Wikipedia

Cundinamarca Department

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

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 Department
Departamento de Cundinamarca
Department
Flag of Cundinamarca Department
Flag
Coat of arms of Cundinamarca Department
Coat of arms
Motto(s): 
Cundinamarca Corazón de Colombia
(Spanish: Cundinamarca, Heart of Colombia)
Anthem: Himno de Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca is shown in red
Cundinamarca is shown in red
Topography of the department
Topography of the department
Coordinates: 5°00′00″N 74°10′00″W / 5°N 74.16667°W / 5; -74.16667
Country Colombia
RegionAndean Region
EstablishedJune 15, 1857
CapitalBogotá
Government
 • GovernorJorge Emilio Rey Ángel
(2024-2027)
Area
[1][2]
 • Total22,623 km2 (8,735 sq mi)
 • Rank17th
Elevation
3,341 m (10,961 ft)
Population
 (2020)[3]
 • Total3,242,999
 • Rank4th
 • Density140/km2 (370/sq mi)
GDP
[4]
 • TotalCOP 91,946 billion
(US$ 21.6 billion)
Time zoneUTC-05
ISO 3166 codeCO-CUN
Provinces15
HDI0.765[5]
high · 9th of 33
WebsiteOfficial website

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.

Entity Population (2023E)[6] Area (km2) Area (square miles) Density (per km2) GDP (billion US$)
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

Etymology

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The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kuntur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechuan and means "condor's nest".[7][8][9]

Geography

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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

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Historical population
YearPop.±%
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

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Municipal population position

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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

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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

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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

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Sports

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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

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References

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  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 November 13, 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  4. ^ "Producto Interno Bruto por departamento", www.dane.gov.co
  5. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  6. ^ https://www.citypopulation.de/en/colombia/cities/
  7. ^ Diccionario de la Lengua Española. http://dle.rae.es/?id=OMLt42i%7COMn573a Consulta el 24-05-2015.
  8. ^ Diccionario de la Lengua Española. http://dle.rae.es/?id=OT28kUW Consulta el 24-05-2015.
  9. ^ 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. Retrieved 18 April 2012.
  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. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
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