Mosquera is a municipality 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 Western Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Mosquera is close to the 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 ...

and is part of its

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 ...

. The urban centre of Mosquera is situated at an altitude of on 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 ...

. The municipality borders the localities Bosa and

Fontibón Fontibon is the 9th locality of Bogotá. It is located in the west of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by low and middle class residents. El Dorado International Airport is located in this district. Etymology The origin of the city ...

of Bogotá in the east, Soacha in the south,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

and

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 north and Bojacá in the west.Official website Mosquera

Etymology

Mosquera is named after its founder, former

president of Colombia The president of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the Government of Colombia, national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Mil ...

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, who in 1861 separated Mosquera from Funza.

History

Mosquera is close to Lake Herrera, a remnant lake of the large

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

Lake Humboldt that existed on the Bogotá savanna until approximately 30,000 years BP. The archaeological findings around Lake Herrera date to the preceramic period, predating 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 era, pre-Columbian Formative stage, formative and classic stages and age dated by var ...

, named after the lake. 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 ...

established their civilisation typically as of 800 AD. They were an advanced culture and performed

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 ...

on the high plains of the savanna. In the Muisca times

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es, arracacha,

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechuan languages, Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the Amaranthaceae, amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are high in prote ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es,

yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennia ...

, peppers,

tomato The tomato (, ), ''Solanum lycopersicum'', is a plant whose fruit is an edible Berry (botany), berry that is eaten as a vegetable. The tomato is a member of the nightshade family that includes tobacco, potato, and chili peppers. It originate ...

es,

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s and

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

s were cultivated in Mosquera. The Muisca were predominantly farmers and traders and their

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

was based on the extraction of

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

from the northern parts of the Bogotá savanna. Fruits and other agricultural products growing in different climates were traded on the frequent markets of the Muisca. In Mosquera

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

avocado The avocado, alligator pear or avocado pear (''Persea americana'') is an evergreen tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae). It is native to Americas, the Americas and was first domesticated in Mesoamerica more than 5,000 years ago. It was priz ...

es, guanabanas, ice-cream beans, pitahayas and guayabas were the fruits traded with warmer climates.

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

also came from more tropical regions while

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

was traded with the colder climate Lache. Funza, of which Mosquera formed the southern part until 1861, was founded by

conquistador 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 ...

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...

who arrived in the region on April 20, 1537. Presently, Mosquera is a satellite town of the capital Bogotá and has grown significantly in recent years. In 2022, an unusual type of

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

foam Foams are two-phase materials science, material systems where a gas is dispersed in a second, non-gaseous material, specifically, in which gas cells are enclosed by a distinct liquid or solid material. Note, this source focuses only on liquid ...

covered the town. Residents reported that it produced an awful smell and that it had covered large parts of the municipality. While many locals were forced to get inhalers no effects on public health were recorded.

Climate

Mosquera has a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cfb'') with cool temperatures throughout the year.

Born in Mosquera

* Olimpo López (1918–2015), pastry chef and creator of the Chocoramo ( Productos Ramo)

Gallery

File:Iglesia mosquera 14-04-12.jpg, Church of Mosquera File:Iglesia mosquera 2012.jpg, Church File:Mosquera y Bolivar.jpg, Bustes of Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera and Simón Bolívar File:Estacion tren Mosquera.jpg, Train station File:Casa-cultural.jpg, Cultural centre

References

{{Coord, 04, 42, 28, N, 74, 13, 58, W, display=title Municipalities of Cundinamarca Department Populated places established in 1861 Populated places of the Muisca Confederation