Junín | |
Other Name: | (Nuestra Señora de la Concepción de) Chipazaque |
Settlement Type: | Municipality and town |
Mapsize: | 250px |
Pushpin Map: | Colombia |
Pushpin Mapsize: | 250 |
Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Colombia |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | Colombia |
Subdivision Type1: | Department |
Subdivision Type2: | Province |
Subdivision Name2: | Guavio Province |
Leader Title: | Mayor |
Leader Name: | María Elica Prieto Bustos |
Established Title: | Founded |
Established Date: | 13 August 1550 |
Area Total Km2: | 337 |
Area Urban Km2: | 2.97 |
Population As Of: | 2015 |
Population Total: | 8610 |
Population Density Km2: | auto |
Population Urban: | 998 |
Coordinates: | 4.7903°N -73.8136°W |
Timezone: | Colombia Standard Time |
Utc Offset: | -5 |
Elevation M: | 2300 |
Junín is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Guavio Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of 2300m (7,500feet) in the east of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. Junín borders Gachetá and Guatavita in the north, Gama and Gachalá in the east, Fómeque in the south, and La Calera and Guasca in the west.[1]
The former name Chipazaque of Junín refers to the shared terrain by the zipa and zaque, the most important caciques of the Muisca Confederation. In Muysccubun it means "our father the zaque" or "union between zipa and zaque". The name Junín was given by Tomas Cipriano de Mosquera in 1861, because the green valleys reminded him of the Pampa de Junín, location of the Battle of Junín in Peru.[1]
Before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca, the green hills of Junín, then called Chipazaque, were a shared terrain between the zipa of Bacatá and the zaque of Hunza. The conquistadors reached the area of Junín in 1550 and founded the modern town.[1]
Main economical activities of Junín are agriculture, livestock farming and tourism.[1]