Bogotá—officially named
Bogotá, D.C. (D.C. for "
Distrito Capital", which means "Capital District"), formerly called
Santa Fe de Bogotá, is the
capital city of
Colombia, as well as the most populous city in the country, with 7,033,914 inhabitants (2007). Bogotá and its metropolitan area, which includes municipalities such as
Chía,
Cota,
Soacha,
Cajicá and
La Calera, had an estimated population of 8,244,980
[1] as of 2007. Bogotá's altitude makes it the third-highest major city in the world after
La Paz and
Quito. In terms of land area, the city of Bogotá is the largest in Colombia.
In 1810-11 its citizens revolted against Spanish rule and set up a government of their own, but had to contend with internal divisions and the temporary return to power of Spanish military loyalists who retook the city in 1816. In 1819 Simón Bolívar recaptured it after his victory at Boyacá. Bogotá was then made the capital of Gran Colombia, a federation combining the territories of modern Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. When Gran Colombia was broken up, Bogotá remained the capital of New Granada, which later became the Republic of Colombia. See History of Colombia.
In 1956 the municipality was joined to other neighboring municipalities forming a "Special District" (Spanish Distrito Especial). The Constitution of 1991 confirmed Bogotá as the Capital of Colombia, gave it the name "Santa Fe de Bogotá", and changed the category from Special District to "Capital District" (Distrito Capital).
In August 2000 the name was officially changed back to simply "Bogotá". The local government consists of a Capital District. Samuel Moreno Rojas was elected Mayor of Bogotá for the period 2008-2011.
