Bogotá

Capital of Colombia, and of Cundinamarca department, situated at 2,640 m/8,660 ft above sea level, on the edge of the Eastern Cordillera plateau of the Andes; population (1999 est) 6,260,900. Main industries include textiles, chemicals, food processing, and tobacco. Bogotá is Colombia's largest city, and the financial, commercial, and cultural centre of the country.

Bogotá was founded by the Spaniard Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada in 1538 on the site of the Chibcha Indian settlement of Bacatá, and orginally named ‘Santa Fé de Bogotá’. In 1598 Bogotá became the capital of the viceroyalty of New Granada, which became the Republic of Columbia in 1718.

The city was home to nationalist leader Simón Bolívar. The Museo del Oro (Gold Museum) has the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold objects, with a total of 30,000 exhibits. Educational institutions include the University of Santo Tomás (1580) and the Xavier Pontifical University (1622).