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Bogotá (known officially in Spanish as Bogotá D.C. (Distrito Capital)) is a city of 7.7 million people and the capital of Colombia.

At an altitude of 8,660 feet (2640 meters) above sea level in the Cordillera Oriental of the Northern Andes Mountains, Bogotá is situated on a sloping plain at the base of two mountains, Guadalupe and Monserrate, upon whose crests stand two imposing churches.

Several small streams, one of which, the San Francisco, passes through the city, unite near the south-western extremity of the plateau and form the Rio Funza, or Bogotá, which finally plunges over the edge at Tequendama in one of Bogotá's biggest tourist attractions: a beautiful, perpendicular waterfall of about 475 feet (145 meters). The climate is mild and temperate, the average annual temperature being about 58°F (14°C) and rainfall about 44 inches (110 cm).

The city is laid out in a grid, with numbered carreras intersecting numbered calles. Among the city's squares is the Plaza Bolívar, where some of the important public buildings and churches are located. Bogotá is connected by road to the Atlantic coast to the north and the Pacific coast to the west, as well as to all other major cities of Colombia. The Pan-American Highway and the Simón Bolívar Highway both pass through the city. The city is served by El Dorado International Airport. The TransMilenio transportation system is the most modern form of public transit serving the city.

Bogotá has traditionally been a major center of art, culture, and learning for northern South America. Sometimes called the "Athens of South America," Bogotá is home to several excellent universities, including the Los Andes University ( 1948), The National University of Colombia ( 1830Events February 3 The previously autonomous state of Greece gains full independence from the Ottoman Empire as the final result of the Greek War of Independence. Negotiations for the borders between the two states continue until 1832, under the supervisio), The Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Javeriana Pontifical University) ( 1622Events January 1 In the Gregorian calendar, January 1 is declared as the first day of the year, instead of March 25. February 8 King James I of England disbands the English Parliament. March 22 In the Jamestown massacre, Algonquian Indians kill 347 Englis), the Universidad Externado de Colombia, and the University of Santo Tomás ( 1580Events Michel de Montaigne publishes first Essay. September 26 Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe 1580- 1764 First session if Jewish Waad ( Sejm of 4 countries) in Lublin, Poland. 70 delegates of Jewish local kahals met to discuss issue of taxati).

In addition to the Museo del Oro, which holds the world's largest collection of pre-Columbian goldFor alternative meanings, see gold (disambiguation Gold is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Au ( L. aurum and atomic number 79. A soft, shiny, yellow, heavy, malleable, ductile (trivalent and univalent) transition metal, gold d, there is also the National Museum of Colombia which contains a large collection of pre-Columbian and Spanish colonial artifacts and Colombian art. Bogotá has many other history and art museums, among them the Children's Museum of BogotaThe Childrens Museum of Bogota (Fundacion Museo de los Ninos) is a privately managed foundation established in 1986. The foundation operates the Childrens Museum in a 86,000 sq. building in the geographical center of Bogota, Colombias capital city. Histor, a museum of natural history, the Bogota Planetarium , La Casa de la Moneda ( House of Coins ) to which an important collection of modernist art was recently donated, The Botero MuseumFernando Botero (born 1932) is a Colombian painter and sculptor who as of 2003 lives in Paris. His work is characterized by the rotund bodies of people, animals, landscapes and objects. External links On-line book with Botero´s drawings, English On-line b and several modern art galleries.