Soracá is a town and municipality in 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, part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. Soracá borders the municipalities of

Chivatá Chivatá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the department capital Tunja. It borders ...

in the north, Siachoque, Viracacha and Ramiriquí in the east, Boyacá in the south and the department capital

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 ...

in the west.Official website Soracá
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Etymology

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 ...

, Soracá means "ruling mansion of the sovereign".Etymology Soracá
/ref>

History

The area of Soracá was part of the '' zacazgo'' of Hunza, presently known as Tunja in the time 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

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 ...

inhabiting 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 ...

and their

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

were an advanced civilization who spoke

. In the 1530s the Spanish

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 ...

es led by

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 ...

entered the territories of the Muisca.

Economy

Main economical activities in Soracá are

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

production,

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and production of bricks.

Born in Soracá

Graciano Fonseca Graciano Fonseca Fuken (born September 4, 1974, in Soracá, Boyacá) is a retired male professional road racing cyclist from Colombia. In 2005, he won Stage 7 of the Vuelta a Colombia. Major results ;1996 :1st in General Classification Vuel ...

, professional cyclist

Gallery

File:Soraca Near.JPG, View of Soracá File:Soraca panoramic.JPG, Soracá File:Soraca detalle.JPG, Soracá File:Soracá centro de Salud.JPG, Medical center File:Soracá parque.JPG, Central park File:Soraca Rural.JPG, Rural part of Soracá

References

{{coord, 5, 30, N, 73, 19, W, display=title, region:CO_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Municipalities of Boyacá Department Populated places established in 1776 1776 establishments in the Spanish Empire