Tota is a town and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
department of
Boyacá,
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 ...
, part of the
Sugamuxi Province. Tota is located approximately 40 km from
Sogamoso
Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ado ...
and the municipality borders in the north
CuÃtiva,
Aquitania
Gallia Aquitania (, ), also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France and the comarca of Val d'Aran in northeast Spain, where it gives its name to the modern region of Aquit ...
in the east,
Zetaquirá
Zetaquira () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Lengupá Province, part of the Departments of Colombia, department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá. Zetaquirá is located at from the department capital Tunja and borders Pesca in the north, ...
and
San Eduardo in the south and westward of Tota the municipality of
Pesca is located.
[Official website Tota]
- accessed 02-05-2016 Nearby and named after the village is
Lake Tota
Lake Tota () is the largest lake in Colombia, located in the east of Boyacá department, inside the Sugamuxi Province, it is the source of the Upia River which flows into the Orinoco River basin.
The major town on the lake is Aquitania, locate ...
, the largest lake of Colombia.
History
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 ...
of the central highlands of Colombia (
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 ...
), the area around Tota 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 ...
,
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
Hunza, currently known as Tunja. In the
Chibcha language
Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/ * ˆmʷɨska, or Muysca de Bogotá is a language spoken by the Muisca people, one of the many indigenous cultures of the Americas. The Muisca inhabit the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of what today is th ...
of the Muisca, ''Tota'' means "tillage of the river".
[Etymology Tota]
- accessed 02-05-2016
The first European to enter the territories of the northern
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 ...
was
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 ...
.
Economy
The economical activities of Tota are mainly
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 ...
(potatoes, carrots, peas, onions and others),
livestock
Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...
farming,
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
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
(
Lake Tota
Lake Tota () is the largest lake in Colombia, located in the east of Boyacá department, inside the Sugamuxi Province, it is the source of the Upia River which flows into the Orinoco River basin.
The major town on the lake is Aquitania, locate ...
).
[
]
Gallery
File:Tota parque 2.JPG, Central square and park of Tota
File:Parque Tota 1.JPG, Central square
File:Tota monumento.JPG, Monument honouring the weavers, central square
File:Tota Lake Boyacá.jpg, Playa Blanca ("White Beach") at Lake Tota
Lake Tota () is the largest lake in Colombia, located in the east of Boyacá department, inside the Sugamuxi Province, it is the source of the Upia River which flows into the Orinoco River basin.
The major town on the lake is Aquitania, locate ...
(''Lago de Tota'')
File:Lake Tota papa.JPG, Potato fields around Lake Tota
File:Lago de Tota 02.JPG, Lake Tota
See also
* Lake Tota
Lake Tota () is the largest lake in Colombia, located in the east of Boyacá department, inside the Sugamuxi Province, it is the source of the Upia River which flows into the Orinoco River basin.
The major town on the lake is Aquitania, locate ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tota, Boyaca
Municipalities of Boyacá Department
Populated places of the Muisca Confederation