The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca department of

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. A right tributary of the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the western limits of

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

. The large population and major industrial base in its watershed have resulted in extremely severe pollution problems for the river.

Etymology

The Bogotá River is named after Muyquytá, which is derived from

Chibcha The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lan ...

and means "(Enclosure) outside of the farm fields".Etymology Bacatá
– Banco de la República In historical texts, and today the upstream part of, the Bogotá River is also called Funza River.A orillas del Río
– El Tiempo

Course

Main tributaries of the Bogotá River are the Teusacá, Torca, Juan Amarillo, Fucha, Tunjuelo,

Soacha , image_map = Colombia - Cundinamarca - Soacha.svg , map_caption = Location of Soacha in Cundinamarca , pushpin_map = Colombia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_nam ...

(left) and Neusa, Río Frío, Bojacá and Subachoque Rivers (right). The headwaters of the Bogotá River are in the municipality of

Villapinzón Villapinzón is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is situated at an elevation of on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. ...

, in the northeastern part of Cundinamarca near the limits with Boyacá. It has a course of about as it crosses the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is situated in the Eastern Range ...

, passing through

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tocancipá to the east; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south; and Subachoque and Pacho ...

and eleven small municipalities, before reaching the city of Bogotá. As it runs along the western border of the city, the river forms the outlet for the heavily polluted Salitre, Fucha and Tunjuelito Rivers. After passing through the municipality of

, the Bogotá River plunges off the savanna at the

Tequendama Falls The Tequendama Falls () is a high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. Established in approximately 10,000 BCE, El Abra and Tequendama were the first permanent settlements in Colombia. ...

. It then follows a steep course, falling about in , to join the

at Girardot.

Temperature

The temperature average ranges from .

Gallery

File:Bogota River Zipaquira.JPG, Bogotá River close to Zipaquirá File:RioBogotaBriceño.JPG, Bogotá River in Briceño File:Río Bogotá a su paso por Engativá.JPG, Bogotá River in Engativá File:Río Bogotá Tequendama.JPG, Bogotá River close to

Tequendama Tequendama is a preceramic and ceramic archaeological site located southeast of Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia, a couple of kilometers east of Tequendama Falls. It consists of multiple evidences of late Pleistocene to middle Holocene populati ...

File:Salto del Tequendama, Colombia.jpg,

in the Bogotá River

References

External links

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Sistema Hídrico, Bogotá
*
Hidrografía Río Bogotá
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogota River Rivers of Colombia Geography of Bogotá Geography of Cundinamarca Department Rivers