Bogotá savanna
| Bogotá savanna | |
| Plateau | |
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The Bogotá savanna near the city of Bogotá
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| Country |  Colombia |
|---|---|
| State | Cundinamarca |
| Part of | Altiplano Cundiboyacense |
| Cities | Bogotá, Soacha, Chía, Cota |
| River | Bogotá |
| Capital | Bogotá |
| Geology | Cenozoic-Holocene |
| Orogeny | Eastern Ranges, Andes |
| Timezone | Colombia Standard Time (UTC-5) |
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Topography and outline of the Bogotá savanna
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The Bogotá savanna is a high plateau located in the center of Colombia in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. It is the southern part of a larger plateau called Altiplano Cundiboyacense that rises to an average altitude of 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) above sea level.
This plateau is crossed from north to south by the Bogotá River, which at the southwestern edge of the plateau forms the Tequendama Falls (Salto del Tequendama). Other rivers, tributaries of the Bogotá river, form smaller valleys with very fertile soils dedicated to agriculture and cattle-breeding.
Contents
History
At the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors the region was inhabited by the Muisca people who lived in hundreds of villages scattered across the plateau. These villages were individually ruled by chiefs (caciques) who at the same time paid tribute to the Zipa, as they called their king. Once the Muisca rulers were defeated, the Spaniards engaged in the construction of Spanish-style towns to replace all the indigenous villages and to force the Indians to live like the Spaniards. The majority of those villages kept their indigenous names, but some were slightly modified in time, like Suacha which became Soacha, Hyntiba becoming Fontibón and Bacatá becoming Bogotá.
Cities
The main cities of the Bogotá savanna, in addition to the capital city of Bogotá, are: Mosquera, Soacha, Madrid, Funza, Facatativá, Subachoque, El Rosal, Tabio, Tenjo, Cota, Chía, Cajicá, Zipaquirá, Nemocón, Sopó, Tocancipá, Gachancipá, Sesquilé, La Calera, Chocontá and Guatavita.[1]
Climate
The average temperature of the plateau is 14 °C, but this can fluctuate between 0 °C and 24 °C. The dry and rainy seasons alternate frequently during the year. The dry months are December, January, February and March. During the rainy months the temperature tends to be more stable with variations between 9 °C and 20 °C. June, July and August are the months that present the largest variations of temperature, and during the morning frost is regular, which has a negative impact on agriculture. Hail or ice storms are also common.
There is a system of swamps (humedales) that regulate the soil moisture acting like sponges for the rain waters. The most important wetlands are: La Conejera, El Burro, Jaboque, Santa María del Lago, Tibabuyes, Córdoba and Guaymaral.
See also
References
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