The first populations inhabiting Bogotá were the Muiscas, members of the Chibcha language family. At the arrival of the conquerors, the group is estimated to be half a million indigenous people. They occupied the highland and mild climate flanks between the Sumapaz mountains to the southwest and Cocuy's snowy peak to the northeast, covering an approximate area of 25,000 km², comprising Bogotá's high plain, the current Boyacá department portion and a small Santander region. Most fertile lands were ancient Pleistocene lake beds and regions irrigated by high Bogotá, Suárez, Chicamocha and some Meta affluent river beds.
In this area, the population was organized in two large federations, each commanded by a chief: the southwest area dominated by the Zipa with the center located in Bacatá, currently Bogotá. He was the strongest leader occupying two fifths of the territory. The northeast zone was the Zaque domain and the center was Hunza region, currently Tunja. Muisca population however, contrasting with Tairona population, did not develop large cities. Muisca, eminently farmers formed a disperse population occupying numerous small villages and hut settlements. Besides, some free isolated tribes also existed: Iraca or Sugamuxi, Tundama and Guanentá. Their inhabitants main occupation was agriculture complemented by hunting and fishing. They basically cultivated corn and potatoes, beans, squash, tomatoes, “cubios” yucca, tobacco, “arracacha”, sweet potatoes and diverse fruit and vegetables. In the mining field, salt and emeralds extraction was fundamental for their own use and to trade with other tribes from which they obtained gold and cotton.
Chía was Zipa’s territory ceremonial centre, a place destined to worship the Moon, while the Zaque’s ceremonial centre was Sogamoso, where the Sun temple was located. Apparently, major Muisca priests function was astronomic observation. Numerous archeological monuments in the form of stone columns witness the relation, such as «Cojines del Diablo» (Devil’s Cushions) two large discs carved high up in the rock within Tunja urban perimeter, which were probably moon observation sites. At Saquenzipa, a ceremonial centre near Villa de Leyva, some 25 large cylindrical columns aligned in the east-west direction stand: from this place, on summer solstice day the sun rises exactly over Iguaque lake from where Bachué goddess emerged as the legend tells.
Bochica, the civilizing God thought them manual arts, gave them moral standards and subsequently saved them from deluge and plains flooding by breaking the rock and letting the water flow to form Tequendama falls. Chia goddess was the moon, Zuhé the sun. They worshiped other astral gods. For Muiscas, lakes were sacred places where they had their ceremonies. Their most important myths and legends mention Guatavita, Siecha, Tota, Fúquene and Iguaque lakes, where gold and ceramic gifts have been found. They also worshipped the dead, nobles and chiefs whom were mummified and buried with all their belongings.
From 1533 belief persisted in the sense that Río Grande de la Magdalena was the trail to the South Sea, to Peru, legendary Dorado. Such was the target Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the Spaniard conqueror who left Santa Marta on April 6, 1536 with 500 soldiers heading towards the interior of current Colombia was set to reach. The expedition divided into two groups, one under Quesada command to move on land and the other commanded by Diego de Urbino would go up river in four brigantine ships to later on meet Quesada troops at the site named Tora de las Barrancas Bermejas. When they arrived they heard news about Indians inhabiting the south and making large salt cakes used to trade for wild cotton and fish. Jiménez decided to abandon the route to Peru and cross the mountain in search for «salt villages». They saw crops, trails, white salt cakes and then huts where they found corn, yucca and beans. From Tora the expedition went up the Opón river and found Indians covered with very fine painted cotton mats. When they arrived to Grita Valley, of the expedition leaving Santa Marta only 70 men were left.
Along their trip they took a large amount of gold and emeralds. In Hunza they captured the Zaque Quemuenchatocha and headed towards Sogamoso, where they plundered and set the Sun temple on fire obtaining immense prize.
On March 22, 1537 they arrived from the north crossing Nemocón and Zipaquirá «salt villages» to a place they named Valle de los Alcázarea (Valley of the Fortress). Already in Chibcha territory they found goods roads and moved southwest. In a few days only they crossed several villages, among them Lenguazaque and Suesca. They continued through Cajicá, Chía and Suba, the start of Bogotá Kingdom, where they fought Bogotá Chief Indians who tried to prevent them from entering their town, and saw Muequetá or Bacatá fenced ranch village, built on a swampy ravine, Tisquesusa Zipa capital on the right margin of the Tisquesusa river.
Following conquerors motto to found and to populate, Quesada decided to build an urban settlement to live in good order and under stable government. To the east on the foothills they found an Indian village named Teusaquillo near the Zipa’s recreation residence, supplied with water, wood and planting land and protected from winds by Monserrate and Guadalupe hills.
Although no document recording city foundation has been found, August 6, 1538 is accepted as foundation date. According to tradition, that day Priest Fray Domingo de las Casas said the first mass in a straw hut built near the current cathedral or near Santander park. It is said that the region was named New Kingdom of Granada that day and the village was named Santa Fe.
Alberto Urdaneta invited Spaniard Antonio Rodríguez to come to the country to manage the engraving school, which functioned from 1881 in Bogotá. Illustrated Newspaper (1881–1886) illustrators formed in that school. The newspaper was a publication founded and directed by Urdaneta. Work of Illustrated Newspaper cooperators is of great documentary value.
Although Bogotá did not enjoy substantial foreign immigrants flow, according to census taken during the Nineteenth century the population grew quite steadily: in 1832 the census recorded 36,465 inhabitants; in 1881, 84,723 inhabitants and by the end of the century nearly 100,000. Population growth from 1850 was partially due to Mid Century reforms, which expanded work sources. Bogotá offered work possibilities in the trade sector or different functions. Increase derived in physical city expansion towards the north creating new neighborhoods up to Chapinero village, five kilometers away from the city.
Following banana zone killing and conservative party division, Enrique Olaya Herrera took office in 1930. The liberal party reformed, during 16 years of the so called Liberal Republic, agricultural, social, political, labor, educational, economic and administrative sectors. Unionism strengthened and education coverage expanded. In 1938 the fourth centenary of Bogotá foundation which population had reached 333,312 inhabitants was celebrated.
The celebration produced a large number of infrastructure works, new construction and work sources. Following 1946 liberal party division, a conservative candidate took presidential office again in 1948, after the killing of liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Bogotá's downtown was virtually destroyed as violence reigned. From that date Bogotá's urban, architectural and population sectors were substantially reorganized.
The rainiest months are April, May, September, October and November, in which typical days are mostly overcast, with low clouds and some winds, bringing maximum temperatures of 18 °C and lows of 7 °C (45 °F). June and July are usually rainy periods and August is sunny with high winds. Hailstorms are very common during the rainy season, and can be very strong, especially in October. Days are mild or cool and nights can get moderately cold due to the city having mild winds in the night all year round. While temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year, weather conditions can change dramatically during the course of a single day. Climatic conditions are irregular and variable due to the El Niño and La Niña climatic phenomena which occur in and around the Pacific basin and are responsible for pronounced climatic changes. This makes the city's weather unpredictable; sunny mornings can turn out into a severe-storm afternoon (something commonly referred as "Sol de Lluvia" (literally, "Rainy Sun").
Bogotá has 20 localities, or districts, forming an extensive network of neighborhoods. Areas of higher economic status tend to be located to the north and north-east, close to the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. Poorer neighborhoods are located to the south and south-east, many of them squatter areas. The middle classes usually inhabit the central, western and north-western sections of the city.
The urban layout in the center of the city is based on the focal point of a square or plaza, typical of Spanish-founded settlements, but the layout gradually becomes more modern in outlying neighborhoods. The current types of roads are classified as calles (streets), which run perpendicular to the Cordillera, with street numbers increasing towards the north, and also towards the south (with the suffix "Sur") from Calle 0. Carreras run parallel to the hills, with numbering increasing as one travels east or west of Carrera 1 (with the suffix "Este" for roads east of Carrera 0). At the south-east of the city, the addresses are logically sur-este. Other types of roads more common in newer parts of the city may be termed "Eje" (Axis), "Diagonal" or "Transversal". The numbering system for street addresses recently changed, and numbers are assigned according to street rank from main avenues to smaller avenues and local streets. Some of Bogotá's main roads, which also go by a proper name in addition to a number, are:
99.5% of households have electricity service, while 98.7% have water service and 87.9% have telephone service. However, 32.6% of citizens were in poverty (living on less than US$2 a day) in 2005.
In Bogotá, as in the rest of the country, the acceleration of the urbanization process is not only due to industrialization, since there are complex political and social reasons such as poverty and violence which led to migration from rural to urban areas throughout the twentieth century and beyond. This has led to an exponential growth of population in urban areas and belts of misery in their surroundings. A dramatic example of this is the number of displaced people who have arrived in Bogotá. According to the Consultancy for Human Rights, Codhes, in the period 1999–2005 more than 260,000 people arrived in Bogotá as a result of displacement, about 3.8% of the total population of Bogotá.
The majority of the displaced population lives in the Ciudad Bolívar, Kennedy, Usme, and Bosa sections.
The racial composition of the city's population includes people of Mestizo origin (those of mixed Amerindian and European descent), in addition to Europeans, mostly Spaniards (including Basque descendants), Italians, French, Germans, and other European ethnic groups. It has a very large Middle Eastern population, made up mostly of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. The Afro-Colombian population in Bogotá is smaller than cities along the coast such as Cartagena, where Colombians of African descent have historically resided.
Bogotá is the main economic and industrial center of Colombia. In 2008 the city ranked as the fourth most influential financial center of Latin America. In the period 2003–2006, its commercial GDP grew by 10.3% annually, accounting for 25.3% of GDP national trade. However, the unemployment rate reached 11.3% and a 31.6 percent underemployment. The city is one of the largest industrial centers in Latin America. Nationally, the import of capital goods has been spurred by the government, benefiting in particular the city of Bogotá which is involved in 24.4% of total domestic industry (2003). This is due in part to its geographical location, which makes the city a strategic point in terms of logistics, since transportation of goods to other parts of the country is relatively fast. This also facilitates the supply of raw materials for industry in the city, by its proximity to agricultural regions like the Eastern Plains. Several multinational companies have established their regional operations here during the last decades. However, the distance from the ports reduces the competitive advantages for exporting industrial products. Thus services (including telecommunications and trade) are gaining share versus industry.
In 2005, consumer goods led industrial production, followed by intermediate and capital goods. Of the 248,000 companies available to Bogotá, 78% are linked to service activities, contributing to 76% employment and 79% of GDP. The highest concentrations of industrial establishments are in Puente Aranda, Fontibón, Kennedy, Los Mártires, and Barrios Unidos Engativá (in that order). Important business include the food industries, chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, publishing and metalworking. Also in 2005, the town with the highest labor productivity was Tunjuelito, followed by Teusaquillo and Chapinero.
Bogotá is a major tourist destination, an industry which has seen positive growth at the national level in recent years. Another industry that has grown is construction, contributing directly to reactivate economic activity in the capital.
The main international trading partner in Bogotá in 2003 was the United States, followed by the European Union. The city exports mainly agricultural products (30%), chemicals (10%) and textiles (7%), and imports transportation materials (17%), machinery except electrical (17%) and electrical machinery (14%).
In 2008, the World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) from the United Kingdom ranked Bogotá as a beta level city, one of their highest rankings. Beta level cities are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy.
Despite the bad reputation Colombia bore in the 1980s and early 1990s, tourism in Bogotá has increased since the 2000s due to aggressive publicity campaigns and improvements in both infrastructure and safety. In 2007 the Instituto Distrital de Turismo (District Institute of Tourism) was created with the goal of making Bogotá a sustainable tourist destination.
In Bogotá, there is a wide variety of accommodation ranging from backpacker lodges and five star hotels. The hotels in the historical center of La Candelaria and its surrounding areas cater to lovers of culture and the arts. The hotels located near Ciudad Salitre are intended for visitors who make short stops in Bogotá or need proximity to El Dorado International Airport. The hotels located in the north of the city mainly cater to business visitors, or those travelers seeking shopping or pleasure.
Important landmarks and tourist stops in Bogotá include the botanical garden José Celestino Mutis, La Quinta de Bolivar, the national observatory, the planetarium, Maloka, the Colpatria observation point, the observation point of La Calera, the monument of the American flags, and La Candelaria (the historical district of the city). There is also Usaquen, a colonial landmark where brunch and flea market on Sundays is a traditional activity. The city has numerous green parks and amusement parks like Salitre Magico or Mundo Aventura.
There are also several areas of the city where fine restaurants can be found. The G Zone, the T Zone and La Macarena are well known for their gastronomic offerings. Most recognized restaurants are Criterion, Leo Cocina y Cava, Nazca, and En Obra.
Since the 2000s huge hotel chains have been arriving to the city giving one of the most exclusive hotel services around the world. Some of the most important hotel chains that have arrived to Bogotá are: Marriott, Radisson, JW Marriott, Hilton, NH Hoteles, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, among others.
Bogotá's growth has placed a strain on its roads and highways, but within the past decade significant efforts to upgrade the infrastructure have been undertaken. Private car ownership, despite being under 27%, forms a major part of the congestion, in addition to taxis, buses and commercial vehicles. Buses remain the main means of mass transit. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the TransMilenio. The traditional system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues: Bus (large buses), Buseta (medium size buses) and Colectivo (vans or minivans). The bigger buses were divided into two categories: Ejecutivo, which was originally to be a deluxe service and was not to carry standing passengers, and corriente or normal service. Since May 2008, all buses run as corriente services. Bogotá is a hub for domestic and international bus routes. The Bogotá terminal serves routes to most cities and towns in Colombia and is the largest in the country. There is international service to Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela.
The TransMilenio rapid transit system, created during Enrique Peñalosa's mayoral term, is a form of bus rapid transit that has been deployed as a measure to compensate for the lack of a subway or rail system. TransMilenio combines articulated buses that operate on dedicated bus roads (busways) and smaller buses (feeders) that operate in residential areas, bringing passengers to the main grid. TransMilenio's main routes are: Caracas Avenue, Northern Highway (Autopista Norte), 80th Street, Americas Avenue, Jiménez Avenue, and 30th Avenue (also referred to as Norte Quito Sur or N.Q.S. for short). Routes for Suba Avenue and Southern Highway (Autopista Sur), the southern leg of the 30th Avenue, were opened in April 2006. The third phase of the system will cover 7th Avenue, 10th Avenue, and 26th Street (or Avenida El Dorado). The system is planned to cover the entire city by 2030. Although the Transmilenio carries commuters to numerous corners of the city, it is more expensive than any public transport except taxis, and fares increase with petroleum fuel prices. As of 2011 the price of a ticket was C$1700 (about US$0.85); however, a single ticket allows unlimited transfers until the passenger leaves the system, and passengers travel on feeder routes for free. Transmilenio does not yet cover some main routes, and buses are overcrowded.
Despite the city's chronic congestion, many of the ideas enacted during the Peñalosa years are regarded worldwide to be cost-effective, efficient and unique solutions. In addition to TransMilenio, the Peñalosa administration and voter-approved referenda helped to establish travel restrictions on cars with certain licence plate numbers during peak hours called Pico y placa; "Car Free Days" on Sundays; a massive system of bicycle paths and segregated lanes called ciclorrutas; and the removal of thousands of parking spots in an attempt to make roads more pedestrian-friendly. Ciclorrutas is one of the most extensive dedicated bike path networks of any city in the world, with a total extension of 303 km. It extends from the north of the city, 170th Street, to the south, 27th Street, and from Monserrate on the east to the Bogotá River on the west. The ciclorruta was started by the 1995–1998 Antanas Mockus administration, and considerably extended during the administration of Mayor Peñalosa. Since the construction of the ciclorruta bicycle use in the city has increased.
Often known as the Athens of South America, Bogotá has an extensive educational system of both primary and secondary schools and colleges. Due to the constant migration of people into the nation's capital, the availability of quotas for access to education offered by the State free of charge is often insufficient. The city also has a diverse system of colleges and private schools.
There are a number of universities, both public and private. In 2002, there were a total of 106 higher education institutions; in Bogotá there are several universities, most partially or fully accredited by the NAC (National Accreditation Council): University of the Andes, Colombia. National University of Colombia, District University of Bogotá, La Sabana University, Pontifical Xavierian University, Our Lady of the Rosary University, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Military University Nueva Granada, Sergio Arboleda University, Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Catholic University of Colombia Santo Tomás de Aquino University and La Salle University.
The city has a University City at the National University of Colombia campus located in the traditional sector Teusaquillo. It is the largest campus in Colombia and one of the largest in Latin America. The town of La Candelaria is home to the largest concentration of private universities in Latin America.
In Colombia, the primary and secondary schools educational system goes from pre-kindergarten to eleventh grade, that being the high school senior year. Education in Colombia is not obligatory as in other countries, but the government has implemented a promotional campaign nationwide to influence families with low economic levels to get their children enrolled in school.
Bogotá has many cultural venues including 58 museums, 62 art galleries, 33 library networks, 45 stage theatres, 75 sports and attraction parks, and over 150 national monuments. Many of these are renowned globally such as:
Bogotá has worked heavily in recent years to position itself as leader in cultural offerings in South America, and it is increasingly being recognized worldwide as a hub in the region for the development of the arts. In 2007 Bogotá was awarded the title of Cultural Capital of Ibero-America by the UCCI (Union of Capital Cities in Ibero-America), and it became the only city to have received the recognition twice, after being awarded for the first time in 1991.
The urban morphology and typology of colonial buildings in Bogotá have been maintained since the late nineteenth century, long after the independence of Colombia (1810). This persistence of the colonial setting is still visible, particularly in La Candelaria, the historical center of Bogotá. Also kept up are the colonial houses of two stories, with courtyards, gabled roofs, ceramic tiles and balconies. In some cases, these balconies were filled with glass during the Republican period, a distinguishing feature of the architecture of the sector (for example, the House of Rafael Pombo).
"Republican Architecture" was the style that prevailed between 1830 and 1930. Although there were attempts to consolidate a modern architectural language, the only examples seen are University City and White City at the National University of Colombia (constructed 1936 to 1939). This work was developed by German architect James Daly, although architects of rationalist trends participated in the design of campus buildings. We also see in Bogotan architecture trends such as art deco, expressionism and organic architecture. This last trend was typified by Bogotan architects in the second half of the twentieth century such as Rogelio Salmona.
In 2006 Bogotá won The Golden Lion Award at the Tenth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in recognition of "their efforts towards social inclusion, education, housing and public space, particularly through innovations in transportation."
Although renowned for its beautiful preservation of colonial architecture, there are also significant contemporary architecture examples found in the downtown and at the north of the city.
In 2014 BD Bacatá will be inaugurated, taking the place from Colpatria tower to become the tallest building of the city. The building its expected to be the beginning of the city's downtown renovation.
The city offers 58 museums and over 70 art galleries. The National Museum of Colombia has acquisitions divided into four collections: art, history, archeology and ethnography. The Gold Museum, with 35 thousand pieces of tumbaga gold, along with 30 thousand objects in ceramic, stone and textiles, represents the largest collection of pre-Columbian gold in the world.
The Botero Museum has 123 works of Fernando Botero and 87 works by international artists. The Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá has a collection of graphic arts, industrial design and photography. The Museum of Colonial Art is home to an important collection of colonial art from Colombia. Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño hosts activities related to the performing arts and shows temporary exhibits of art in its halls and galleries.
Among the scientific museums are the Archeological Museum – Casa del Marqués de San Jorge, which has about 30 thousand pieces of pre-Columbian art, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (UN), one of the four largest museums of natural sciences in Latin America, and the Geological Museum, which has a collection specializing in Geology and Paleontology.
Bogotá has historical museums like the Casa Museo Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, the Museum of Independence (Museo de la Independencia), the Quinta de Bolivar and the Casa Museo Francisco José de Caldas, as well as the headquarters of Maloka and the Children's Museum of Bogotá. New museums include the Art Deco and the Museum of Bogotá.
Besides the Ibero-American Theater Festival, the city has forty-five theaters; the principal ones are the Colon Theater, the National Theater with its two venues, the traditional TPB Hall, the Theater of La Candelaria, the Carmarin Theater of Carmen (over 400 years old, formerly a convent), the Colsubsidio, and a symbol of the city, the renovated Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (the highest capacity currently in South America), León de Greiff Auditorium (home of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra), and the Open Air Theater "La Media Torta", where musical events are also held.
Bogotá has its own film festival, the Bogotá Film Festival, and many theatres, showing both contemporary films and art cinema.
The main cultural center of the city is the La Candelaria, historic center of the city, with a concentration of universities and museums. In 2007 Bogotá was designated the Ibero-American cultural Capital of Iberoamerica.
The District Institute for Recreation and Sport promotes recreation, sports and use of the parks in Bogotá, a city where according to 1998 estimates only 10% of the people play sports, and only 0.7% do so regularly.
Football has been declared a symbol of Bogotá, and is widely played in the city. Colombian professional Football is popular. There are three professional clubs in the city, Millonarios, La Equidad, and Santa Fe. The nineteen titles won by two of these teams (Millonarios have 13 and Santa Fe have six) make Bogotá second only to Cali in number of championships won. The main football stadium is the Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campin (known as the Campin Stadium), which is the headquarters of the Colombia national Football team, where they won the Copa América in 2001.
Other major sporting venues are the covered Coliseum El Campin, the aquatic complex of Parque Simón Bolívar, the Sports Palace, and the El Salitre Sports venue which includes the Velódromo Luis Carlos Galán (which hosted the 1995 UCI Track Cycling World Championships) and Diamond El Salitre ballpark.
Bogotá hosted the first Bolivarian Games held in 1938. The city hosted the National Games in 2004, winning the championship. It was a sub-venue Bolivarian Pan American Games. In addition, the city on the route of the Tour of Colombia.
As in the rest of Colombia, the value of family unity is quite important in Bogotan society, which is especially prominent in religious celebrations and special times of the year.
Historically, the city has had a tradition of attachment to Roman Catholicism, although the 1991 Constitution has facilitated the presence of Protestant movements and other religious groups in the population.
Proof of this religious tradition is the number of churches built in the historic city center. The city has been seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá since March 22, 1564. The seat of the Archbishop is the Cathedral of Colombia; the archdiocese itself is located in new buildings in the north of the city.
The city has a Muslim mosque located in the area of Chapinero, the main Jewish synagogue located on 94th street, also called State of Israel avenue, an Orthodox church located in Chapinero, and the main Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located on the street North Highway 127. There are four Buddhist centers located in the north of the city, and there are Protestant churches in different parts of the city.