Samacá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian Department of Boyacá. It borders

Cucaita Cucaita is a municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of Boyacá Department, Colombia. The urban centre is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. Cucaita borders Sora in the north, T ...

Tunja Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...

and

Ventaquemada Ventaquemada is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Ventaquemada is located at a distance of from the capital Bogotá and from the departmental capital Tunja. The urban centre is ...

in the east, Ráquira in the west, Sáchica, Sora and Cucaita in the north and Ventaquemada, Ráquira and

Guachetá Guachetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Guachetá is located at from the capital Bogotá. It borders the Boyacá municipalities of Ráquira and Samacá in the north, Ubat ...

, Cundinamarca in the south.Official website Samacá
/ref>

Etymology

Samacá's original name came from the

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 ...

native language of the area. Samacá was a small village before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca. ''Sa'' is a noble title; ''Ma'' is a proper name; ''Cá'' means a sovereign enclosure.

History

Samacá began as a settlement of a large lagoon which was known by the native name of "Lake of Cansicá" or "Valley of the Lake" (''la laguna de Cansicá''). Around the lagoon were three native settlements called Patagüy, Foacá and Sáchica. Samacá was ruled by the ''

zaque When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

'' of nearby

Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...

and the modern town was founded on January 1, 1556 by

Juan de los Barrios Friar Juan de los Barrios y Toledo, OFM (1496 – February 12, 1569) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Santafé de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada, (1564–1569), ''(in Latin)'' Bishop of Santa Marta (15 ...

Economy

The most important activities are

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

, cattle, and mining. Samacá produces potatoes, peas, corn, and beet. Coal mining is the largest industry and most of the production of coal is exported. Samacá has a potential for growth; in the last decade the economy has risen tremendously. Samacá is open to international investment.

Born in Samacá

Pedro Saúl Morales Pedro Saúl Morales (1 October 1959 – 24 March 2021) was a Colombian racing cyclist. He rode in seven Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, ...

, former professional cyclist * Jorge Perry, Colombia's first olympic competitor

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaca Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1556 1556 establishments in the Spanish Empire