TUNJA

city and capital of Boyac departamento, north-central Colombia. It lies in the high valley of the Teatinos, or Boyac, River. Founded in 1539 by Captain Gonzalo Surez Rendn, the settlement was originally called Hunza by the local Chibcha Indians. In 1819 it served as Simn Bolvar's operating base for his victory over the Spanish at the Battle of Boyac, 5 miles (8 km) to the south. The city is a communications, commercial, and agricultural centre and is a market for the cattle country of the Llanos region to the east. Gold and emerald mines are in the vicinity. Many of the city's colonial buildings survive, including the 16th-century churches of Santo Domingo and San Laureano. The Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia was founded in Tunja in 1953. The city is situated on the Pan-American Highway linking Ccuta and Bogot; railway connections are with Bogot to the southwest. Pop. (1995 est.) 120,210.