"From natives to settlers to immigrants", a series of posts to tell the brief history of Latin American cities through a diversity, money, density, and creativity lens, borrowing the model from the Museum of the City of NY.
From 10,500 BC human groups inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, a high plateau in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes, where hunter gatherer activities were developed (remains can be seen in El Abra). The Muiscas, an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano also known as the Chibcha, arrived in the 9th century after a migration stemmed by multiple theories; given that the muiscas did not have writing, the stories are reconstructed based on oral compilations from the 1470s. The muiscas had a precise lunar calendar and a complex legal structure, known as Código de Nemequene, with laws that remained in place even after the Spanish conquest. Their territory comprised about 2 million people across 5 federations (enemies with each other) located in current Boyacá and Cundinamarca departments. Bacatá or Bogotá was the strongest, with 40% of the territory.
In 1539, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada conquered Bacatá, the main seat of the Chibcha Indians. The settlement was originally named Santa Fé de Bacatá: Santa Fé was Quesada's birthplace in Spain, and Bacatá was the original Indian name, soon changed to Bogotá.
Bogotá was the center of Spanish colonial power in South America after becoming the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, that included present-day Colombia, Panama (after 1751), Ecuador, and Venezuela. During the 17th century, religious communities like the Franciscan, Augustine, Dominican, and Jesuit, contributed to urban development of the incipient city.
During the second half of the century, there were multiple reforms from the dynastic change in Spain from the Austrians to the Bourbons, the first census took place and an administrative division different from the ecclesiastical one was established. Bogotá experienced similar processes to those lived in other Latin American urban centers, with an increase in public investments; civil construction surpassed religious construction.
Several earthquakes affected the city and its infrastructure throughout the 18th century. By 1778, the city had 16,002 inhabitants, of which 51% were white, 35% free, 10% indigenous, and 4% slaves. At the end of the century, the Enlightenment arrived to certain sectors of the viceroyalty of New Grenada. The Botanical Expedition, 1783-1813, was an inventory of the viceroyalty's nature with scientific objectives that resulted in the herborization and classification of 20,000 vegetable species and 7,000 animals in Colombia, the foundation of the astronomy observatory in Bogotá (one of the first ones in South America), the creation of a group of scientists and artists as a foundation to the awareness of natural wealth in the new world.
This period also entailed economic, educational, and social reforms that created societal tensions which led to the "Insurrección de los Comuneros", a revolt against local authorities in charge of the reforms. In 1801-02, smallpox killed 5,000 or 13.7% of the population.
The 19th century was filled with struggles for political power, as well as geographic isolation, which hindered Bogotá's growth and prosperity. In 1810, citizens revolted against Spanish rule but had to contend with Spanish loyalists until 1819, when Simon Bolivar took the city after his victory at the Battle of Boyacá. In 1821, Bogotá became the capital of Gran Colombia, a confederation that included Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, and Colombia, which dissolved in 1830.
In the second half of the 19th century, Bogotá became the Federal Capital, with a population of 90,000. In 1889, the railway company "Ferrocarril de la Sabana de Bogotá" was founded, and by the end of the century it had over 100km of railways, enabling connection with other parts of the country, including the Caribbean sea. By 1910, the electric tramway extended across multiple lines and along with the train, they were key pillars for the modernization and development of Bogotá, which had a population of 120,000 by 1912. These transportation methods expanded the city to include other sectors like the Chapinero region.
The 20th century saw a lot of unrest as well as unregulated urban development and high levels of real estate speculation. The "guerra de los mil días" or war of the thousand days, ended with the separation of Panamá from Colombia. The United States sent $25 million as compensation for the lost territory, leading to the period known as the "dance of the millions" which, despite corruption and waste, served to solve some urban infrastructure problems.
Between 1918 and 1928, rent increased by 350% - there was a deficit of almost 12,000 houses for the 235,702 people in the city. This increased the peripheral neighborhoods, quickly altering the city's map. However, the worst issue in the city was the lack of an aqueduct and the mix of wastewater with consumption water. About 16% of the population died due to gastrointestinal diseases produced directly from water bacteria. By 1938, the city had over 355,000 people and an annual growth rate of 5.5%.
The Bogotazo in 1948 marked the end of a republican city and the beginning of the modern city. The city experienced riots and a wave of violence which swept the region. Unrest continued until 1958 when, after much local looting and hundreds of deaths, the Liberal and Conservative parties reached a settlement. By 1946, Bogotá had over 565,978 people, with a migrant population of 63.43%, with wealthier people moving to the north of the city.
The period between 1950 and 1964 experienced the largest population growth of 6.8%. In 1950, the city's population was 6.2% of the national population, reaching 1 million inhabitants by 1956 and 2 million by 1966. This growth was enabled by an improvement in sanitation and an exodus to urban centers due to extreme violence in the country's rural areas. In 1964, people born in Bogotá comprised 48% while the migrants represented 52%.
In the 1970s, informal living was huge, about 38% of the city had developed outside of regulation and comprised 59% of the population. This decade also saw the birth of the guerilla group M-19, which would lead terrorist attacks and violence over the coming decades.
Mapa de Bogotá, Colombia de 1980.
The 1990s experienced high levels of political violence and economic stagnation. Urban violence reached new highs with 80 deaths per 100,000 people in 1993, with a city of over 5 million people.
The 21st century is showing sign of economic recovery, infrastructure growth, and diminished violence in the city. Today Bogotá metropolitan region is the largest in Colombia and 8th largest in America, with 8 million people in 2018.
Sources
Britannica, Bogotá.
Wikipedia, Historia de Bogotá.
Wikipedia, Real Expedición Botánica del Nuevo Reino de Granada.
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