Ubaque 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 Eastern Province 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. Ubaque borders the municipalities

Choachí Choachí is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca. The municipality borders La Calera in the north, Ubaque in the south, in the east Fómeque and westward of Choachí is the Colombian cap ...

in the north,

Fómeque Fómeque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department {{Cundinamarca-geo-stub ...

in the east,

Cáqueza Cáqueza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town, located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, is from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Fosca in the south, Ubaque in the north, Une and Chip ...

and

Chipaque Chipaque is a municipality and town in the Eastern Province of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. The municipality of is located at an altitude of in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes with its westernmost part situated in the Ea ...

in the south and in the west is the Colombian 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 ...

at 56 km away.Official website Ubaque
- accessed 04-05-2016

History

The area around Ubaque was 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 ...

in the 1530s inhabited by the indigenous

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 ...

, organised in a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. The capital of the southern Muisca territories was Muyquytá, present-day Funza, to the west of Ubaque with

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, line gauge, or scale, is a device used in geometry and technical drawing, as well as the engineering and construction industries, to measure distances or draw straight lines. Variants Rulers have long ...

Saguamanchica Saguamanchica (died Chocontá, 1490) was the second ruler (''zipa'') of Muyquytá, as of 1470. His ''zaque'' enemy ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Michuá. Alternative spellings of his name are Sacuan Machica, Saguan ...

. Ubaque was ruled by a ''

cacique A ''cacique'' (Latin American ; ; feminine form: ''cacica'') was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, the indigenous inhabitants at European contact of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles. The term is a Spa ...

'' who was loyal to the northern Muisca with capital

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 ...

until Saguamanchica's successor, the brutal leader

Nemequene Nemequene or Nemeguene (died 1514) was the third ruler (''zipa'') of Bacatá as of 1490. His ''zaque'' counterpart ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Quemuenchatocha. Etymology Nemequene in the Chibcha language of the Mui ...

conquered Ubaque. The arrival of the Spanish conquerors was revealed to '' psihipqua''

, succeeding the throne after the death of Nemequene. Tisquesusa reigned the southern Muisca at the time of arrival of the Spanish, led by

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (;1496 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory named ...

. Mohan Popón who lived in Ubaque told the Muisca ruler that foreigners were coming and Bogotá would die "bathing in his own blood". The troops of De Quesada conquered the Muisca Confederation and on October 15th, 1651 Ubaque was properly founded. The etymology of Ubaque is not entirely clear. The name could be derived from ''Ybaque'' (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 ...

word for a blooding ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'' tree, common in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

) or from the word ''Ebaque''.

Economy

Main economical activity of Ubaque, where 98% of the people live in rural areas, is

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 ...

, particularly

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es and

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

Lake Ubaque

Lake Ubaque or Lake El Cacique is a

sacred lake Sacred waters are sacred natural sites characterized by tangible topographical land formations such as rivers, lakes, springs, reservoirs, and oceans, as opposed to holy water which is water elevated with the sacramental blessing of a cleric. T ...

in the

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

of the Muisca, located within the boundaries of Ubaque. It was in Ubaque where the last public religious ceremony of the Muisca was performed, on December 27th, 1563.Londoño, 2001, p.4

Born in Ubaque

Jaime Pardo Leal Jaime Pardo Leal (March 28, 1941 October 11, 1987) was a Colombian lawyer, union leader, and politician, who ran as candidate of the Patriotic Union party for the presidency of Colombia in the 1986 elections, and was later assassinated. Biog ...

, former politician (assassinated)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Images of Ubaque
- accessed 04-05-2016 {{Municipalities cundinamarca department Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1651 1651 establishments in the Spanish Empire Muisca Confederation Muisca and pre-Muisca sites Muysccubun