Cundinamarca Department
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| Department of Colombia | |||||
| |||||
| Motto: Es tiempo de crecer (Spanish: : It is Time to grow) | |||||
| Anthem: Himno de Cundinamarca | |||||
| Cundinamarca shown in red, its capital Bogotá shown in green. | |||||
| Established | June 15, 1857 | ||||
| Region | Andean Region | ||||
| Capital | Bogotá | ||||
| Number of Provinces | 15 | ||||
| Number of Municipalities | 116 | ||||
| Governor - Governor's Political Party | Pablo Ardila Sierra Colombian Liberal Party | ||||
| Area Total - Land - Water (% of total) | Ranked 17 24,210 km² km² km² (%) | ||||
| Population - Total (2005) - Density | Ranked 4 2,228,478[1] 92.04/km² | ||||
| ISO_Code | CO-CUN | ||||
| Government's Website: www.cundinamarca.gov.co | |||||
Cundinamarca is a department of Colombia, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".
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[edit] Origin of the name
The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua, used in pre-Colombian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands, meaning Condor's Nest.
[edit] Geography
Most of Cundinamarca is on the Eastern Cordillera (Cordillera Oriental), just south of Boyacá, bordered by the Magdalena River on the west, reaching down into the Orinoco River basin on the east, and bordering on Tolima to the south. The capital district of Bogotá is nearly completely surrounded by Cundinamarca territory, and indeed was formed by carving up Cundinamarca; between this and other divisions, the present department of Cundinamarca is much smaller than the original state.
The capital of Cundinamarca is Bogotá. This is a special case among Colombian departments, since Bogotá is not legally a part of Cundinamarca, yet it is the only department that has its capital designated by the Constitution (meaning that if the capital was to be ever moved, it would take a constitutional reform to do so, instead of a simple ordinance passed by the Cundinamarca Assembly). Also, in censuses, the populations for Bogotá and Cundinamarca are tabulated separately; otherwise, Cundinamarca's population would total 9.5 million.
| Entity | Population | Area (km²) | Density |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cundinamarca (excluding D.C.) | 2,349,578 | 22,623 | 104 |
| Bogotá D.C. | 7,117,984 | 1,587 | 4,485 |
| Cundinamarca plus Bogotá | 9,467,562 | 24,210 | 391 |
[edit] Provinces
Cundinamarca has 15 provinces and the Capital District of Bogotá (Bogotá D.C.), which simultaneously acts as capital of the Republic, capital of the Department and a District (or Department) in itself.
- Almeidas
- Upper Magdalena (Alto Magdalena)
- Lower Magdalena (Bajo Magdalena)
- Gualivá
- Guavio
- Central Magdalena (Magdalena Centro)
- Medina
- Eastern (Oriente)
- Rionegro
- Central Savanna (Sabana Centro)
- Western Savanna (Sabana Occidente)
- Soacha
- Sumapaz
- Tequendama
- Ubaté
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.dane.gov.co/files/censo2005/regiones/cundinamarca/cundinamarca.pdf Population Statistics by DANE
[edit] External links
- Cundinamarca travel guide from Wikitravel
[edit] See also
Departments of Colombia | |||||||
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de:Cundinamarca es:Cundinamarca eo:Kundinamarko eu:Cundinamarca fr:Cundinamarca gl:Cundinamarca, Colombia id:Departemen Cundinamarca it:Cundinamarca lt:Kundinamarkos departamentas nl:Cundinamarca no:Cundinamarca pl:Cundinamarca pt:Cundinamarca sv:Cundinamarca
