianca, Aerorepública, West Caribbean, Intercontinental and Satena), and international airlines (such as Iberia, American Airlines, Varig, Copa, Continental, Delta, Air Canada, Taca)

Many people take the turistic train with their family for fun, especially on Sundays. On weekends, the train runs from Bogotá to Zipaquirá and Nemocón, towns near to Bogotá.

Goods and Services

Bogotá is the hub of Colombian business. It has a busy banking and insurance sector and a Stock Exchange. Engineering firms provide services for many regions of Colombia and Central America. Bogota houses central governmental institutions and military headquarters. It carries the weight of telecommunications and has the biggest industrial facilities in the country.

Some services are public and others are private. The public services are, for example, energy, sewer and phones. Energy and sewer bills are stratified based on the location of one's residence. Thus, the wealthier sections of society help subsidize the energy bills of the poorer sections of society. Telephone service is provided by both "Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Bogotá" (ETB), a city-owned company, "Capitel", owned by Colombia Telecomunicaciones and "EPMBogotá", owned by the Medellín public services' company (Empresas Públicas de Medellín - EPM) . Coin or card-operated payphones are also available, along with cell phone providers. There are (as of May 2005) three main operators of wireless phones: Movistar (owned by Spanish firm Telefónica), Comcel (owned by Telmex) and Ola (co-owned by ETB and EPM).

Parks

Bogotá has one of the largest urban parks of the world, the Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park, center of a recreational area that includes the Botanical Gardens of Bogotá, the headquarters of Coldeportes (the national sports authority), and the recently finished Virgilio Barco Library.

There are many parks in Bogotá and most of them have facilities for concerts, plays, movies, storytellers and other activities. "El Tunal" park, for instance, is a big park which is regularly used to stage free concerts (such as the annual Rock al Parque, a free festival in which new and popular latin rock bands play for free). The park is also frequented in the month of August and used for kite flying, a national tradition.

Another public park is The National Park, which is one of the biggest in Bogotá. The park has many trees and green spaces, as well as ponds, games for children, many foot and bicycle paths, and venues for entertainment such as public screenings of movies and concerts and events organized by the Council of Bogotá. It is located between two main streets, the Circunvalar Avenue and the 7th Avenue.

The Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico) is a private park. It has greenhouses where plants from all Colombian climates are exhibited. The park has a waterfall and labs for studying plants and flowers. It also has public services such as a library and a tourist information desk.

There are many other parks around the city of Bogotá. Each neighborhood has its own park. Some of these parks are private and others are public. Some private parks demand that people from the neighborhood have a card to be able to get into the park. Public parks are for everybody. Some of them have watchmen. These parks also have sporting venues, which provide sports programs for children and adults, such as volleyball, basketball, taekwondo, football, and other sports.

The most active park (in both leisure activity, promotion of high-end products and nightlife) is the "Parque de la 93" located between the 93rd and 93Ath street, between Carreras 12th and 13th. Several of the top restaurants and bars in the city are located in this park or in the "Zona T" (T-zone) in the 82nd street. Recently, restaurant activity has begun in the "Zona G" (69th and 70th Streets, in the Los Rosales zone) and La Macarena.

Bogotá has not only natural parks but also amusement parks like Mundo Aventura and Salitre Mágico Park. There is a special rate to get into these parks and people have to buy tickets to be able to play mechanical games. Mundo Aventura park has mechanical games such as skycoaster, roller coaster, hammer, and other adult amusements. For children there are some mechanical games like little roller coaster, carousel, turtles, and so on. In this park, people can find both amusements and nature, with animals such as goats for children to feed. Besides, there is a "Cerdodromo", which is a place where pigs make races.

The other amusement park is "Salitre Mágico", which is one of the entertainment centers for children and adults. The are many mechanical games like pirate ship, apocalypse, 3 roller coasters and other games. The park is next to the Simón Bolívar park, which is a well known place in Bogotá (used also for concerts through the year).

For relaxing and finding peace from the stress of city life, the Parque del Chicó, with trees, gardens, artificial creeks and ponds, and a colonial style house converted into a museum, is worth a visit.

Near the city, to the north, the Jaime Duque park offers a cultural encounter for visiting families. It has rides, a giant Colombia map, exhibitions and a zoo. A big hand holding the world symbolizes God, and an actual-size reproduction of the Taj Mahal provides a picture collection with reproductions of famous paintings. However, its attendance has declined, and the park now is more famous for its raves and parties with renowned DJ's.

See also

• Bogota's Carnival
• Bogota's Bike Paths Network

External links

Travel guide to Bogotá from Wikitravel

• Alcaldia de Bogotá - Official web site for the City of Bogotá (Spanish)
• http://www.bogota-dc.com/
• Museo del Oro (The Gold Museum)
• Bogotá from the air - On-line book with aerial photographs of Bogotá (Spanish)
• Museos de Bogotá - On-line book with a description of every major museum in the capital of Colombia. (Spanish)
• El Tiempo - Online edition of one of the main newspapers in Bogotá (Spanish)
• El Espectador - Online edition of one of the main newspapers in Bogotá (Spanish)
• Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería (Spanish) - Home Page of Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería
• Los Andes University (Spanish) - Home Page of Universidad de los Andes
• Pontifical Xaverian University - Home Page of Universidad Javeriana(Spanish)
• National University of Colombia (Spanish)
• Havard Gazette Archives Article about Antanas Mockus' many inspired strategies to change Bogotá (English)
• Bogotá's Urban Development Institute (Spanish) - Includes maps and satellite pictures in the "Servidor de Mapas"
• BogoWiki - A wiki project about Bogotáar:بوغوتا

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