Cota is a municipality and town of

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in the

Central Savanna Province Central Savanna Province () is one of the fifteen provinces of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, in Colombia. It is located in the central area of the department, and has 11 Municipalities of Colombia, municipalities. The province capital is ...

of the department of Cundinamarca. Cota is part of the

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

of Colombian capital

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

which centre is away. The urban centre of Cota is located at an altitude of and the municipality borders Chía in the north,

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano C ...

in the south, Suba, part of Bogotá in the east and Tenjo in the west.Official website Cota
/ref>

History

In the time before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

, the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, 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 si ...

was inhabited by the

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

, organized in the southern

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

. The

ruler A ruler, sometimes called a rule, scale, line gauge, or metre/meter stick, is an instrument used to make length measurements, whereby a length is read from a series of markings called "rules" along an edge of the device. Usually, the instr ...

Bacatá Bacatá (Chibcha: or ) 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 ...

(''

zipa When the Spain, 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 Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

'') controlled Cota. The Muisca called the town ''Gota'', which is either a personal name of derived from ''cota''; "curl". Cota still has a surviving Muisca population. Modern Cota was founded on November 29, 1604 by Diego Gómez de Mena.

Economy

Cota has a small economy mainly based on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

;

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

and

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

Education

Given its proximity to the Colombian capital, thanks to its quiet surroundings, many schools have settled in Cota with their facilities and venues; such as the following: Oakland Colegio Campestre, Nuevo Gimnasio Cristiano, Colegio Refous, Colegio José Max León, Summerhill School, colegio Gimnasio Campestre Los Sauces, Gimnasio El Portillo, Colegio Nuevo Reino de Granda, Colegio Nuestra Señora del Rosario, jardín Gimnasio Campestre El Shadai, colegio Gimnasio Campestre San Francisco de Sales and since 2009 Cota is home for NASA´s Educational Program called Colombia Spac
School
Public schools I.E.D. Enrique Pardo Parra (Urban). I.E.D. Institute Parcels (Rural).

Born in Cota

* Juan Pablo Forero, professional cyclist. Amanecer en Cota Cundinamarca

Climate

References

{{Municipalities cundinamarca department Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1604 1604 establishments in the Spanish Empire Populated places of the Muisca Confederation