Cundinamarca Department

Department of Colombia

For the department from 1820, see Cundinamarca Department (1820). For the department from 1824, see Cundinamarca Department (1824).

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Department in Andean Region, Colombia

Cundinamarca Department

Departamento de Cundinamarca

Department

The Sumapaz Páramo

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto(s):

Cundinamarca Corazón de Colombia
(Spanish: Cundinamarca, Heart of Colombia)

Anthem: Himno de Cundinamarca

Cundinamarca is shown in red

Topography of the department

Coordinates: 5°0′N 74°9′W﻿ / ﻿5.000°N 74.150°W﻿ / 5.000; -74.150
Country|  Colombia
Region| Andean Region
Established| June 15, 1857
Capital| Bogotá
Government

• Governor| Jorge Emilio Rey Ángel
(2024-2027)
Area

[1][2]

• Total

| 22,623 km2 (8,735 sq mi)
• Rank| 17th
Elevation

| 3,341 m (10,961 ft)
Population

(2020)[3]

• Total

| 3,242,999
• Rank| 4th
• Density| 140/km2 (370/sq mi)
GDP

[4]

• Total| COP 91,946 billion
(US$ 21.6 billion)
Time zone| UTC-05
ISO 3166 code| CO-CUN
Provinces| 15
HDI| 0.765[5]
high · 9th of 33
Website| Official website

Department of Cundinamarca  (Departamento de Cundinamarca, Spanish pronunciation: [kundinaˈmaɾka]) is one of the departments of Colombia. Its area covers 22,623 square kilometres (8,735 sq mi) (not including the Capital District) and it has a population of 2,919,060 as of 2018. It was created on August 5, 1886, under the constitutional terms presented on the same year. Cundinamarca is located in the center of Colombia.

Cundinamarca's capital city is Bogotá, the capital of Colombia. This is a special case among Colombian departments, since Bogotá is not legally a part of Cundinamarca, yet it is the only department that has its capital designated by the Constitution (if the capital were to be ever moved, it would take a constitutional reform to do so, instead of a simple ordinance passed by the Cundinamarca Assembly). In censuses, the populations for Bogotá and Cundinamarca are tabulated separately; otherwise, Cundinamarca's population would total over 11 million.

## Etymology

[edit]

The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kuntur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechuan and means "condor's nest".[6][7][8]

## Geography

[edit]

Most of Cundinamarca is on the Eastern Cordillera (Cordillera Oriental), just south of Boyacá, bordered by the Magdalena River on the west, reaching down into the Orinoco River basin on the east, and bordering on Tolima to the south. The capital district of Bogotá is nearly completely surrounded by Cundinamarca territory and was formed by carving up Cundinamarca. Because of this and other border changes, the present department of Cundinamarca is much smaller than the original state.

## Demography and ethnography

[edit]

Entity | Population (2023E)[9] | Area (km2) | Area (square miles) | Density (per km2) | GDP (billion US$)

|
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Cundinamarca (without Bogotá) | 3,577,200 | 22,623 | 8,735 | 160 | 21.6
Bogotá | 7,968,100 | 1,587 | 613 | 4,909 | 83.9
Cundinamarca and Bogotá | 11,545,300 | 24,210 | 9,348 | 476 | 105.5
Historical populationYear| Pop.| ±%

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|

1973 | 1,125,642| —
1985 | 1,512,928| +34.4%
1993 | 1,875,337| +24.0%
2005 | 2,280,037| +21.6%
2018 | 2,919,060| +28.0%
Source:[10]

### Municipalities with over 50,000 inhabitants

[edit]

#### Municipal population position

[edit]

According to the latest census conducted in 2005, 2,280,037 people live in Cundinamarca, excluding 6,776,009 of the capital, Bogotá.

The city of Bogotá and the municipalities of Soacha, La Calera, Cota, Chía, Madrid, Funza, Mosquera, Fusagasugá, Facatativá and Zipaquirá form a single metropolitan area.

Rank | City or municipality  | Inhabitants

(1985)

| Inhabitants

(1993)

| Inhabitants

(2005)

| Inhabitants

(2015)*

| Inhabitants

(2020)*

|
|
|
|
|
|

1 | Soacha | 132,758 | 254,625 | 401,996 | 511,262 | 567,546
2 | Fusagasugá | 63,886 | 82,003 | 108,949 | 134,523 | 147,631
3 | Facatativá | 55,324 | 75,711 | 107,463 | 132,106 | 144,149
4 | Zipaquirá | 60,202 | 75,166 | 101,562 | 122,347 | 132,419
5 | Chía | 38,862 | 55,742 | 97,907 | 126,647 | 141,917
6 | Girardot | 81,019 | 90,904 | 97,889 | 105,085 | 107,796
7 | Mosquera | 16,505 | 22,250 | 63,237 | 82,750 | 93,461
8 | Madrid | 33,795 | 42,584 | 62,436 | 77,627 | 85,090
9 | Funza | 31,366 | 41,119 | 61,391 | 75,350 | 82,321
10 | Cajicá | 23,618 | 31,316 | 45,391 | 56,875 | 62,713
Source: DANE *projection[11]

#### Important cities

[edit]

Cundinamarca is made up of 116 municipalities, six of which recorded a population of over 100,000 and could be considered as cities: Soacha, Fusagasugá, Girardot, Facatativá, Zipaquirá and Chia, while Bogotá District is in the category of capital.

Chisaca Lake on the Sumapaz Paramo

* Metropolitan Area of Bogotá: Comprises the towns of Soacha, Facatativá, Chia, Madrid, Funza, and Mosquera, among others. Its activities are centered in the industrial sector. Estate activity is important especially in the suburbs closer to Bogotá: Chía, La Calera and Tocancipá.
* Girardot: In the far southwest and bordering Department of Tolima, is the capital of the Upper Magdalena Province. Its main economic activity is trade, as a result of a major tourist dynamics and its proximity to major agricultural areas of Tolima. It has a college and important trade fairs and events.
* Fusagasugá is located between Bogotá and Girardot, and it is an hour of each city. The capital city of the Province of Sumapaz, it is an important focus of agricultural marketing and regional services, standing out as an educational city with a large university and an increasing population trend. Its economy is mainly focused on trade and agricultural marketing, with a significant production of ornamental plants and flowers for export, for which it is known as the garden city of Colombia.
* Zipaquirá: Despite being part of the metropolitan area of Bogotá, it has managed to position itself as one of the most important centers of Colombia's salt mining industry. Its economy is focused on commerce and services.

Other major towns are Ubaté due to high livestock and dairy production. Guaduas, is an important cultural center. Chocontá and Fred are agricultural centers.

## Provinces

[edit]

Cundinamarca has 15 provinces and the Capital District (Bogotá), which simultaneously acts as capital of the Republic, capital of the Department and a separately administered District (or Department) in itself.

Subachoque valley in Western Savanna Province

1. Almeidas
2. Upper Magdalena (Alto Magdalena)
3. Lower Magdalena (Bajo Magdalena)
4. Gualivá
5. Guavio
6. Central Magdalena (Magdalena Centro)
7. Medina
8. Eastern (Oriente)
9. Rionegro
10. Central Savanna (Sabana Centro)
11. Western Savanna (Sabana Occidente)
12. Soacha
13. Sumapaz
14. Tequendama
15. Ubaté

## Tourism

[edit]

* Chingaza National Natural Park
* La Chorrera Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the world
* Cucunubá, wool capital of Colombia
* Lake Guatavita
* Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá
* Sumapaz Páramo
* Tequendama Falls
* Tominé Reservoir

## Sports

[edit]

The department is home to the basketball team Cóndores de Cundinamarca, which plays its home games in the Coliseo de la Luna in Chía.

## See also

[edit]

* Altiplano Cundiboyacense
* Postage stamps and postal history of Cundinamarca
* 1939 Gachetá massacre

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Departamento: Datos generales: Límites" (in Spanish). Gobernación del Cundinamarca. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
2. ^ Kline, Harvey F. (2012). "Cundinamarca, Department of". Historical Dictionary of Colombia. Scarecrow Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8108-7813-6.
3. ^ "DANE". Archived from the original on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
4. ^ "Producto Interno Bruto por departamento", www.dane.gov.co
5. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
6. ^ Diccionario de la Lengua Española. http://dle.rae.es/?id=OMLt42i|OMn573a Consulta el 24 May 2015.
7. ^ Diccionario de la Lengua Española. http://dle.rae.es/?id=OT28kUW Consulta el 24 May 2015.
8. ^ Acosta, Joaquín (1848). "Extensión y limites del territorio de los Chibchas ó Muíscas". Compendio Histórico-Descubrimiento y colonización de la Nueva Granada en el siglo décimo-sexto (in Spanish). Biblioteca Virtual de la Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango. Archived from the original on 27 December 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
9. ^ "Colombia: Departments & Major Cities - Population Statistics, Maps, Charts, Weather and Web Information".
10. ^ "Reloj de Población". DANE. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadísitica. Archived from the original on 16 January 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
11. ^ Projections 1985-2020. Bogotá: DANE. 12 May 2011. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2015.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cundinamarca Department.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Cundinamarca.

* "Gobernación de Cundinamarca" (in Spanish). Gobernación del Cundinamarca. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022.

* v
* t
* e

Departments of Colombia

Amazonas
Antioquia
Arauca
Atlántico
Bolívar
Boyacá

Caldas
Caquetá
Casanare
Cauca
Cesar
Chocó

Córdoba
Cundinamarca
Guainía
Guaviare
Huila
La Guajira

Magdalena
Meta
Nariño
N. Santander
Putumayo
Quindío

Risaralda
San Andrés
Santander
Sucre
Tolima
Valle del Cauca

Vaupés
Vichada

Capital district:
Bogotá

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Provinces and Municipalities in Cundinamarca Department

Almeidas Province|

* Chocontá
* Machetá
* Manta
* Sesquilé
* Suesca
* Tibiritá
* Villapinzón

Upper Magdalena Province|

* Agua de Dios
* Girardot
* Guataquí
* Jerusalén
* Nariño
* Nilo
* Ricaurte
* Tocaima

Lower Magdalena Province|

* Caparrapí
* Guaduas
* Puerto Salgar

Gualivá Province|

* Albán
* La Peña
* La Vega
* Nimaima
* Nocaima
* Quebradanegra
* San Francisco
* Sasaima
* Supatá
* Útica
* Vergara
* Villeta

Guavio Province|

* Gachalá
* Gachetá
* Gama
* Guasca
* Guatavita
* Junín
* La Calera
* Ubalá

Central Magdalena Province|

* Beltrán
* Bituima
* Chaguaní
* Guayabal de Síquima
* Pulí
* San Juan de Rioseco
* Vianí

Medina Province|

* Medina
* Paratebueno

Eastern Province|

* Cáqueza
* Chipaque
* Choachí
* Fómeque
* Fosca
* Guayabetal
* Gutiérrez
* Quetame
* Ubaque
* Une

Rionegro Province|

* El Peñón
* La Palma
* Pacho
* Paime
* San Cayetano
* Topaipí
* Villagómez
* Yacopí

Central Savanna Province|

* Cajicá
* Chía
* Cogua
* Cota
* Gachancipá
* Nemocón
* Sopó
* Tabio
* Tenjo
* Tocancipá
* Zipaquirá

Western Savanna Province|

* Bojacá
* El Rosal
* Facatativá
* Funza
* Madrid
* Mosquera
* Subachoque
* Zipacón

Soacha Province|

* Sibaté
* Soacha

Sumapaz Province|

* Arbeláez
* Cabrera
* Fusagasugá
* Granada
* Pandi
* Pasca
* San Bernardo
* Silvania
* Tibacuy
* Venecia

Tequendama Province|

* Anapoima
* Anolaima
* Apulo
* Cachipay
* El Colegio
* La Mesa
* Quipile
* San Antonio del Tequendama
* Tena
* Viotá

Ubaté Province|

* Carmen de Carupa
* Cucunubá
* Fúquene
* Guachetá
* Lenguazaque
* Simijaca
* Susa
* Sutatausa
* Tausa
* Ubaté

Metropolitan Area of Bogotá|

* Bogotá, Capital District

See also: List of municipalities in Cundinamarca

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany
* Czech Republic

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz area

Other|

* Yale LUX

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