Junín 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

Guavio Province The Guavio Province () is one of the 15 provinces in the Cundinamarca department, Colombia. Guavio borders the Capital District of Bogotá and the Central Savanna Province to the west, to the north the Almeidas Province, to the east the Boyac� ...

, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of in the east of 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. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

. Junín borders

Gachetá Gachetá, Cundinamarca is a municipality and town of Colombia, capital of the Guavio Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Gachetá is situated at an altitude of in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The ...

and

Guatavita Guatavita is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Guavio Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Guatavita is located 75 km northeast of the capital Bogotá. It borders Sesquilé and Machetá in the north, Gachetá and Junín ...

in the north, Gama and

Gachalá Gachalá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Guavio Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Gachalá is situated at a distance of from the capital Bogotá at an altitude of in the Eastern Ranges of the ...

in the east,

Fómeque Fómeque 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 bor ...

in the south, and La Calera and

Guasca Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guasca ...

in the west.Official website Junín
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Etymology

The former name Chipazaque of Junín refers to the shared terrain by the ''

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 ...

'' and ''

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 ''Zaque'' was the ruler of the ...

'', the most important ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

s'' of the

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 ...

. In Muysccubun it means "our father the ''zaque''" or "union between ''zipa'' and ''zaque''". The name Junín was given by Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera in 1861, because the green valleys reminded him of the Pampa de Junín, location of the

Battle of Junín The Battle of Junín was a large cavalry engagement of the Peruvian War of Independence, fought in the highlands of the Junín Region on 6 August 1824. The preceding February the royalists had regained control of Lima, and having regrouped in T ...

in Peru.

History

Before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

, the green hills of Junín, then called Chipazaque, were a shared terrain between the ''zipa'' of

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 ...

and the ''zaque'' of

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 mo ...

. The

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

reached the area of Junín in 1550 and founded the modern town.

Economy

Main economical activities of Junín are agriculture, livestock farming and tourism.

Gallery

File:Iglesia de Junin en la tade.jpg, Church File:Interior Iglesia de Junin Cundinamarca.jpg, Church interior File:Parque Junin de Noche.jpg, Church at night File:LaRivera.jpg, Train in Junín File:Parque Ararat ó Parque Alemania.jpg, Parque Ararat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junin, Cundinamarca Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1550 1550 establishments in the Spanish Empire