Department of Boyacá

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Department of Boyacá
Departamento de Boyacá

Department of Colombia


Flag of the Department of Boyacá	Coat of arms of the Department of Boyacá

Motto: Boyacá, Duty of Everyone
(Spanish: Boyacá, Deber de todos)

The Department of Boyacá in Colombia

Established

1858

Region

Andean Region

Capital

Tunja

Number of Municipalities

123

Governor
- Governor's Political Party

Jorge Eduardo Londoño
Colombian Liberal Party

Area
Total
- Land
- Water (% of total)

Ranked 20
23,189 km²
km²
km² (%)

Population
- Total (2005)
- Density

Ranked 13
1,211,186^[1]
61/km²

ISO_Code

CO-BOY

Government's Website:
www.boyaca.gov.co

Boyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".

Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end of the department extends to the Magdalena River at the town of Puerto Boyacá. Boyacá borders to the north with the Department of Santander, to the northeast with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Norte de Santander Department, to the east with the Departments of Arauca and Casanare. to the South, Boyacá borders with the Department of Cundinamarca and to the west with the Department of Antioquia covering a total area of 23,102 km² (8,880 sq mi). The capital of Boyacá is the city of Tunja.

Boyacá is known as "The Land of Freedom" because this region was the scene of a series of battles which led to Colombia's independence from Spain. The first one took place on July 20, 1810 in the Pantano de Vargas and the final and decisive battle known as the Battle of Boyacá was fought on August 7, 1819 at Puente de Boyacá.

Boyacá is home to three universities: the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia (UPTC), the Universidad de Boyacá (UNIBOYACA), and the Universidad Santo Tomás.

[edit] Origin of the name

The word Boyacá' derived from the chibchan word "Bojaca" which means "near the Cacique" or "Region of the Royal Mantle"

[edit] History

Pass of El Libertador Simon Bolivar over the Pisba Tableland.

The territory of present day Boyaca was during the Pre Columbian time a domain of the Muiscas indigenous peoples. The Muiscas under the chiefdom of El Zaque of Hunza lived of agriculture and mining mainly.

The first European to discover the area was Spanish Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada who conquered and distributed the land in encomiendas and forced the indigenous peoples to work for him.

In 1539, Gonzalo Suárez Rendón a Spanish colonist founded the village of Tunja and others on sites where the indigenous previously had their villages. The village of Tunja became one of the main political and economic centers for the Spanish during the Viceroyalty of New Granada.

During the 19th Century Boyaca was battleground for numerous confrontations between the Spanish Royalist and Simon Bolivar's Army during the Spanish colonies War of Independence from Spain. Two of the most decisive battles were the Battle of Boyacá and the Vargas Swamp Battle (1819) won by the Patriots against the Spanish Royalists.

After the creation of the Granadine Confederation by 1858 the territory of now Boyaca became the Sovereign State of Boyacá. It was later rearranged in territory and administration and renamed as "Department of Boyaca" after a series of civil wars like the Colombian Civil War (1860-1862) and the Thousand Days War that struggled over a centralist or federalist system and political instability that changed to many constitutions (such as the Constitution of 1886), Boyaca finally acquired its current definition as territory.

[edit] Geography

Páramo of Rabanal, Boyacá.

Satellite view of Lake Tota. Aquitania is the town on the right-hand side of the lake.

Boyacá is located in the Andean Region in cetral Colombia, over the Cordillera Oriental mountain range and covers a total area of 23.189 km². Borders to the north with the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander, with which it holds a territorial dispute, to the east with the departments of Arauca and Casanare, to the south with the departments of Meta and Cundinamarca and to the west with the departments of Cundinamarca holding another territorial dispute and Antioquia.

The department of Boyaca covers a small portion of the Middle Magdalena valley of the Magdalena River to the west, the Cordillera Oriental mountain range with altitudes of 5,380 m over sea level (Sierra Nevada del Cocuy with 25 snow peaks), flat highlands plateau and another small portion of territory by the eastern Llanos plains. Among its most prominent geographical accidents are the Range of the Zorro, Serrania de las Quinchas and the Andean plateaus of Rusia, Guantiva, Pisba, Chontales and Rechiniga.

The tableland of Boyaca shared with the department of Cundinamarca is called the Cundiboyasense tableland (Spanish: Meseta Cundiboyasense), densely populated with numerous valleys in comparison with the Bogota Savanna which also lays over the Cundiboyasense tableland.

Many rivers are born in this area being the most important the Chicamocha River and Arauca River and contributors to other important rivers such as the Magdalena and Meta.

Boyacá also has numerous lakes which include Lake Tota, Lake Sochagota, Lake Fúquene which is shared with the department of Cundinamarca, the Chivor Reservoir and others.

Most of these areas are covered by El Cocuy and Pisba National Parks, this last one shared with the department of Arauca. It also has the flora and fauna sanctuary Iguaque Sanctuary.

[edit] Climate

The central area of the tableland has a precipitation regime of two rainy seasons; the first one between April and June, and a second one between October and November with an average of 1,000 km³ of rainfall per year. The rest of the year there are no precipitations and are considered dry seasons with intermittent precipitations. The area over the Cordillera Central mountain range with an average of 2,500 km³ a year.

[edit] Provinces and Municipalities

See also: List of municipalities in Boyacá and Municipalities of Colombia

Tunja, Capital of the Department of Boyacá

There are 13 provinces and two special district in Boyacá Department. Listed here with their 123 municipalities. The department also has 123 corregimientos, 185 police inspectorates and numerous towns and small villages spread in its territory.

Municipalities are also grouped into 45 notary circuits with 53 notaries public. One circuit main registry based in the capital of the department; Tunja and 13 other minor registries spread across the territory.