Samacá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the

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 ...

n Department of Boyacá. It borders

Cucaita Cucaita is a municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of Boyacá Department, Colombia. The urban centre is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. Cucaita borders Sora in the north, ...

Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

and

Ventaquemada Ventaquemada is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Ventaquemada is located at a distance of from the capital Bogotá and from the departmental capital Tunja. The urban centre i ...

in the east,

Ráquira Ráquira, is a municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. Ráquira is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the urban center at an altitude of . It borders Tinjacá and Sutamarc ...

in the west,

Sáchica Sáchica is a municipality of Colombia situated approximately west of Tunja in the Ricaurte Province of the department of Boyacá. Sáchica borders Sutamarchán and Villa de Leyva in the north, in the east Chíquiza, Samacá and Ráquira in ...

, Sora and Cucaita in the north and Ventaquemada, Ráquira and

Guachetá Guachetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Guachetá is located at from the capital Bogotá. It borders the Boyacá Department, Boya ...

, Cundinamarca in the south.Official website Samacá
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Etymology

Samacá's original name came from the

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

native language of the area. Samacá was a small village 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 ...

. ''Sa'' is a noble title; ''Ma'' is a proper name; ''Cá'' means a sovereign enclosure.

History

Samacá began as a settlement of a large lagoon which was known by the native name of "Lake of Cansicá" or "Valley of the Lake" (''la laguna de Cansicá''). Around the lagoon were three native settlements called Patagüy, Foacá and Sáchica. Samacá was ruled by the ''

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 ...

'' of nearby

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 ...

and the modern town was founded on January 1, 1556 by

Juan de los Barrios Friar Juan de los Barrios y Toledo, OFM (1496 – February 12, 1569) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Santafé de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada, (1564–1569), ''(in Latin)'' Bishop of Santa Marta (1 ...

Economy

The most important activities are

farming 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 ...

, cattle, and mining. Samacá produces potatoes, peas, corn, and beet. Coal mining is the largest industry and most of the production of coal is exported. Samacá has a potential for growth; in the last decade the economy has risen tremendously. Samacá is open to international investment.

Born in Samacá

Pedro Saúl Morales Pedro Saúl Morales (1 October 1959 – 24 March 2021) was a Colombian racing cyclist Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cr ...

, former professional cyclist *

Jorge Perry Jorge Perry Nova Villate (1908 – 29 December 1946), also known as Jorge Pérez and Jorge Perry, was a Colombian long-distance runner. Though Colombia had initially pulled out of the 1932 Summer Olympics, Villate had asked the International ...

, Colombia's first olympic competitor

Climate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samaca Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1556 1556 establishments in the Spanish Empire