Región Andina Actualizado: Apr 5, 2023 Datos DANE

Department of Boyacá

Boyacá is a department full of history about Colombia, located in the center of the country and with beautiful landscapes to enjoy.

The department of Boyacá is located in the Andean region, in the center of the country, its capital is the city of Tunja.

It borders to the north with Santander and Norte de Santander, to the east with Venezuela, Arauca and Casanare, to the south with Cundinamarca and to the west with Caldas and Antioquia.

Its astronomical position is between 5°17′ and 7°08′ north latitude, and 69°50′ and 73°43′ west longitude.

Boyacá is known for its history, as it was a protagonist in the colonial era, where battles were fought that ultimately led to Colombia's independence.

It was called by the liberator Simón Bolívar «Cradle and Workshop of Freedom».

In honor of the department of Boyacá, the Order of Boyacá was created in 1819.

Its name, Boyacá, has its origin in the Muisca word «Boiaca», which means «Region of the Royal Manta» or «Cacique's Enclosure».

It has a surface area of 23,189 km² and although it is not one of the largest departments in Colombia, it has played a very important role in the country's history.

duitama - department of boyaca

IMPORTANT DATA

CAPITAL

TUNJA

INHABITANTS

1’281,979

DEMONYM

BOYACENSE

SURFACE AREA

23,189 km²

GOVERNOR

Carlos Andrés Amaya Rodríguez

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

www.boyaca.gov.co

Map of the Department of Boyacá

Next, the municipalities of Boyacá located on the map:

map of the department of boyacá colombia

Map by: Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA

PROVINCES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BOYACÁ

The department of Boyacá has 13 provinces, a special management zone and a border district with Venezuela, which are:

Centro
Gutierréz
La Libertad
Lengupá
Márquez
Neira
Norte
Occidente
Oriente
Ricaurte
Sugamuxi
Tundama
Valderrama
Zona de Manejo Especial
Distrito Fronterizo

MUNICIPALITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BOYACÁ

The department of Boyacá has 123 municipalities listed below in their respective province:

Centro

Cómbita
Cucaita
Chíquiza
Chivatá
Motavita
Oicatá
Samacá
Siachoque
Sora
Soracá
Sotaquirá
Toca
Tunja
Tuta
Ventaquemada

Gutiérrez

Chiscas
El Cocuy
El Espino
Guacamayas
Güicán
Panqueba

La Libertad

Labranzagrande
Pajarito
Paya
Pisba

Lengupá

Berbeo
Campohermoso
Miraflores
Paéz
San Eduardo
Zetaquira

Márquez

Boyacá
Ciénega
Jenesano
Nuevo Colón
Ramiriquí
Rondón
Tibaná
Turmequé
Úmbita
Viracachá

Neira

Chinavita
Garagoa
Macanal
Pachavita
San Luis de Gaceno
Santa María

Norte

Boavita
Covarachía
La Uvita
San Mateo
Sativanorte
Sativasur
Soatá
Susacón
Tipacoque

Occidente

Briceño
Buenavista
Caldas
Chiquinquirá
Coper
La Victoria
Maripí
Muzo
Otanche
Pauna
Quípama
Saboyá
San Miguel de Sema
San Pablo de Borbur
Tununguá

Oriente

Almeidar
Chivor
Guateque
Guayatá
La Capilla
Somondoco
Sutatenza
Tenza

Ricaurte

Arcabuco
Chitaraque
Gachantivá
Moniquirá
Ráquira
Sáchica
San José de Pare
Santana
Santa Sofía
Sutamarchán
Tinjacá
Togüí
Villa de Leyva

Sugamuxi

Aquitania
Belencito
Cuítiva
Firavitoba
Gámeza
Iza
Mongua
Monguí
Nobsa
Pesca
Sogamoso
Tibasosa
Tópaga
Tota

Tundama

Belén
Busbanzá
Cerinza
Corrales
Duitama
Floresta
Paipa
Santa Rosa de Viterbo
Tutazá

Valderrama

Betéitiva
Chita
Jericó
Paz de Río
Socha
Socotá
Tasco

Zona de Manejo Especial

Puerto Boyacá

Distrito Fronterizo

Cubará

HISTORY

During the pre-Hispanic period, it was inhabited by indigenous people belonging to the Chibcha, Muisca, Caribe, Pijaos, Sutagaos, etc. families.

The main explorers of the area were Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, Sebástián de Belálcazar, and Nicólas de Federmán, who arrived in the area in the 16th century.

In the independence, the department and its people were protagonists and scenarios of battles such as the one on August 7, 1819, at the Puente de Boyacá.

RELIEF

This area of the country is crossed from south to north by the Eastern Cordillera, where the Cordillera del Zorro, the Serranía de los Quinchas, the Cerros Fura, Tena, Leiva, among others, and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy are located.

It is also important to highlight the Cañón del Chicamocha, the páramos Rusia, Guantiva, Chotales, Rechíniga, and Pisga.

HYDROGRAPHY

The department, in terms of water sources, is bathed by the Magdalena, Suárez, Chicamocha, Moniquirá, Minero, Gámeza, Pantanogrande, Teatinos, Mueche, Upía, Batá or Garagoa, Cusiana, Cravo, Sur, Pisba, Tocará, Casanare, Arauca, and other rivers.

The department also has important lakes and lagoons such as Tota, Socha, La Verde, Encantada, San Pedro de Iguaque, among others, as well as the Sochagota, Chivor, etc. reservoirs.

CLIMATE

It is a department with varied climate, typical of altitude or thermal floors, with an average temperature that oscillates between 30°C and 10°C.

ECONOMY

The quality of the department’s soil in terms of organic matter is very fertile, the cultivation of food products is good, the main productions are potatoes, cassava, bananas, wheat, corn, sugarcane, and coffee.

The mining production of emeralds, coquizable cement, steel, iron is also important, although it has decreased due to the closure of the Siderúrgica Paz del Río.

Livestock is another important sector of the department's economy, represented by cattle for milk, sheep, horses, and poultry.

Tourism is another important sector of the department's economy, with historical, cultural, and ecological sites.

NATURAL RESERVES

There are three natural reserves in the department:

Parque Nacional Natural El Cocuy
Parque Nacional Natural Pisba (with 45,000 hectares)
Santuario de Fauna y Flora de Iguaque (with land between 2,400 and 3,800 meters above sea level).

ANTHEM

Lyrics: Pedro Medina Avendaño

Music: Jorge Camargo Spolidore

CHORUS

Forward to the summit that guards
the memory of so many immortals,
sweet land that extends its arms
from the west to the solar pampa.

I
In its entrails, there are gardens of iron,
gold is in the blond alluvium,
the green emerald shines
in the gray fog of the socavón.

II
Its men have always been first
in good, in war, in peace,
there is no lack of a star in the sky
in the soul, there is always a song.

III
That one brings eternal harmony
with the numen of Floréz and Ortíz,
it is a torch that opposes death
high wall of endless dawn.

IV
Others come from the fertile classroom
animated by the creative genius,
to sculpt on the wall of time
the hope of a better world.