Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, is a very active and modern city about two and a half times the size of Los Angeles. Bogotá’s population is 9,589,170 as of 2010.  With a mix of old Spanish architecture and new construction, Bogotá expands for miles under the backdrop of two gorgeous mountains, Guadalupe and Monserrate.

At 8,660 feet (2,640 metres) above sea level in the Northern Andes Mountains, the climate of Bogotá is pleasantly moderate, with an average temperature about 60F degrees (15C) year-round. Also, daylight hours remain about the same year-round, with the sunrise at about 5:30 to 6:00am and sunset at about 6:00pm. Weather can change quickly from warm and sunny to rain, so layered clothing is recommended.  The driest months are December through March.

Bogotá’s history as a city begins in 1538, after Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada conquered Bacatá, a settlement of Muisca Indians.  The original settlement was called Santa Fe, after a city in Spain.  Over time, the name changed to Santa Fe de Bogotá (a mutation of the original name Bacatá), and then just shortened to Bogotá.

Bogotá (and the rest of Colombia) got a bad reputation in the 1980s and 1990s, supported by reports of drug trafficking, terrorism, etc.  More recently, Bogotá has gone to great lengths to decrease personal crime, clean up popular neighborhoods, increase tourism, to result in an improved reputation.  Bogotá’s District Institute of Tourism (Instituto Distrital de Turismo) was created in 2007 with the goal of making Bogotá a sustainable tourist destination.

To read more in depth about Bogotá, I suggest checking out this very thorough Wikipedia article.