The Tunjuelo or Tunjuelito River is a river on 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 ...

and a left tributary of the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the western limits of Bogotá. The ...

. The river, with a length of originates in the

Sumapaz Páramo Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: ''Páramo de Sumapaz'' - meaning "Utterly peaceful moorland" ) is a large páramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It was de ...

and flows northward through the Usme Synclinal to enter the

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 ...

n 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 ...

. There, the river is mostly canalised flowing westward into the Bogotá River. It is one of the three main rivers of the city, together with the Fucha and

Juan Amarillo River The Juan Amarillo, Arzobispo, or Salitre River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River in Colombia. The river originates from various ''quebradas'' in the Eastern Hills and flows into the Bogotá River at the ...

Etymology

The names Tunjuelo and Tunjuelito ("little Tunjuelo") are derived from the Cerro de los Tunjos, also Los Tunjos Lake, named after the ''

tunjo A ''tunjo'' (from Muysccubun: ''chunso'') is a small anthropomorh or zoomorph figure elaborated by the Muisca as part of their art. ''Tunjos'' were made of gold or ''tumbaga''; a gold-silver-copper alloy. The Muisca used their ''tunjos'' ...

s'', the

religious Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...

votive figurines of the indigenous language of 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 ...

, who inhabited the Bogotá savanna before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...

.Osorio Osorio, 2007, p.29

Description

The Tunjuelo River has a total length of and originates in the

, in the southern part of

.Osorio Osorio, 2007, p.12 It flows through the southern part of the Colombian capital, south of the

Fucha River The Fucha River is a river on the Bogotá savanna and a left tributary of the Bogotá River. The river originates in the Eastern Hills of the Colombian capital Bogotá and flows westward through the city into the Bogotá River. It is one of the th ...

, and has the largest

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

of the rivers of Bogotá.Entre ríos y quebradas Bogotá tiene 198 cuerpos de agua ¿Los conoce?
/ref> The river flows through the Usme Synclinal, where the type localities of various geological formations (among others the Marichuela Formation) are situated. The Tunjuelo River forms the border between the localities

Usme Usme is the 5th locality of the Capital District of Bogotá, capital city of Colombia. Usme is located in the south of Bogotá, bordering to the north the localities of San Cristóbal, Rafael Uribe Uribe and Tunjuelito, to the west the locali ...

and

Ciudad Bolivar Ciudad () is the Spanish word for City Ciudad may also refer to: *La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona *La Ciudad, district of Durango City, Mexico *''La ciudad'', novel by Mario Levrero 1970 *La Ciudad ''The City'' ...

and between the namesake locality

Tunjuelito Tunjuelito is the 6th locality of the Capital District of the Colombian capital, Bogotá. Tunjuelito is located in the south of Bogotá, bordering to the north with the localities of Bosa, Kennedy and Puente Aranda, to the east with the local ...

and Ciudad Bolívar. The Tunjuelo River is highly contaminated.Tunjuelo: olores ofensivos
/ref>

Geology

The Tunjuelo River valley hosts the type localities of various geologic formations of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense.

Wetlands

Three of the fifteen protected wetlands of Bogotá are located in the Tunjuelo River basin.

Gallery

File:Río Tunjuelo, vista hacia Ciudad Bolívar.JPG, Tunjuelo River in Ciudad Bolívar File:Ciudad Bolívar, río Tunjuelo, tv 20 B con calle 61 S.JPG, Tunjuelo River File:Bogotá Río Tunjuelito a la altura de la 61S.jpg, Tunjuelo River File:Río en Btá Localida Tunjuelito.jpeg, Tunjuelo River in Tunjuelito File:RioTunjuelito.JPG, Canalised part of the river

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

*
Sistema Hídrico, Bogotá
{{Muisca navbox, Geography and history, state=expanded Rivers of Colombia Bogotá River Geography of Cundinamarca Department Geography of Bogotá

Rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Tunjuelo