Tausa () is a municipality and town 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 ...

in the

Ubaté Province Ubaté Province is one of the 15 provinces in the Cundinamarca Department, Colombia. Etymology The name Ubaté comes from the native name "Ebate" meaning "Bloodied land" or "Sower of the mouth". Subdivision The Ubaté Province is subdivid ...

, part of the

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Cundinamarca. Tausa is and was an important town on the

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alti ...

due to its

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

. It was the third most prolific salt deposit for the original inhabitants of the area; the

Muisca 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 langu ...

. Tausa's urban centre is located at an elevation of (other parts of the municipality reach elevations of ) and a distance of from the capital

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 municipality borders San Cayetano,

Carmen de Carupa Carmen de Carupa is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality, located in the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense borders San Cayetano in the ...

and

Sutatausa Sutatausa () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. The municipality is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from ...

in the north,

Pacho Pacho is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Pacho is part of the Rionegro Province and the urban centre is situated at a distance of from the capital Bogotá at an altitude of , while the altitude ranges from ...

in the west, Sutatausa,

Cucunubá Cucunubá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. It borders with the municipalities of Ubaté, Lenguazaque, Suesca, Chocontá, Tausa and Sutatausa. Geography The urban centre ...

and

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of the Bogotá savanna and i ...

in the east and in the south with

Nemocón Nemocón is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Nemocón, famous for its salt mine, was an important village in the Muisca Confederation, the country in the central Colomb ...

and

Cogua Cogua () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. It is situated on northern part of the Bogotá savanna with the urban centre at an altitude of at from the capital Bogotá. Cogua borders Tausa in the north, ...

.Official website Tausa
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Etymology

The name Tausa comes 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 langu ...

and means "tribute".Espejo Olaya, 1999, p.1124

History

Tausa was inhabited since the

Herrera Period The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the Andean preceramic and ceramic, time equivalent of the North American pre-Columbian formative and classic stages and age dated by various archaeologists. The Herrera Per ...

. The town was an important mining location of

halite Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, p ...

for the

. The ''

zipa 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 n ...

'' of

Bacatá Bacatá is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referring to the modern settlement of Fu ...

ruled over Tausa. The mining activities can be seen in the seal of the village; the pick and spade. Modern Tausa was founded on August 2, 1600.

Economy

Main sources of income of Tausa are

agriculture 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 people to ...

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

farming and

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

mining.

References

Bibliography

* {{Muisca navbox, Topics Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1600 1600 establishments in the Spanish Empire Muisca Confederation Muysccubun

Etymology

History

Economy

See also

References

Bibliography