Community

Why do people live in communities?

Municipality

Municipalities are territorial divisions that have a space and people who
inhabit it.

Currently, Colombia has 1,123 municipalities. Each municipality has a rural

and an urban area.

Characteristics:

● Having more than 14,000 inhabitants.

● Have their own resources for their development.

The Municipality of Bogotá

Located in the department of Cundinamarca, we find the capital of Colombia,

which has an administrative division of 20 localities or districts to offer citizens
networks of public services such as road infrastructure, entertainment and
product supply.

History and origins of Bogotá: what‘s behind its name

The Pre-Colombian Era

Before the arrival of the Spanish into the region, the Muisca people lived on the
plateau where modern-day Bogotá is located. This tribe settled in the
Cundiboyacense plateau, which comprises the departments of Cundinamarca and
Boyacá, and the southern region of what is now Santander. They were divided in five
Zybyn, or regions, and one of the most important was Bacatá, the capital of the
Zipa´s confederation. The Zipa was the leader, like a president for us. He governed
the five regions that made up the Zipazgo, which was basically the capital politic and
administrative division of the Muiscas territory. In Muiscas´s language, Bacatá
means “Lady of the Andes”.

Why Bogotá?

● 1538-1539

Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia and it was founded 480 years ago on August
the 6, 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, a prominent Spanish conqueror. But
before he arrived at this incredible land, there was a tribe that lived and cultivated
the green landscapes.

When Quesada established the city in 1538, he used the name Nuestra Señora de
la Esperanza, but in 1539, it was changed to Santafé. Later, people started to call
it Santafé de Bogotá to differentiate it from other cities that had the name Santafe
too. They used it because of the indigenous region called Bacatá that was there
before, then the name mutated to Bocotá and finally to Bogotá.

● 1819
The Spanish didn´t fully accept the name legally; it wasn’t until Bogota´s
independence in 1819 when the name officially became “Santa Fé de Bogotá”.
● 1991

With the 1991 Constitution, the Special District became a Capital District.

● 2000

But in 2000, the constitution was modified to take off the part that said Santa Fé,
leaving just the name Bogotá and the city finally returned to its origin, to its roots,
and became the “Lady of the Andes,” or the “Lady of the mountains that shine.” This
is what Bogotá means, a city full of opportunities.