Ramiriquí

Municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia

Flag

Location of the municipality and town of Ramiriquí in the Boyacá department of Colombia

Country

ColombiaDepartmentBoyacá DepartmentProvinceMárquez ProvinceFounded21 December 1541Founded byPedro DuránGovernment

• MayorJosé Moisés Aguirre Sanabria
(2020–2023)Area

• Municipality and town146.5 km² (56.6 sq mi) • Urban

7.25 km² (2.80 sq mi)Elevation

2,325 m (7,628 ft)Population

(2015)

• Municipality and town10,015 • Density68/km² (180/sq mi) • Urban

5,023Time zoneUTC-5 (Colombia Standard Time)WebsiteOfficial website

Ramiriquí is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province. Ramiriquí borders the department capital Tunja in the north, in the south Chinavita and Zetaquirá, in the east Rondón and Ciénaga and in the west Chivatá, Tibaná and Jenesano.^[1]

Etymology

Ramiriquí was named after the last cacique; Ramirique. In the Chibcha language of the Muisca Ramirraquí means "white earth". An alternative etymology is Ca-mi-quiquí which means "our strength over the grasslands".^[2]

History

The area of Ramiriquí was inhabited by the Muisca before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the 1530s. The northern Muisca Confederation was ruled from nearby Hunza, present-day Tunja, after the mythological and brutal cacique Goranchacha moved the capital there from Ramiriquí. The first ruler of Hunza was Hunzahúa after whom the city was named.

Second-last ruler Quemuenchatocha died in Ramiriquí, after he was beaten by Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada.

The modern town was founded on December 21, 1541 by Spanish friar Pedro Durán.

Within the boundaries of Ramiriquí petroglyphs have been found.^[3]