Cundinamarca is a department of
Colombia, one of the original nine states of the "
United States of Colombia".
The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua, used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands, meaning Condor's Nest.
Most of Cundinamarca is on the Eastern Cordillera (Cordillera Oriental), just south of Boyacá, bordered by the Magdalena River on the west, reaching down into the Orinoco River basin on the east, and bordering on Tolima to the south. The capital district of Bogotá is nearly completely surrounded by Cundinamarca territory, and indeed was formed by carving up Cundinamarca; between this and other divisions, the present department of Cundinamarca is much smaller than the original state.
The capital of Cundinamarca is Bogotá. This is a special case among Colombian departments, since Bogotá is not legally a part of Cundinamarca, yet it is the only department that has its capital designated by the Constitution (meaning that if the capital was to be ever moved, it would take a constitutional reform to do so, instead of a simple ordinance passed by the Cundinamarca Assembly). Also, in censuses, the populations for Bogotá and Cundinamarca are tabulated separately; otherwise, Cundinamarca's population would total 9.5 million.
