Quezi

Cathedral of Bogota - courtesy e-mendoza - CC-BY

Bogota is the capital of Colombia, and the largest city in the country.

Bogota founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and was called “Santa Fé de Bacatá” after his birthplace, Santa Fé, and the traditional local name, “Bacatá” and later evolved into Bogota. Bogota is located high in the Andes at 8646 ft.  It is a city of contrasts with high rise buildings standing next to colonial churches. The emerald trade is an enormous business in Bogota. Millions of dollars in domestically produced rough and cut emeralds are bought and sold daily. The city expanded outward from the colonial center, thus most of the great churches and other examples of colonial are there.To the east of the city, the mountains provide a constant backdrop.  Bogota has all the amenities of a large capital city with excellent restaurants, museums, shopping and night life. While there are media reports of drugs, violent crime, rebel shoot-ups and kidnappings, visitors are left to wonder how so many troubles can plague a city that appears so normal.

The Bogota climate is mild, but variations in temperature can occur during the day, with warm sunny days and cold nights. The average temperature is around 58 degrees fahrenheit all year. Dry and rainy seasons alternate throughout the year. The driest months are December, January, February and March and the rainiest are April, May, September, October and November. June and July are usually rainy periods and August is sunny with high winds.

Bogota is served by El Dorado International Airport  Public transportation is by bus including Metro express buses and well as locals.

Bogota’s population is 6,776,009 inhabitants (2005)

+57 is the international dialing code for Colombia.
1 is the area code for Bogota

For more information about Bogota