City South America
Bogotá
Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia. It sits high up in the Andes Mountains. Green mountains rise right behind the city.
Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia, built on a high plain in the Andes, 2,625 meters above sea level. Founded by the Spanish in 1538 on land of the Muisca people, it is home to about 8 million people (2024) and a famous museum of ancient gold.
Bogotá, founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada near the Muisca seat of Bacatá, became capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada and then of independent Colombia. Set at 2,625 m in the Cordillera Oriental, it had about 8.0 million people in 2024, in 20 localities.
Photo: Andrew Hyde, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Discover Bogotá
Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia, in South America.
It is very high up, in the Andes Mountains. Two tall mountains stand behind it. Millions of people live there, and the air is cool all year.
Bogotá is the capital and largest city of Colombia. It lies in the middle of the country, on a high, flat plain in the Andes Mountains, 2,625 meters above sea level. About 8 million people lived there in 2024.
The city spreads across a sloping plain at the foot of two mountains, Guadalupe and Monserrate. Streets are laid out in a grid with many squares, and old colonial buildings stand beside modern apartment towers. Bogotá is divided into 20 areas called localities, each with its own mayor.
Bogotá lies in central Colombia in a fertile upland basin, the Sabana de Bogotá, 2,625 m above sea level in the Cordillera Oriental of the northern Andes; Britannica explains that the savanna is a high plateau formed by sediments deposited in former lake basins. The city occupies a sloping plain at the base of the Guadalupe and Monserrate mountains and is laid out on a grid with numerous plazas, its main square the Plaza de Bolívar in the historic district. About 8.0 million people lived there in 2024; the 2018 census counted 7,387,400.
The capital is divided into 20 localities, each with its own mayor and local board. It houses the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government: the presidential residence, the Casa de Nariño, stands in the historic center, and Congress and the Supreme Court meet on the Plaza de Bolívar. More than one-third of Colombians live in the six largest metropolitan areas, of which Bogotá is the largest.
- Country
- Colombia (capital)
- People (2024)
- about 8.0 million
- Height above sea level
- about 2,625 m
- Localities
- 20, each with its own mayor
Famous places
The Gold Museum is full of shining gold objects made long ago.
A cable car climbs up the mountain called Monserrate. From the top, you can see the whole city. The big main square is called the Plaza de Bolívar.
Bogotá's Gold Museum holds the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold objects, made by the many peoples who lived in Colombia before the Spanish arrived. The Botero Museum shows hundreds of works by the Colombian artist Fernando Botero.
The Plaza de Bolívar is the main square, surrounded by government buildings and the cathedral. Above the city rises Monserrate, 3,172 meters high, with a church at the top; visitors hike up or take a cable car for the view. About 32 kilometers west, the Tequendama Falls drop 157 meters.
The Museum of Gold (Museo del Oro) holds, in Britannica's words, the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold objects from all of Colombia's major pre-Hispanic cultures. Nearby is the Iglesia de San Francisco, one of the city's oldest churches, founded in 1550 and on its present site since 1557. The Museo Botero shows hundreds of works by Fernando Botero and pieces from his own collection, including works by Monet, Picasso, Matisse and Klimt.
The Plaza de Bolívar is ringed by principal public buildings and the Metropolitan Cathedral, the Catedral Primada de Colombia; the Casa de Nariño stands nearby. Cerro de Monserrate rises to 3,172 m, with a sanctuary on its summit reached on foot or by cable car, and Guadalupe, also crowned by a church, stands beside it. Tequendama Falls, 157 m high, lie about 32 km west of the city.
- Gold Museum
- world's largest collection of pre-Columbian gold objects
- Monserrate
- 3,172 m high; cable car to the top
- Plaza de Bolívar
- the main square
- Tequendama Falls
- 157 m high, about 32 km west
From Bacatá to capital
Long ago, the Muisca people lived on this high plain.
Then Spanish soldiers arrived and started a town. The town grew into a city. Later, Colombia became free from Spain, and Bogotá became its capital.
Long before the Spanish came, the high plain was home to the Muisca, also called the Chibcha, who were farmers. Their main town was Bacatá. In 1538 the Spanish leader Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada conquered it and founded a settlement called Santa Fé de Bacatá, a name that soon became Bogotá.
Bogotá became the capital of a large Spanish colony called New Granada. In 1810 its people rose up against Spanish rule, and in 1819 Simón Bolívar took the city after the Battle of Boyacá. Since independence, Bogotá has been the capital of the country that became Colombia.
The high plateau of the Cordillera Oriental held the main concentration of Chibcha-speaking peoples (the Muisca), settled farmers whom Britannica describes as able to offer only small resistance to the Spanish. In 1538 Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada conquered Bacatá, their main seat, and named the settlement Santa Fé de Bacatá, after his birthplace in Spain and the Indigenous name; the city celebrates August 6, 1538, as its founding. The audiencia of 1549 opened the colonial era, and Bogotá became capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada.
Its citizens revolted against Spanish rule in 1810–11 but faced loyalists until 1819, when Simón Bolívar took the city after the Battle of Boyacá. In 1821 Bogotá became capital of Gran Colombia (present Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama and Colombia), and after its breakup in 1830 of New Granada, later the Republic of Colombia. Political struggle and isolation slowed growth in the 19th century. In April 1948 riots known as the bogotazo badly damaged the city, and unrest continued until a settlement between the Liberal and Conservative parties in 1958.
Getting around Bogotá
In Bogotá, long buses zoom along their own lanes.
On Sundays, many big roads close to cars. Families bike, skate and walk on them. A cable car goes up the mountain.
Bogotá's TransMilenio is a bus system with its own lanes and stations, a bit like a train that runs on roads. On December 18, 2000, its first 14 buses carried 18,618 people.
Every Sunday and holiday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Ciclovía closes about 141 kilometers of main roads to cars, so people can cycle, skate, run and walk. Bogotá is also the hub of air travel in Colombia and the home of Avianca, the first commercial airline in South America. Highways and railways link it with the rest of the country.
TransMilenio, the city's bus rapid transit system, began on December 18, 2000, when its first 14 articulated buses carried 18,618 people. On Sundays and public holidays, from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., the Ciclovía turns a circuit of main roads, 141.46 km in mid-2026, into a car-free space for cycling and recreation that the city calls its great linear park.
Britannica notes Bogotá's role as the hub of Colombian air travel and the home of Avianca (Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia), the first commercial airline in South America. Railroads connect the city with the Caribbean coast and, via Puerto Berrío, with the Pacific, and it lies on the Colombian sections of the Pan-American and Simón Bolívar highways. A stock exchange was founded in 1928, and the main banks are based here.
- TransMilenio buses began
- December 18, 2000
- Ciclovía (2026)
- 141.46 km of car-free roads on Sundays and holidays
- Airline
- home of Avianca, South America's first commercial airline
Weather and seasons
Bogotá is close to the equator, but it is high up in the mountains.
So the weather is cool, like spring, almost all year. It rains or drizzles on many days. A jacket is a good idea!
Bogotá is only about 500 kilometers north of the equator, so you might expect it to be hot. But in the mountains, the higher you go, the cooler it gets: about 0.6 °C cooler for every 100 meters. At 2,625 meters, Bogotá's average temperature is only about 14 °C, all year round.
Colombians call this kind of high, cool land tierra fría, the cold land. It rains or drizzles on about 223 days a year, but the total rainfall is only about 1,000 millimeters, because many of those days bring just a little rain.
Britannica explains that in Colombia's mountains temperature falls uniformly with height, by about 0.6 °C per 100 m, and that people recognize temperature zones (pisos térmicos): tierra caliente up to about 900 m, tierra templada from about 900 to 2,000 m, and tierra fría from 2,000 to 3,000 m. Bogotá, at 2,625 m, lies in the tierra fría; its average temperature is about 14 °C, and it has about 223 days with precipitation a year, though the total is scarcely 1,000 mm.
Most Colombians live in the interior cordilleras in the tierra templada and tierra fría, where temperatures are moderate. The plateau's fertile soils, laid down in former lake basins, made it the favored home of the Muisca before the Spanish conquest.
- Average temperature
- about 14 °C
- Days with rain or drizzle
- about 223 a year
- Rain in a year
- about 1,000 mm
Living in Bogotá
Bogotá is a busy, lively city.
People love soccer and cheer for their teams. Families go to museums, parks and the Sunday Ciclovía. Many people ride bikes.
Bogotá has been Colombia's cultural center since colonial times. It has old universities, such as the University of Santo Tomás (1580) and the Xavier Pontifical University (1622), plus the National Museum, the National Library, a planetarium and the Columbus Theater.
Soccer is the favorite sport. The city's teams include Millonarios and Independiente Santa Fe, and big matches are played at El Campín stadium, which holds nearly 40,000 people. Many families spend Sunday mornings on the Ciclovía, cycling or walking on roads closed to cars.
Britannica calls Bogotá the nation's cultural center since colonial times, with most cultural institutions in the metropolitan area: universities including Santo Tomás (1580) and the Xavier Pontifical University (1622), the Botanical Institute, the National Conservatory of Music, the National Museum, the National Astronomical Observatory, the National Library, the Columbus Theater, a planetarium and a natural history museum. Its chief economic activities are commercial, alongside tire, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
Football dominates sport: Millonarios, Independiente Santa Fe and La Equidad play in the city, and El Campín seats nearly 40,000. Bicycle racing also has a long national following, culminating in the Tour of Colombia. Colombia's population is largely mestizo, with substantial minorities of European and African ancestry, and the country is often described as strongly Roman Catholic.
Bogotá on the map
Find Bogotá on the globe.
It is in Colombia, in the north of South America. It is close to the equator. It sits high in the mountains.
Bogotá is in the middle of Colombia, in northwestern South America, only about 4.6 degrees north of the equator. It sits on a high plain in the eastern range of the Andes, called the Cordillera Oriental.
The mountains Monserrate and Guadalupe rise at the edge of the city, and the plain spreads out below them. Colombia has coasts on both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, but Bogotá is far inland, high above both.
Bogotá lies at about 4.6° N and 74.1° W, in central Colombia, on the high plateau of the Cordillera Oriental, the easternmost of the three Andean ranges that fan out north of Ecuador. The plateau, the Sabana de Bogotá, formed from sediments in former lakes.
The city climbs the base of Monserrate (3,172 m) and Guadalupe and spreads across the sloping plain below; Tequendama Falls lie about 32 km west. Colombia's Caribbean coast stretches about 1,600 km and its Pacific coast about 1,300 km, and railroads and highways link the inland capital with both.
- Latitude
- about 4.6° north
- Longitude
- about 74.1° west
- Mountain range
- Cordillera Oriental of the Andes
- Tequendama Falls
- about 32 km west
Amazing facts
-
Bogotá is cool all year, even though it is near the equator.
Bogotá is close to the equator, but because it is 2,625 meters high, its average temperature is only about 14 °C.
At 2,625 m in the tierra fría, Bogotá averages about 14 °C despite lying only about 4.6° north of the equator; temperatures drop about 0.6 °C per 100 m of ascent.
-
South America's first airline started in Colombia.
Bogotá is home to Avianca, the first commercial airline in South America.
Avianca (Aerovías Nacionales de Colombia), based in Bogotá, was the first commercial airline in South America.
-
On Sundays, Bogotá turns big roads into a giant playground.
The Ciclovía closes about 141 kilometers of roads to cars on Sundays and holidays.
The Ciclovía's 141.46 km circuit (mid-2026) runs on Sundays and holidays from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
-
On its first day, TransMilenio had just 14 buses.
On December 18, 2000, TransMilenio's first 14 buses carried 18,618 people.
TransMilenio began on December 18, 2000, with 14 articulated buses that moved 18,618 people on the first day.
-
Bogotá's birthday is August 6.
Bogotá celebrates its birthday every August 6, remembering its founding in 1538.
Bogotá's founding is officially dated August 6, 1538; the legal founding followed on April 27, 1539, and August 6 became a city holiday only in 1920.
Words to know
- capital
- the city where a country's government meets
- plateau
- a large, high, flat area of land
- altitude
- how high a place is above sea level
- equator
- the imaginary line around the middle of Earth, halfway between the poles
- pre-Columbian
- from the Americas before Europeans arrived in 1492
- cable car
- a cabin pulled by a cable that carries people up steep slopes
- bus rapid transit
- a bus system with its own lanes and stations so buses move quickly, like a train
Discovery challenge
-
Is Bogotá high up in the mountains or down by the sea?
Where is Bogotá built?
Bogotá lies on the Sabana de Bogotá. What kind of landform is that?
- On a high plain in the Andes
- On a beach by the sea
- In a desert valley
Show the answer
On a high plain in the Andes
High in the Andes Mountains, 2,625 meters up!
On a high plain in the Andes, 2,625 meters above sea level.
A high plateau in the Cordillera Oriental, formed from sediments in former lake basins, at 2,625 m.
-
Why is Bogotá cool even though it is near the equator?
Why is Bogotá's average temperature only about 14 °C, though it is near the equator?
What makes Bogotá's climate tierra fría despite its latitude of about 4.6° N?
- It is very high up
- It is next to the ocean
- It is near the North Pole
Show the answer
It is very high up
It is very high up, and high places are cooler.
Its height. In Colombia's mountains, it gets about 0.6 °C cooler for every 100 meters you climb.
Elevation: temperatures fall about 0.6 °C per 100 m, and Bogotá, at 2,625 m, lies in the 2,000–3,000 m tierra fría.
-
What shiny treasures fill a famous Bogotá museum?
Bogotá's most famous museum holds the world's largest collection of what?
The Museo del Oro holds the world's largest collection of which objects?
- Ancient gold objects
- Dinosaur bones
- Space rockets
Show the answer
Ancient gold objects
Gold! It was made long, long ago.
Gold objects made before the Spanish arrived, by the many peoples of ancient Colombia.
Pre-Columbian gold objects from all of Colombia's major pre-Hispanic cultures.
-
What happens to big roads in Bogotá on Sundays?
What is the Ciclovía?
What does the Ciclovía do each Sunday and holiday from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.?
- Roads close to cars so people can bike and walk
- Roads fill with car races
- Roads are flooded for boats
Show the answer
Roads close to cars so people can bike and walk
They close to cars! People bike, skate and walk.
About 141 kilometers of roads close to cars so people can cycle, skate, run and walk.
It turns a 141.46 km circuit of main roads into a car-free linear park.
-
When did the Spanish start the city of Bogotá?
In which year was Bogotá founded?
In which year did Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada found the settlement at Bacatá?
- 1538
- 1819
- 2000
Show the answer
1538
1538! That is almost 500 years ago.
1538. In 1819 Bolívar took the city, and in 2000 TransMilenio began.
1538; the city celebrates August 6 as its founding day.
Nearby places
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Amazon River
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Natural wonder
Angel Falls
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Natural wonder
Mount Roraima
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Natural wonder
Amazon rainforest
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Landmark
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Natural wonder
Lake Titicaca
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Explore next
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Country
Colombia
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Natural wonder
Andes
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Life around the world
Cable car commute in La Paz, Bolivia
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City
Mexico City
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Buenos Aires
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City
Concepción
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City
Curitiba
Curitiba is the capital of the state of Paraná, in southern Brazil, about 930 meters above the sea. About 1.8 million people live there (2025). The city is famous around the world for its bus rapid transit, begun in 1974, and for the lakes, flood-control systems and parks it built from the 1970s.
For parents & teachers
What children will learn
- Locate Bogotá on a high plain in the Andes of central Colombia, near the equator.
- Explain why a city near the equator can be cool all year.
- Describe Bogotá's history from the Muisca and the Spanish founding to independence.
- Describe how a bus rapid transit system and car-free Sundays help a big city.
Recommended ages: 3 to 17 · About 15 minutes
Talk about it
- Bogotá is near the equator but cool. What other things change as you go higher up a mountain?
- On Sundays Bogotá closes roads to cars. What would you do if your street became car-free for a day?
- The Gold Museum keeps objects made by people long ago. Why is it important to save these objects?
Try at home or in class
- Draw a mountain and label the tierra caliente, tierra templada and tierra fría zones with their heights, then mark where Bogotá sits.
- Plan a car-free Sunday route on a map of your neighborhood: where would people walk, bike and play?
Key vocabulary: capital, plateau, altitude, equator, pre-Columbian, cable car, bus rapid transit
Where these facts come from
- Wikidata , Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)
- Natural Earth vector data , Natural Earth (NACIS) (Public domain)
- Bogotá , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Colombia: Climate , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Colombia (introduction and Land) , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Colombia: Sports and recreation; history before the conquest , Encyclopaedia Britannica
- ¡Son 25 años movilizando a la ciudadanía! TransMilenio está de cumpleaños , Alcaldía de Bogotá (bogota.gov.co)
- Planes en la Ciclovía de Bogotá, domingo 7 y lunes 8 de junio de 2026 , Alcaldía de Bogotá (bogota.gov.co)
- Cumpleaños de Bogotá en 2026 y significado de los colores de su bandera , Alcaldía de Bogotá (bogota.gov.co)
- Bogotá (historico Alcaldía) , Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá
- Wikimedia Commons , Wikimedia Foundation (Per file (public domain, CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA); see each media record)
Checked, not yet human-reviewed. Last updated October 27, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.