Soacha | |
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 Bike path in Soacha | |
.svg) Flag  Coat of arms | |
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 Location of Soacha in Cundinamarca | |
  Soacha | |
| Coordinates:04°35′14″N74°13′17″W / 4.58722°N 74.22139°W /4.58722; -74.22139 | |
| Country |  Colombia |
| Department |  Cundinamarca |
| Province | Soacha |
| Founded | 15 August 1600 |
| Founded by | Luis Enríquez |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipality |
| • Mayor | Juan Carlos Saldarriaga Gaviria (2016-2019) |
| Area | |
| 187.4 km2 (72.4 sq mi) | |
| • Urban | 31.48 km2 (12.15 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 2,565 m (8,415 ft) |
| Population (2018 census)[1] | |
| 660,179 | |
| • Density | 3,500/km2 (9,100/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 655,025 |
| • Urban density | 21,000/km2 (54,000/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Suachuno |
| Area code | 57 + 1 |
| Website | Official website |
Soacha is an autonomous municipality of thedepartment ofCundinamarca inColombia, and part of theMetropolitan Area of Bogotá. It has an important industrial zone and is home to mostly working-class families. Soacha bordersBojacá andMosquera to the north,Sibaté andPasca to the south, to the east the capital Bogotá and to the westGranada andSan Antonio del Tequendama.
With a population of 778,400 (2023 projection),[2] it is the biggest city in Cundinamarca and one of the biggest in Colombia.
The name Soacha is derived from theChibcha wordsSúa, name of Sun godSué, andchá which means "man"; "Man of the Sun". The original nameSuecha has been changed to Soacha over time.[3]
Soacha was inhabited first by indigenous groups during theHerrera Period and later became an important village in theMuisca Confederation, the former country of theMuisca before the arrival of theSpanishconquistadors. Thezipa of Bacatá (now known as Bogotá) ruled over Soacha.
Modern Soacha was founded on 15 August 1600. It gained national notoriety after thepresidential candidateLuis Carlos Galán was assassinated on August 18, 1989, while visiting the city during his presidential campaign.
Also during 1989, the bombing ofAvianca Flight 203 happened in Soacha, killing everyone on-board plus three Soacha residents. The bombing was planned byCartel de Medellin leaderPablo Escobar, who intended to murder presidential candidateCésar Gaviria, who was supposed to be on board. Gaviria had decided not to fly and instead went on to become President of Colombia.
In 2008, the'false positives' scandal broke when 22 men from Soacha who had been recruited for work were found dead several hundreds of miles away. They had been killed by the military and presented to authorities as guerrilla fighters (insurgents) killed in battle, in order to increase action head counts. Similar cases have since appeared all over the country.[4]
Ciudad Verde is a development project for the lower middle class (estrato 3) residents of Soacha with housing, parks and playgrounds. The project started in 2010 and is scheduled to be finished at the end of 2016.
Soacha has a specific neighborhood name Soacha Parque and it is the most important place that most of the people that go to Bogota have to go. In Soacha Parque their specialty are different kind of traditional desserts, some of them arealmojabanas andbuñuelos, they are some kind of bread. Also, Soacha is famous because of thearequipe that is dulce de leche but arequipe is home version.
There is the largest logistics center in the coffee world.[5]
Netflix Triple Frontier[1]
| Climate data for Soacha (San Jorge Gja), elevation 2,900 m (9,500 ft), (1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 16.6 (61.9) | 17.0 (62.6) | 16.7 (62.1) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.4 (61.5) | 15.8 (60.4) | 15.3 (59.5) | 15.6 (60.1) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.4 (61.5) | 16.1 (61.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.8 (53.2) | 11.9 (53.4) | 12.0 (53.6) | 11.9 (53.4) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.4 (52.5) | 11.5 (52.7) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.7 (53.1) | 11.8 (53.2) | 11.8 (53.2) | 11.7 (53.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 6.3 (43.3) | 6.7 (44.1) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.6 (45.7) | 7.5 (45.5) | 7.2 (45.0) | 7.1 (44.8) | 7.2 (45.0) | 6.8 (44.2) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 6.7 (44.1) | 7.0 (44.6) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 23.1 (0.91) | 38.8 (1.53) | 61.8 (2.43) | 93.8 (3.69) | 98.1 (3.86) | 70.1 (2.76) | 63.4 (2.50) | 48.9 (1.93) | 52.8 (2.08) | 98.2 (3.87) | 86.1 (3.39) | 42.8 (1.69) | 778 (30.6) |
| Average precipitation days | 7 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 21 | 18 | 13 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 171 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 167.4 | 144.0 | 133.3 | 117.0 | 133.3 | 144.0 | 164.3 | 164.3 | 150.0 | 130.2 | 123.0 | 155.0 | 1,725.8 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 4.8 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 5.0 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 5.0 | 4.7 |
| Source:Instituto de Hidrologia Meteorologia y Estudios Ambientales[7] | |||||||||||||
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