Bogotá, Distrito Capital, from 1991 to 2000 called Santafé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent capital district and no longer belongs administratively to that department(SONY PCG-5G2L battery). Bogotá is the most populous city in the country, with 7,363,782 inhabitants as of 2005.[5] Bogotá and its metropolitan area, which includes municipalities such as Chía, Cota, Soacha, Cajicá and La Calera, had a population of 7,881,156 in 2005.[3]
In terms of land area, Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, and one of the biggest in Latin America. It figures amongst the 30 largest cities of the world and it is the third-highest capital city in South America at 2,625 metres (8,612 ft) above sea level, after Quito and La Paz. (SONY PCG-5G3L battery) With its many universities and libraries, Bogotá has become known as "The Athens of South America".[6] Bogotá owns the largest moorland of the world, which is located in the Sumapaz Locality.[7] The city ranked 54th in the 2010 Global Cities Index,[8] and is listed as global city of the Beta+ kind by the GaWC(SONY PCG-F305 battery).
The area of modern Bogotá was first populated by groups of indigenous people who migrated from Mesoamerica.[citation needed] Among these groups were the Muiscas, who settled in what is now mainly Cundinamarca and Boyacá. With the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, the area became a major settlement, founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and later capital of the Spanish provinces and the seat of the Viceroyalty of New Granada(SONY PCG-5J1L battery). With independence, Bogotá became capital of the Gran Colombia and later the capital of the Republic of Colombia.
The first populations inhabiting Bogotá were the Muiscas, members of the Chibcha language family. At the arrival of the conquerors, the population was estimated to be half a million indigenous people(SONY PCG-5J2L battery). They occupied the highland and mild climate flanks between the Sumapaz Mountains to the southwest and Cocuy's snowy peak to the northeast, covering an approximate area of 25,000 km², comprising Bogotá's high plain, the current Boyacá department portion and a small Santander region. Most fertile lands were ancient Pleistocene lake beds and regions irrigated by high Bogotá, Suárez, Chicamocha and some Meta affluent river beds(SONY PCG-5K2L battery).
In this area, the population was organised in two large federations, each commanded by a chief. The southwest area was dominated by the Zipa with the center located in Bacatá, currently Bogotá. He was the strongest leader, occupying two-fifths of the territory. The northeast zone was the Zaque domain and the center was Hunza region, currently Tunja(SONY PCG-5L1L battery). Muisca population however, contrasting with Tayrona population, did not develop large cities. Muisca, eminently farmers, formed a disperse population occupying numerous small villages and hut settlements. In addition, some free isolated tribes also existed: Iraca or Sugamuxi, Tundama, and Guanentá(SONY PCG-6S2L battery).
From 1533, a belief persisted in the sense that Río Grande de la Magdalena was the trail to the South Sea, to Peru, legendary Dorado. Such was the target Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the Spaniard conqueror who left Santa Marta on 6 April 1536 with 500 soldiers, heading towards the interior of current Colombia. The expedition divided into two groups(SONY PCG-6S3L battery), one under Quesada command to move on land, and the other commanded by Diego de Urbino would go up river in four brigantine ships to later on meet Quesada troops at the site named Tora de las Barrancas Bermejas. When they arrived, they heard news about Indians inhabiting the south and making large salt cakes used to trade for wild cotton and fish. Jiménez decided to abandon the route to Peru and cross the mountain in search for salt villages(SONY PCG-6V1L battery). They saw crops, trails, white salt cakes and then huts where they found corn, yucca and beans. From Tora, the expedition went up the Opón River and found Indians covered with very finely painted cotton mats. When they arrived to Grita Valley, of the expedition leaving Santa Marta, only 70 men were left(SONY PCG-6W1L battery).
Along their trip, they took a large amount of gold and emeralds. In Hunza, they captured the Zaque Quemuenchatocha and headed towards Sogamoso, where they plundered and set the Sun temple on fire and obtaining immense prize.
On 22 March 1537, they arrived from the north crossing Nemocón and Zipaquirá salt villages to a place they named Valle de los Alcázarea (Valley of the Fortress) (SONY PCG-7111L battery). Already in Chibcha territory they found goods roads and moved southwest. In the next few days, they came across several villages, among them Lenguazaque and Suesca. They continued through Cajicá, Chía and Suba, the start of Bogotá Kingdom, where they fought Bogotá Chief Indians, who tried to prevent them from entering their town, and saw Muequetá or Bacatá fenced ranch village(SONY PCG-71511M battery), built on a swampy ravine, and Tisquesusa Zipa capital on the right margin of the Tisquesusa River.
The fountain of Quevedo, one of the possible foundation sites of Bogotá
Following the conquerors motto to found and to populate, Quesada decided to build an urban settlement to live in good order and under stable government. To the east on the foothills, they found an Indian village named Teusaquillo near the Zipa's recreation residence(SONY PCG-6W3L battery), supplied with water, wood and planting land and protected from winds by Monserrate and Guadalupe hills.
In 1553, the Main Plaza —now Plaza de Bolívar— was moved to its current site and the first cathedral construction on the eastern side began.[citation needed] On the other sides, the Chapter and the Royal Audience were located. The street joining the Major Plaza and Herbs Plaza —currently Santander Park(SONY PCG-7113L battery)— was named Calle Real(Royal Street), now Seventh Carrera.
Formed by Whites, Mestizos, Indians, and slaves, from the second half of the 16th century, the population began rapidly growing. The 1789 census recorded 18,161 inhabitants, and by 1819, the city population amounted to 30,000 inhabitants distributed in 195 blocks. Importance grew when the diocese was created. Up to 1585, the only parish was the Cathedral(SONY PCG-7133L battery), later on Las Nieves to the north and Santa Bárbara south of the Main Plaza were created.
The city mayor and the chapter formed by two councilmen, assisted by the constable and the police chief, governed the city. For better administering these domains, in April 1550, the Audience of Santafé de Bogotá was organized. At that time, the city became the capital and the home of New Kingdom of Granada government(SONY PCG-7Z1L battery). Fourteen years later in 1564, the Spanish Crown designated the first Royal Audience Chairman, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva. The New Granada became a viceroyship in 1739 and kept that condition until Liberator Simón Bolívar achieved independence in 1819.
Nineteenth century
Political uneasiness felt all over Spanish colonies in America was expressed in New Granada in many different ways, accelerating the movement to independence. One of the most transcendent was the Revolution of Comuneros(SONY PCG-7Z2L battery) , a riot of the inhabitants started in Villa del Socorro —current Department of Santander—in March 1781. Spanish authorities suppressed the riot, and José Antonio Galán, the leader was executed. He left an imprint, though. He was followed in 1794 by Antonio Nariño, precursor of independence by translating and publishing in Santa Fe, the Rights of Men and the Citizen, and by the 20 July movement leaders in 1810(SONY PCG-8Y1L battery). Independence outcry originated in an apparently slight dispute between Creole and Spaniards over the loan of a flowerpot, but became a popular uprising.
The period between 1810 and 1815 is known as "La Patria Boba" (The Foolish Fatherland), because during those years Creoles fought among themselves seeking ideal government forms, initial ideological struggles began and the first two republican political parties —federalists and centralists—were formed(SONY PCG-8Y2L battery).
The Royal Street, today known as the Seventh Avenue (Carrera Séptima).
Between 1819 and 1849, there were no fundamental structural changes from the colonial period. By the mid-19th century, a series of fundamental reforms were enacted, some of the most important being slavery abolition and religious, teaching, print and speech industry and trade freedom, among others. During the decade of the 70s(SONY PCG-8Z2L battery), radicalism accelerated reforms and state and social institutions were substantially modified. However, during the second half of the century, the country faced permanent pronouncements, declarations of rebellions between states, and factions which resulted in civil wars: the last and bloodiest was the One Thousand Days War from 1899 to 1902. After independence, Bogotá continued to enjoy the privilege of being the main educational and cultural center of the new nation(SONY PCG-8Z1L battery).
In 1823, a few years after the formation of Gran Colombia, the Public Library, now the National Library, was enlarged and modernized with new volumes and better facilities. The National Museum was founded. Those institutions were of great importance to new republic's cultural development. The Central University was the first State school, precursor of the current National University, founded in 1867 and domiciled in Bogotá(SONY PCG-7112L battery).
Bogotá's Railroad Central Station
On 25 December 1884, the first tramway pulled by mules was inaugurated, and covered the route from Plaza de Bolívar to Chapinero,[10] and in 1892, the line linking Plaza de Bolívar and La Sabana Station started operating. The tramway ran over wood rails, but since it easily derailed, steel rails imported from England were installed. In 1894, a tramway car ran the Bogotá-Chapinero line every 20 minutes(SONY PCG-6W2L battery). The tramway provided services until 1948, and was then replaced by buses.
President Rafael Núñez declared the end of Federalism, and in 1886 the country became a centralist republic ruled by the constitution in force – save some amendments – up to 1991. In the middle of political and administration avatars, Bogotá continued as the capital and principal political center of the country(SONY PCG-5K1L battery).
From a base of only 20,000 people in 1793, the city grew to 117,000 in 1912. Population growth was rapid after 1870, largely because of immigration from the eastern highlands.
Early in the 20th century, Colombia had to face devastating consequences from the One Thousand Days War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902, and the loss of Panama. Between 1904 and 1909, the lawfulness of the liberal party was re-established and(SONY VGP-BPS8 battery) President Rafael Reyes endeavored to implement a national government. Peace and state reorganization generated the increase of economic activities. Bogotá started deep architectural and urban transformation with significant industrial and artisan production increases. In 1910, the Industrial Exposition of the Century took place at Park of Independence(SONY VGP-BPS8A battery). Stands built evidenced industrial, artisan work, beaux arts, electricity and machinery progress achieved. The period from 1910 to 1930 is designated conservative hegemony. Between 1924 and 1928, hard union struggles began, with oil fields and banana zone workers' strikes, leaving numerous people killed.
Bogotá had practically no industry. Production was basically artisan work grouped in specific places, similar to commercial sectors(SONY VGP-BPL8 battery). Plaza de Bolívar and surroundings lodged hat stores, at Calle del Comercio –current Carrera Seventh– and Calle Florián –now Carrera Eight– luxurious stores selling imported products opened their doors; at Pasaje Hernández, tailor's shops provided their services, and between 1870 and 1883, four main banks opened their doors: Bogotá, Colombia, Popular and Mortgage Credit banks(SONY VGP-BPS9 battery).
Bogotazo
See also: Bogotazo and La Violencia
Following the banana zone killings and conservative party division, Enrique Olaya Herrera took office in 1930. The liberal party reformed during 16 years of the so-called Liberal Republic, agricultural, social, political, labor, educational, economic and administrative sectors. Unionism strengthened and education coverage expanded(SONY VGP-BPS9/S battery). In 1938, the fourth centenary of Bogotá foundation, the population had reached 333,312 inhabitants, a celebrated event.
The celebration produced a large number of infrastructure works, new construction and work sources. Following the 1946 liberal party division, a conservative candidate took presidential office again in 1948, after the killing of liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Bogotá's downtown was virtually destroyed as violence reigned. From then, Bogotá's urban(SONY VGP-BPS9A battery), architectural and population sectors were substantially reorganized.
[edit]Modern Bogotá
In January 2012, Gustavo Petro became Mayor with a pledge to ban carrying weapons on the city's streets.[12]
Astronaut view of Bogota
Bogotá is located on the west of the Savannah of Bogotá (Sabana de Bogotá), 2640 metres (8661 ft) above sea level. (SONY VGP-BPS9A/B battery) Although it is located in what is popularly called "savannah" (sabana), the geographical site is actually a high plateau in the Andes mountains. The extended region is also known as "Altiplano Cundiboyacense" which literally means "high plateau of Cundinamarca and Boyacá".
The Bogotá River crosses the sabana, forming Tequendama Falls (Salto de Tequendama) to the south. Tributary rivers form valleys with flourishing villages, whose economy is based on agriculture, livestock raising and artisanal production. (SONY VGP-BPS9/B battery)
The sabana is bordered to the east by the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes mountain range. Surrounding hills, which limit city growth, run from south to north, parallel to the Guadalupe and Monserrate mountains. The western city limit is the Bogotá River. The Sumapaz Paramo (moorland) borders the south and to the north Bogotá extends over the plateau up to the towns of Chía and Sopó(SONY VGP-BPS9A/S battery).
Bogotá has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cfb). The average temperature on is 14.0 °C (57 °F),[13] varying from 3 to 20 °C (37 to 68 °F) during the course of the day. Dry and rainy seasons alternate throughout the year. The driest months are December, January, July and August. The warmest month is March, bringing a maximum of 19.7 °C (67.5 °F). The coolest nights occur in January, with an average of 5.4 °C (41.7 °F) in the city(SONY VGP-BPL9 battery); temperatures can fall below freezing in the nearby towns, causing frosts and fog in early morning, with the lowest recorded temperature within the city being −7.2 °C (19.0 °F).[14] in February 2007.
The official highest recorded temperature is 24.9 °C (77 °F) reached in January 1992 and March 1995(SONY VGP-BPS10 battery).
Hailstorm in Bogotá
The rainiest months are April, May, September, October and November, in which typical days are mostly overcast, with low clouds and some winds, bringing maximum temperatures of 18 °C (64 °F) and lows of 7 °C (45 °F). Hailstorms are very common during the rainy season, and can be very strong, especially in October(SONY VGP-BPL10 battery). Days are mild or cool and nights can get moderately cold due to the city having mild winds at night all year round, though frequent fog from sinking of cold mountain air in the enclosed valley of the city means sunshine totals are much lower than would be expected for a relatively dry location in such a low latitude.
While temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year(SONY VGP-BPS11 battery), weather conditions can change dramatically during the course of a single day. Climatic conditions are irregular and variable due to the El Niño and La Niña climatic phenomena which occur in and around the Pacific basin and are responsible for pronounced climatic changes. This makes the city's weather unpredictable; sunny mornings can turn into a severe-storm afternoon (SONY VGP-BPL11 battery) (something commonly referred as sol de lluvia (literally, "rainy sun"). Similar to Quito, precipitation amounts possess irregular patterns throughout the year.
Urban layout and nomenclature
Carrera Séptima (Seventh Avenue)
Bogotá has 20 localities, or districts, forming an extensive network of neighborhoods. Areas of higher economic status tend to be located to the north and northeast, close to the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. Poorer neighborhoods are located to the south and southeast, many of them squatter areas. The middle classes usually inhabit the central(SONY VGP-BPL12 battery), western and northwestern sections of the city.[citation needed]
Street arrangement of Bogotá based on the Cartesian coordinate system: North is to the right.
The urban layout in the center of the city is based on the focal point of a square or plaza, typical of Spanish-founded settlements, but the layout gradually becomes more modern in outlying neighborhoods. The current types of roads are classified as calles (streets) (SONY VGP-BPS12 battery), which run perpendicular to the Cordillera, with street numbers increasing towards the north, and also towards the south (with the suffix "Sur") from Calle 0. Carreras run parallel to the hills, with numbering increasing as one travels east or west of Carrera 1 (with the suffix "Este" for roads east of Carrera 0). At the southeast of the city, the addresses are logically sur-este(SONY VGP-BPS13 battery). Other types of roads more common in newer parts of the city may be termed Eje (Axis), Diagonal or Transversal. The numbering system for street addresses recently changed, and numbers are assigned according to street rank from main avenues to smaller avenues and local streets. Some of Bogotá's main roads, which also go by a proper name in addition to a number, are(SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery):
Norte-Quito-Sur or NQS (North Quito South Avenue, from 9th road at north following railway to 30th road Avenue, or Quito City Avenue, and Southern Highway)
Autopista Norte-Avenida Caracas (Northern Highway, or 45th road, joined to Caracas Avenue, or 14th road)
Avenida Circunvalar (from downtown following hillside on eastern hills going to La Calera, mostly the 1-este (1st-east))
Avenida Suba (60th transversal from 100th street to the Suba Hills; 145th street from Suba Hills westward) (SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery)
Avenida El Dorado (El Dorado Avenue, or 26th street)
The largest and most populous city in Colombia, Bogotá had 7,363,782 inhabitants in its metropolitan area (2005 census),[3] with a population density of approximately 4,310 inhabitants per square kilometer. Only 15,810 people are located in rural areas of Capital District. 47.5% of the population are male and 52.5% women(SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery).
View of Bogotá at dusk from Monserrate.
British architectural style in Bogotá
99.5% of households have electricity service, while 98.7% have water service and 87.9% have telephone service. However, 32.6% of citizens were living in poverty (living on less than US$2 a day) in 2005.
In Bogotá, as in the rest of the country, the acceleration of the urbanization process is not only due to industrialization(SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery), since there are complex political and social reasons such as poverty and violence which led to migration from rural to urban areas throughout the twentieth century and beyond. This has led to an exponential growth of population in urban areas creating misery belts in their surroundings. A dramatic example of this is the number of displaced people who have arrived in Bogotá(SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery). According to the Consultancy for Human Rights, Codhes, in the period from 1999 to 2005 more than 260,000 people arrived in Bogotá as a result of displacement, about 3.8% of the total population of Bogotá.[citation needed]
The majority of the displaced population lives in the Ciudad Bolívar, Kennedy, Usme, and Bosa sections(SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery).
The racial composition of the city's population includes people of Mestizo origin (those of mixed Amerindian and European descent), in addition to Europeans, mostly Spaniards, and other European ethnic groups. It has a large Middle Eastern population, made up mostly of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. (SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery)The Afro-Colombian population in Bogotá is smaller than cities along the coast such as Cartagena, where Colombians of African descent have historically resided.
Bogotá has gone to great lengths to change its crime rate and its image with increasing success after being considered in the mid-90s to be one of the most violent cities in the world.[18] In 1993 there were 4,352 intentional homicides at a rate of 81 per 100,000 people; (SONY VGP-BPS21B battery) in 2007, Bogotá suffered 1,401 murders at a rate of 19 per 100,000 inhabitants.[20] This success was the result of a participatory and integrated security policy, "Comunidad Segura", that was first adopted in 1995 and continues to be enforced.[21]
Bogotá is the capital of the Republic of Colombia, and houses the national legislature, the Supreme Court of Justice(SONY VGP-BPS21 battery), and the center of the executive administration as well as the residence of the President of the Republic (Casa de Nariño).[22] These buildings, along with the Principal Mayor's office, the Lievano Palace (Palacio de Liévano), are located within few meters from each other on the Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar). The square is located in the city's historical center, La Candelaria, which features architecture in Spanish Colonial and Spanish Baroque styles(SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery).
The Principal Mayor and District Council – both elected by popular vote – are responsible for city administration. In 2011 Gustavo Petro was elected Mayor; his term runs from 2012 to 2015. Previous recent mayors of Bogotá include Luis Eduardo Garzón, Antanas Mockus Sivickas and Enrique Peñalosa Londoño(SONY VGP-BPS13AS battery).
The city is divided into 20 localities: Usaquén, Chapinero, Santa Fe, San Cristóbal, Usme, Tunjuelito, Bosa, Kennedy, Fontibón, Engativá, Suba, Barrios Unidos, Teusaquillo, Los Mártires, Antonio Nariño, Puente Aranda, La Candelaria, Rafael Uribe Uribe, Ciudad Bolívar, Sumapaz.
Each of the 20 localities is governed by an administrative board elected by popular vote, made up of no fewer than seven members(SONY VGP-BPS13S battery). The Principal Mayor designates local mayors from candidates nominated by the respective administrative board.
Bogotá is the main economic and industrial center of Colombia. In the period 2003–2006, its commercial GDP grew by 10.3% annually, accounting for 25.3% of GDP national trade. However, the unemployment rate reached 11.3% and a 31.6 percent underemployment. (SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery) The city is one of the largest industrial centers in Latin America. The Colombian government fosters the import of capital goods, Bogotá being one of the main destinations of these imports (the size of Bogota's industry accounted for 24.4% of Colombia's total in 2003). This is due in part to its geographical location, which makes the city a strategic point in terms of logistics(SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery), since transportation of goods to other parts of the country is relatively fast. This also facilitates the supply of raw materials for industry in the city, by its proximity to agricultural regions like the Eastern Plains. Several multinational companies have established their regional operations here during the last decades. However, the distance from the ports reduces the competitive advantages for exporting industrial products(SONY VGP-BPS14 battery). Thus services (including telecommunications and trade) are gaining share versus industry.
In 2005, consumer goods led industrial production, followed by intermediate and capital goods. Of the 248,000 companies available to Bogotá, 78% are linked to service activities, contributing to 76% employment and 79% of GDP. The highest concentrations of industrial establishments are in Puente Aranda, Fontibón(SONY VGP-BPL14 battery), Kennedy, Los Mártires, and Barrios Unidos, and Engativá (in that order). Important business include the food industries, chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, publishing and metalworking. Also in 2005, the town with the highest labor productivity was Tunjuelito, followed by Teusaquillo and Chapinero.
The main international trading partner in Bogotá in 2003 was the United States, followed by the European Union(SONY VGP-BPS14/B battery). The city exports mainly agricultural products (30%), chemicals (10%) and textiles (7%), and imports transportation materials (17%), machinery except electrical (17%) and electrical machinery (14%).
In 2008, the World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) from the United Kingdom ranked Bogotá as a beta level city, one of their highest rankings. Beta level cities are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy. (SONY VGP-BPS14/S battery)
Colombia bore in the 1980s and early 1990s, tourism in Bogotá has increased since the 2000s due to aggressive publicity campaigns and improvements in both infrastructure and safety. In 2007 the Instituto Distrital de Turismo (District Institute of Tourism) was created with the goal of making Bogotá a sustainable tourist destination(SONY VGP-BPS14B battery).
The hotels in the historical center of La Candelaria and its surrounding areas cater to lovers of culture and the arts. This area also has the bulk of hostels in the city as well. The hotels located near Ciudad Salitre are intended for visitors who make short stops in Bogotá or need proximity to El Dorado International Airport(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery).
Important landmarks and tourist stops in Bogotá include the botanical garden José Celestino Mutis, La Quinta de Bolivar, the national observatory, the planetarium, Maloka, the Colpatria observation point, the observation point of La Calera, the monument of the American flags, and La Candelaria (the historical district of the city) (SONY VGP-BPS22 battery). There is also Usaquen, a colonial landmark where brunch and flea market on Sundays is a traditional activity. The city has numerous green parks and amusement parks like Salitre Magico or Mundo Aventura. Just outside the city you can find the salt cathedral and very near candelaria you can find the Cerro Monserrate. (SONY VGP-BPS18 battery) .
There are also several areas of the city where fine restaurants can be found. The G Zone, the T Zone and La Macarena are well known for their gastronomic offerings.
Since the 2000s huge hotel chains have been arriving to the city giving one of the most exclusive hotel services around the world. Some of the most important hotel chains that have arrived to Bogotá are: Marriott, Radisson, JW Marriott, Hilton, NH Hoteles, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, among others(SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery).
Gran Estacion mall in western Bogota
Bogotá's economy has significantly been boosted due to new shopping malls built within the last few years. As of December 2011, over 160 new malls are planned to be built on top of the existing 100 malls.[24] Notable malls include:
Centro Andino
Centro Mayor (the largest mall in the country)
Santafé (the second largest mall in the country)
The city has several television stations: Canal Capital and Citytv are local stations, Canal 13 is a regional station(SONY VGP-BPS22A battery), and is home to the national channels Caracol TV, RCN TV, Canal Uno, Canal Institucional, and Señal Colombia. It has multiple satellite television services like DirecTV and Telefonica; cable TV is mostly provided by the Mexican company Telmex (formerly TV Cable Bogotá, Superview, and Cablecentro) and the Venezuelan company Super Cable, and satellite dishes which offer hundreds of international channels, plus several exclusive channels for Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ battery).
In the capital all the major radio networks in the country are available, in both AM and FM; 70% of the FM stations offer RDS service.
There are several newspapers, including El Tiempo, El Espectador, El Periódico, and El Nuevo Siglo, plus economical dailies La República and Portafolio, tabloids El Espacio, Q'Hubo, and Extra, and Communist Party's Voz Proletaria. Bogotá also offers a free newspaper called aDn(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S battery).
A house in the Chapinero locality, near downtown Bogotá. (Estrato 4)
Energy and sewer bills are stratified based on the location of owner's residence and income,[25] with the intended purpose that wealthier branches of society subsidize the energy bills of the poorer. Bogotá is divided into six socio-economic "estratos" (strata):
A biarticulated TransMilenio bus.
Bogotá's growth has placed a strain on its roads and highways, but within the past decade significant efforts to upgrade the infrastructure have been undertaken(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15T battery). Private car ownership, despite being under 27%[citation needed], forms a major part of the congestion, in addition to taxis, buses and commercial vehicles. Buses remain the main means of mass transit. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the TransMilenio. The traditional system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15G battery): Bus (large buses), Buseta (medium size buses) and Colectivo (vans or minivans). The bigger buses were divided into two categories: Ejecutivo, which was originally to be a deluxe service and was not to carry standing passengers, and corriente or normal service. Since May 2008, all buses run as corriente services. Bogotá is a hub for domestic and international bus routes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ4000 battery). The Bogotá terminal serves routes to most cities and towns in Colombia[26] and is the largest in the country. There is international service to Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela.
TransMilenio Museo del Oro Station
The TransMilenio 'rapid transit system' was created during Enrique Peñalosa's mayoral term,[27] and is a form of bus rapid transit that has been deployed as a measure to compensate for the lack of a subway or rail system(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ460E battery). TransMilenio combines articulated buses that operate on dedicated bus roads (busways) and smaller buses (feeders) that operate in residential areas, bringing passengers to the main grid. TransMilenio's main routes are: Caracas Avenue, Northern Highway (Autopista Norte), 80th Street, Americas Avenue, Jiménez Avenue, and 30th Avenue (also referred to as Norte Quito Sur or N.Q.S. for short) (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ440N battery). Routes for Suba Avenue and Southern Highway (Autopista Sur), the southern leg of the 30th Avenue, were opened in April 2006. The third phase of the system will cover 7th Avenue, 10th Avenue, and 26th Street (or Avenida El Dorado). The system is planned to cover the entire city by 2030. Although the Transmilenio carries commuters to numerous corners of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L battery), it is more expensive than any public transport except taxis, and fares increase with petroleum fuel prices. As of 2011 the price of a ticket was C$1700 (about US$0.85); however, a single ticket allows unlimited transfers until the passenger leaves the system, and passengers travel on feeder routes for free. Transmilenio does not yet cover some main routes, and buses are overcrowded(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z battery).
100 Street north to Highway
Despite the city's chronic congestion, many of the ideas enacted during the Peñalosa years are regarded worldwide to be cost-effective, efficient and unique solutions. In addition to TransMilenio, the Peñalosa administration and voter-approved referenda helped to establish travel restrictions on cars with certain licence plate numbers during peak hours called Pico y placa(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M battery); "Car Free Days" on Sundays; a massive system of bicycle paths and segregated lanes called ciclorrutas; and the removal of thousands of parking spots in an attempt to make roads more pedestrian-friendly. Ciclorrutas is one of the most extensive dedicated bike path networks of any city in the world, with a total extension of 303 km. It extends from the north of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18M battery), 170th Street, to the south, 27th Street, and from Monserrate on the east to the Bogotá River on the west. The ciclorruta was started by the 1995–1998 Antanas Mockus administration, and considerably extended during the administration of Mayor Peñalosa.[28] Since the construction of the ciclorruta bicycle use in the city has increased(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18 battery).
Bogotá's principal airport is El Dorado International Airport, west of the city's downtown, at the end of Avenue El Dorado. Due to its central location in Colombia and in Latin America, it is a hub for domestic and international airlines. Currently the national airport has begun to take more responsibility due to the congestion at the international airport(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31S battery).
El Dorado is heavily congested, as it handles more passengers than its optimal capacity. Work on a major expansion of El Dorado airport started in September 2007. When completed, this will expand capacity from the current 8 million passengers a year to 25 million.[29]
A secondary airport, Catam, serves as a base for Military and Police Aviation; there is also Guaymaral Airport, for private aviation activities(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z battery).
Building of Science and Technology Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, National University of Colombia.
Centro Ático at Pontifical Xavierian University
Often known as the Athens of South America,[30] Bogotá has an extensive educational system of both primary and secondary schools and colleges. Due to the constant migration of people into the nation's capital, the availability of quotas for access to education offered by the State free of charge is often insufficient. The city also has a diverse system of colleges and private schools(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E battery).
Mario Laserna Building. University of the Andes.
There are a number of universities, both public and private. In 2002, there were a total of 106 higher education institutions; in Bogotá there are several universities, most partially or fully accredited by the NAC (National Accreditation Council): National University of Colombia, University of the Andes, Colombia, District University of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J battery), La Sabana University, Pontifical Xavierian University, Our Lady of the Rosary University, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Military University Nueva Granada, Sergio Arboleda University, Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Catholic University of Colombia Santo Tomás de Aquino University and La Salle University(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M battery).
The city has a University City at the National University of Colombia campus located in the traditional sector Teusaquillo. It is the largest campus in Colombia and one of the largest in Latin America. The town of La Candelaria is home to the largest concentration of private universities in Latin America(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31B battery).
Additionally, Bogota is becoming increasingly popular among foreigners and tourists wishing to learn Spanish while discovering the Latin American culture. Schools such as the Meboc Institute have been set up to offer flexible courses to international students at competitive prices.
In Colombia, the primary and secondary schools educational system goes from pre-kindergarten to eleventh grade, that being the high school senior year(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ32 battery). Education in Colombia is not obligatory(only until 8th grade) as in other countries, but the government has implemented a promotional campaign nationwide to influence families with low economic levels to get their children enrolled in school.
Profamilia Transmilenio station near downtown Bogotá
Bogotá has many cultural venues including 58 museums, 62 art galleries, 33 library networks, 45 stage theatres, 75 sports and attraction parks, and over 150 national monuments.[31] Many of these are renowned globally such as(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21 battery):
The Luis Angel Arango Library, the most important in the region which receives well over 6 million visitors a year;[32]
The Colombian National Museum, one of the oldest in the Americas, dating back to 1823;[33]
The Ibero-American Theater Festival, largest of its kind in the world, receives 2 million attendees enjoying over 450 performances across theaters and off the street;[34]
The Bogotá Philharmonic is the most important symphony orchestra in Colombia, with over 100 musicians and 140 performances a year(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S battery);
The Cristobal Colon Theater, the Country's oldest Opera House, opened in 1892, is home to the National Symphony Association's major act, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia;[36]
Rock al Parque or Rock at the Park, the most important open air rock music festival in Latin America. Recurring annually, it gathers over 320,000 music fans who can enjoy over 60 band performances for free during three days a year. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M battery) The series have been so successful during its 15 years of operation that the city has replicated the initiative for other music genres, resulting in other recent festivals like Salsa at the Park, Hip Hop at the Park, Ballet at the Park, Opera at the Park, and Jazz at the Park.
Bogotá has worked heavily in recent years to position itself as leader in cultural offerings in South America, and it is increasingly being recognized worldwide as a hub in the region for the development of the arts(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M battery). In 2007 Bogotá was awarded the title of Cultural Capital of Ibero-America by the UCCI (Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities), and it became the only city to have received the recognition twice, after being awarded for the first time in 1991.
Cultural history
Bogotá was a city quite isolated, since communication media were scarce. Only by the end of the century did such isolation decline thanks to the railroad and to some roads linking the city and the Magdalena river and down the river up to the Caribbean coast(Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery).
During the decade of the 70s, writers of varied trends grouped around Mosaico magazine, founded and directed by José María Vergara y Vergara, to make one of the first efforts to record Colombian literature history and to consolidate the cultural identity of the country.
Cultural life in the city concentrated in literary gatherings, which during the Nineteenth century allowed Bogotanians to share their literary and political concerns (Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery)and to attend musical and drama presentations. Maldonado Theater featured theatrical and opera presentations and by the end of the Nineteenth century Bogotá had two important theatres: the Theater Colón, inaugurated in 1892, and the Municipal Theatre, inaugurated in 1895, which featured zarzuela (operetta) and musical shows. Also the scenario for important Colombian history events during the decades of the 30s and 40s(Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery).
During the nineteenth century, despite constant riots and civil wars altering normal new republic development, Bogotá preserved traditions and uses dating back to colonial times, combined with some European influence.
In 1886 the National School of Beaux Arts was founded and definitely drove artistic development in the city. Alberto Urdaneta was the first director(Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery). Painters Epifanio Garay and Ricardo Acevedo Bernal, School professors, were important portraitists, but the most outstanding person at that time was painter Andrés de Santamaría (1860–1945), greatly renowned painting in Colombia. He was Beaux Arts School director twice and his work, associated to impressionism, is the most important of that time. Landscaping trend most famous representatives were Roberto Páramo(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E battery), Jesús María Zamora, Eugenio Peña, Luis Núñez Borda and Ricardo Gómez Campuzano, painters whose work is preserved in the permanent National Museum collection.
Bogotá gave the Spanish speaking world José Asunción Silva (1865–1896), Modernism pioneer. His poetic work in the novel De sobremesa position him in an outstanding American literature place. Rafael Pombo (1833–1912) was outstanding American romanticism poet who left a collection of fables essential part of children imagination and Colombian tradition(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery).
The urban morphology and typology of colonial buildings in Bogotá have been maintained since the late nineteenth century, long after the independence of Colombia (1810). This persistence of the colonial setting is still visible, particularly in La Candelaria, the historical center of Bogotá. Also kept up are the colonial houses of two stories, with courtyards(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J battery), gabled roofs, ceramic tiles and balconies. In some cases, these balconies were filled with glass during the Republican period, a distinguishing feature of the architecture of the sector (for example, the House of Rafael Pombo).
"Republican Architecture" was the style that prevailed between 1830 and 1930. Although there were attempts to consolidate a modern architectural language, the only examples seen are University City and White City at the National University of Colombia (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11 battery) (constructed 1936 to 1939). This work was developed by German architect James Daly, although architects of rationalist trends participated in the design of campus buildings. We also see in Bogotan architecture trends such as art deco, expressionism and organic architecture. This last trend was typified by Bogotan architects in the second half of the twentieth century such as Rogelio Salmona(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M battery).
In 2006 Bogotá won The Golden Lion Award at the Tenth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in recognition of "their efforts towards social inclusion, education, housing and public space, particularly through innovations in transportation."
Although renowned for its beautiful preservation of colonial architecture, there are also significant contemporary architecture examples found in the downtown and at the north of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S battery).
In 2014 BD Bacatá will be inaugurated, taking the place from Colpatria tower to become the tallest building of the city. The building its expected to be the beginning of the city's downtown renovation.
In 2007 Bogotá was named World Book Capital by UNESCO. Bogotá is the first Latin American city to receive this recognition, and the second one in the Americas after Montreal(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E battery). It stood out in programs, the library network and the presence of organizations that, in a coordinated manner, are working to promote books and reading in the city. Several specific initiatives for the World Book Capital program have been undertaken with the commitment of groups, both public and private, engaged in the book sector(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J battery).
The city is home to the Biblored, an institution which administers 16 small and four large public libraries (Biblioteca Virgilio Barco, Biblioteca El Tintal, Biblioteca El Tunal and Biblioteca Julio Mario Santodomingo). It also has six branches of the Library Network of the Family Compensation Fund Colsubsidio and libraries and documentation centers attached to institutions like the Museo Nacional de Colombia (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L battery) (specializing in old books, catalogs and art), Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá, the Alliance Française, and the Centro Colombo Americano.
Another set of libraries are the new collaborative initiatives between the state, city and international agencies. Examples are the Cultural Center Gabriel García Marquez, custom designed by the Fondo de Cultura Economica in Mexico, and the Spanish Cultural Center, which will begin construction with public funds and of the Spanish Government in downtown Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M battery).
The National Library of Colombia (1777) under the Ministry of Culture and the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango (1958) under the Bank of the Republic are the two largest public libraries in the city. The first is the repository of more than two million volumes, with an important collection of ancient books. The latter has almost two million volumes(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H battery). 45 thousand square meters in size, it hosts 10 thousand visitors a day. Bank of the Republic depends also on the Library Alfonso Palacio Rudas, north of the city, with about 50 thousand volumes. Other large public libraries are the Library of Congress in Colombia (with 100 thousand volumes), of the Instituto Caro y Cuervo (with nearly 200 thousand volumes, the largest Latin American library in Philology and Linguistics) (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M battery), the Library of the Academy of History The Library of the Academy of Language, the Library of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History ICANH, and many university libraries.
Bogotá is home to historical records housed the General National Archive, a collection of about 60 million documents, one of the largest repositories of primary historical sources in Latin America. Bogotá is also home to the Musical Archive of the Cathedral of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z battery) (with thousands of books and choral song-colonial period), the Archdiocesan Archive, the Archive of the Conciliar Seminary of Bogotá, the Archive History National University of Colombia and the Archive of the Mint in Bogotá, under the Bank of the Republic.
National Museum of Colombia
The city offers 58 museums and over 70 art galleries. The National Museum of Colombia has acquisitions divided into four collections: art, history, archeology and ethnography. The Gold Museum, with 35 thousand pieces of tumbaga gold(Sony VAIO VGN-FW32J battery), along with 30 thousand objects in ceramic, stone and textiles, represents the largest collection of pre-Columbian gold in the world.
The Botero Museum has 123 works of Fernando Botero and 87 works by international artists. The Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá has a collection of graphic arts, industrial design and photography(Sony VAIO VGN-FW17W battery). The Museum of Colonial Art is home to an important collection of colonial art from Colombia. Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño hosts activities related to the performing arts and shows temporary exhibits of art in its halls and galleries.
Among the scientific museums are the Archeological Museum – Casa del Marqués de San Jorge, which has about 30 thousand pieces of pre-Columbian art, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (UN), one of the four largest museums of natural sciences in Latin America(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E battery), and the Geological Museum, which has a collection specializing in Geology and Paleontology.
Bogotá has historical museums like the Casa Museo Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, the Museum of Independence (Museo de la Independencia), the Quinta de Bolivar and the Casa Museo Francisco José de Caldas, as well as the headquarters of Maloka and the Children's Museum of Bogotá. New museums include the Art Deco and the Museum of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E battery).
Teatro de Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Colombus Theater)
Besides the Ibero-American Theater Festival, the city has forty-five theaters; the principal ones are the Colon Theater, the National Theater with its two venues, the traditional TPB Hall, the Theater of La Candelaria, the Carmarin Theater of Carmen (over 400 years old, formerly a convent), the Colsubsidio, and a symbol of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H battery), the renovated Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (the highest capacity currently in South America), León de Greiff Auditorium (home of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra), and the Open Air Theater "La Media Torta", where musical events are also held.
Bogotá has its own film festival, the Bogotá Film Festival, and many theatres, showing both contemporary films and art cinema(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M battery).
The main cultural center of the city is the La Candelaria, historic center of the city, with a concentration of universities and museums. In 2007 Bogotá was designated the Ibero-American cultural Capital of Iberoamerica.
The "Nemesio Camacho el Campín" Stadium.
The District Institute for Recreation and Sport promotes recreation, sports and use of the parks in Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J battery).
Football has been declared a symbol of Bogotá, and is widely played in the city. Colombian professional Football is popular. There are three professional clubs in the city, Millonarios, La Equidad, and Santa Fe. The twenty titles won by two of these teams (Millonarios have 13 and Santa Fe have 7) makes Bogotá second only to Cali in number of championships won(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery). The main football stadium is the Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín (known as the Campín Stadium), which is the headquarters of the Colombia national Football team, where they won the Copa América in 2001.
Other major sporting venues are the covered Coliseum El Campín, the aquatic complex of Parque Simón Bolívar, the Sports Palace(Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery), and the El Salitre Sports venue which includes the Velódromo Luis Carlos Galán (which hosted the 1995 UCI Track Cycling World Championships) and Diamond El Salitre ballpark.
Bogotá hosted the first Bolivarian Games held in 1938. The city hosted the National Games in 2004, winning the championship. It was a sub-venue Bolivarian Pan American Games. In addition, the city on the route of the Tour of Colombia(Sony VGN-NR11S Battery).
Bogotá is currently bidding to host the 2019 Pan American Games. [44]
As in the rest of Colombia, the value of family unity is quite important in Bogotan society, which is especially prominent in religious celebrations and special times of the year.
Historically the city has been predominantly Roman Catholic. Proof of this religious tradition is the number of churches built in the historic city center(Sony VGN-CR11Z Battery). The city has been seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá since 22 March 1564. The seat of the Archbishop is the Primary Cathedral of Bogota; the archdiocese itself is located in new buildings in the north of the city.
The 1991 Constitution facilitated the presence of Protestant movements and other religious groups in the population. The city has a Muslim mosque located in the area of Chapinero. The main Ashkenazi Jewish synagogue (there are a total of 4 synagogues in Bogotá) (Sony VGN-CR11S Battery) is located on 94th street (also called State of Israel avenue). An Eastern Orthodox church and the San Pablo Anglican Cathedral, the mother church of the Episcopal Church in Colombia, are both located in Chapinero. The Mormon Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located in the Niza neighborhood. There are four Buddhist centers located in the north of the city(Sony VGN-CR11M Battery). There are also a wide variety of numerous Protestant churches in different parts of the city including the Bogotá Baptist Chapel, the non-denominational Union Church, and the St. Matthaus Evangelical Lutheran Church which holds services in German as well as Spanish for the German-Colombian community.
A broad array of restaurants can be visited in Bogotá where typical and international food can be enjoyed. Parque de la 93, The G Zone(Sony VGN-CR11E Battery), La Candelaria and the International Centre are some of the main sectors where a number of international restaurants are found. Typical dishes of Bogotá include the Ajiaco,[45] a delightful soup prepared with chicken, a variety of potatoes, corn on the cob, and guascas (an herb), usually served with sour cream and capers(Sony VGN-CR21E Battery).
Tamale is a very traditional dish here. Colombian tamal is a paste made with rice, meat or chicken, chickpea, carrot, and spices, wrapped in plantain leaves and steam cooked.
Figs with arequipe, strawberries with cream, postre de natas and cuajada con melao are some of the main desserts offered in the city. Canelazo is a hot drink from the Altiplano prepared with aguapanela, cinnamon and aguardiente(Sony VGN-CR21S Battery).
There are many parks, many with facilities for concerts, plays, movies, storytellers and other activities.
"Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park" is a large park regularly used to stage free concerts (such as the annual Rock al Parque, a festival in which popular and/or recently formed international, latinamerican, and Colombian rock bands play free of charge) (Sony VGN-CR21Z Battery).
The public Parque Nacional (National Park) has many trees and green spaces, ponds, games for children, foot and bicycle paths, and venues for entertainment such as public screenings of movies and concerts and events organized by the Council of Bogotá. It is located between two main streets, the Circunvalar Avenue and the 7th Avenue.
The Bogotá Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico de Bogotá) (Sony VGN-CR31S Battery).
The Children's Museum of Bogotá (Museo de los Niños) is a science, technology and art interactive museum specializing in children and youngsters ages 2 to 19.
"Parque de la 93" is located between 93rd and 93Ath street, and 12th and 13th avenue, and has day-time leisure activities and nightlife. Several of the top restaurants and bars in the city are in this park(Sony VGN-CR31E Battery).
Mundo Aventura is an amusement park, with an entry charge and charges for the different attractions. It has rides for adults and children, a petting zoo, and the "cerdodromo", where pigs race.
"Salitre Mágico" is another amusement park with rides and attractions. The park is near the Simón Bolívar park, where concerts are held throughout the year(Sony VGN-CR31Z Battery).
Parque del Chicó has trees, gardens, artificial creeks and ponds, and a colonial style house converted into a museum.
To the north Parque Jaime Duque has rides, a giant map of Colombia, popular exhibits, a zoo, and a big hand holding the world symbolizing God. There is a reproduction of the Taj Mahal in the park with a collection of reproductions of famous paintings. The park is also used for large concerts, mainly electronic music ones(Sony VGN-CR41Z Battery).
Maloka is an interactive museum of sciences.
Tourist train is a sightseeing train, popular with Bogotá residents, which runs to outlying towns Zipaquirá, Cajicá and Nemocón along the lines of the former Bogotá Savannah Railway on weekends. The route to Zipaquirá (famous for its salt cathedral) is 53 km long. Another line goes towards the north for 47 km and ends at Briceño(Sony VGN-CR41S Battery).
The flag originated with the insurgency movement against the colonial authorities which began on 20 July 1810, during which the rebels wore armbands with yellow and red bands, as these colours were those of the Spanish flag used as the flag for the New Kingdom of Granada. On 9 October 1952, exactly 142 years after these events, decree 555 of 1952 officially adopted the patriotic armband as the flag of Bogotá. (Sony VGN-CR41E Battery) The flag of Cundinamarca follows the same pattern, plus a light blue tile which represents the Virgin Mary's cape.
The flag itself is a yellow band above a red one. The yellow denotes the gold from the earth, as well as the virtues of justice, clemency, benevolence, the so-called "mundane qualities" (defined as nobility, excellence, richness, generosity, splendour, health, steadfastness, joy and prosperity), long life, eternity, power and constancy(Sony VGN-CR42Z Battery). The red denotes the virtue of charity, as well as the qualities of bravery, nobility, values, audacity, victory, honour and furor, Colombians call it the blood of their people.[citation needed]
The coat of arms of the city was granted by emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) to the New Kingdom of Granada, by royal decree given in Valladolid, Spain on 3 December 1548. It contains a black eagle in the center, which symbolises steadfastness(Sony VGN-CR42S Battery). The eagle is also a symbol of the Habsburgs, which was the ruling family of the Spanish empire at the time. The eagle is crowned with gold and holds a red pomegranate inside a golden background. The border contains olive branches with nine golden pomegranates on a blue background. The two red pomegranates symbolize audacity(Sony VGN-CR42E Battery), and the nine golden ones represent the nine states which constituted the New Kingdom of Granada at the time. In 1932 the coat of arms was officially recognized and adopted as the symbol of Bogotá.[citation needed]
Bogotá's anthem lyrics were written by Pedro Medina Avendaño; the melody was composed by Roberto Pineda Duque. The song was officially declared the anthem by decree 1000 July 31, 1974, by then Mayor of Bogotá, Aníbal Fernandez de Soto(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/L Battery).
Wellington ( /ˈwɛlɪŋtən/) is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand after Auckland. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is home to 393,400 residents.
The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the seat of the Wellington Region – which in addition to the urban area covers the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/P Battery). The urban area includes four cities: Wellington, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half of Wellington's population; Porirua on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley. Wellington also holds the distinction of being the world's southernmost capital city(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/W Battery).
In 2008, Wellington was classified as a Gamma World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University.[4] The 2010 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world.[5] In 2011 Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011 named Wellington as fourth in its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011, referring to the New Zealand capital as the "coolest little capital in the world"(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/B Battery).
Wellington was named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke's title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset.
In Māori, Wellington goes by three names. Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara".(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/L Battery) Pōneke is a transliteration of Port Nick, short for Port Nicholson (the city's central marae, the community supporting it and its kapa haka have the pseudo-tribal name of Ngāti Pōneke).[8] Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, meaning The Head of the Fish of Māui (often shortened to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika), a traditional name for the southernmost part of the North Island, derives from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/P Battery).
Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament, the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments and the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions in New Zealand.
Wellington's compact city centre supports an arts scene, café culture and nightlife much larger than many cities of a similar size(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/R Battery). It is an important centre of New Zealand's film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses.[9] Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Museum of Wellington City & Sea and the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival are all sited there(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G Battery).
Wellington had the 12th best quality of living in the world in 2009,[10] a ranking holding steady from 2007, according to a 2007 study by consulting company Mercer. Of cities with English as the primary language, Wellington ranked fourth in 2007.[11] Of cities in the Asia Pacific region, Wellington ranked third (2009) behind Auckland and Sydney, Australia.[10] Wellington became much more affordable(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/B Battery), in terms of cost of living relative to cities worldwide, with its ranking moving from 93rd (more expensive) to 139th (less expensive) in 2009, probably as a result of currency fluctuations during the global economic downturn from March 2008 to March 2009.[12] "Foreigners get more bang for their buck in Wellington, which is among the cheapest cities in the world to live", according to a 2009 article(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/L Battery), which reported that currency fluctuations make New Zealand cities affordable for multi-national firms to do business, and elaborated that "New Zealand cities were now more affordable for expatriates and were competitive places for overseas companies to develop business links and send employees".[13] Lonely Planet named Wellington 'the coolest little capital in the world' in its 'Best In Travel 2011' guide book(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/P Battery).
Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the tenth century.
"The Old Shebang" on Cuba Street, c. 1883
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory, on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840. The settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. When that proved swampy and flood-prone they transplanted the plans, which had been drawn without regard for the hilly terrain(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/L Battery).
360° panorama of the old Government Buildings
In 1865, Wellington became the capital city of New Zealand, replacing Auckland, where William Hobson had placed the capital in 1841. The Parliament of New Zealand had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, on a temporary basis, but Wellington did not become the official capital city for three more years. In November 1863(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/P Battery), the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alfred Domett, places a resolution before Parliament (meeting in Auckland) that "... it has become necessary that the seat of government ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait [region]." Apparently, there had been some concerns that the more highly populated South Island (where the goldfields were located) (Sony Vaio VGN-CR21/B Battery) would choose to form a separate colony in the British Empire. Several Commissioners invited from Australia (chosen for their neutral status to help resolve the question) declared that Wellington was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and good harbour. Parliament officially met in Wellington for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR21E/L Battery)
As the national capital, Wellington is the location of the highest court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court. The historic former High Court building has been enlarged and restored for the use of the Supreme Court.
Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General, is in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve. Premier House, the official residence of the Prime Minister, is in Pipitea on Tinakori Road(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21E/P Battery).
The Wellington Urban Area (pink) is administered by four city councils
Wellington is at the south-western tip of the North Island on Cook Strait, the passage that separates the North and South Islands. On a clear day the snowcapped Kaikoura Ranges are visible to the south across the strait. To the north stretch the golden beaches of the Kapiti Coast. On the east the Rimutaka Range divides Wellington from the broad plains of the Wairarapa, a wine region of national notability(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21S/L Battery).
With a latitude of 41° 17' South, Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world.[15] Wellington is also the most remote capital city in the world, the farthest away from any other capital city. Wellington is more densely populated than most other cities in New Zealand due to the restricted amount of land that is available between its harbour and the surrounding ranges of hills(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21S/P Battery). Wellington has very few open areas in which to expand, and this has brought about the development of the suburban towns in the greater urban area. Because of its location in the latitudes of the Roaring Forties, and also its exposure to the winds blowing through the Cook Strait, Wellington is known to New Zealanders as "Windy Wellington"(Sony Vaio VGN-CR23/B Battery).
More than most cities, life in Wellington is dominated by its central business district (CBD). Approximately 62,000 people work in the CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in Auckland's CBD, despite that city having three times Wellington's population. Wellington's cultural and nightlife venues concentrate in Courtenay Place and surroundings located in the southern part of the CBD(Sony Vaio VGN-CR23/P Battery), making the nearby suburb of Te Aro the largest entertainment destination in New Zealand.
Wellington has a median income well above the average in New Zealand,[16] with Wellington having the highest median income of all New Zealand cities.[17] Wellington additionally has a much higher proportion of people with tertiary qualifications than the national average.[18] Wellington has a reputation for its picturesque natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21EF/S battery). The CBD is sited close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour. Wellington Harbour lies along an active geological fault, which is clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many of Wellington's suburbs sit high above the centre of the city.
There is a network of bush walks and reserves maintained by the Wellington City Council and local volunteers(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF battery). These include Otari-Wilton's Bush dedicated solely to the protection and propagation of New Zealand native plants. The Wellington region has 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) of regional parks and forests.
In the east is the Miramar Peninsula, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at Rongotai, the site of Wellington International Airport. The narrow entrance to Wellington is directly to the east of the Miramar Peninsula(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF battery), and contains the dangerous shallows of Barrett Reef, where many ships have been wrecked (most famously the inter-island ferry Wahine in 1968).
On the hill west of the city centre are Victoria University and the Wellington Botanic Garden. Both of these can be reached by a funicular railway, the Wellington Cable Car.
Wellington Harbour has three islands: Matiu/Somes Island, Makaro/Ward Island and Mokopuna Island. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for habitation(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W battery). It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals, and as an internment camp during World War I and World War II. This island is now a conservation island, providing refuge for endangered species, much like Kapiti Island farther up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by the Dominion Post Ferry.
The urban area of Wellington stretches across the areas administered by Wellington, Hutt (covering Lower Hutt) (Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF/W battery), Upper Hutt and Porirua City Councils. See Wellington City for a list of suburbs. See Hutt City for a list of Lower Hutt suburbs. See Porirua City for a list of suburbs. See Kapiti Coast (district), New Zealand for a list of suburbs.
The four cities have a total population of 397,300 (June 2011 estimate),[3] and the Wellington urban area contains 99% of that population. The remaining areas are largely mountainous and sparsely farmed or parkland and are outside the urban area boundary(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF battery).
Another major population area is the Kapiti Coast area, north of Porirua City and including the towns of Paraparaumu, Waikanae and Otaki. The population of the Kapiti Coast is 49800. The beach and garden zones of these townships attract life-stylers and retired people: 24.6% are aged 65+ as at June 2011 estimates: See Waikanae River and Otaki Beach(Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF battery).
The 2011 Census was cancelled as it was due to take place just after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake . The next census is expected to take place in 2013
Counts from the 2006 census gave totals by area, sex, and age. Wellington had the largest population of the four city council areas with 179,466 people, followed by Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt. Women outnumber men in all four areas, according to data from Statistics New Zealand, particularly in the Wellington City area. (Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/B battery)
Age distribution
Age distributions for the four cities are given (see table below). Overall, Wellington's age structure closely matches the national distribution. The relative lack of older people in Wellington is less marked when the neighbouring Kapiti Coast District is included. Nearly 7% of Kapiti Coast residents are over 80(Sony VAIO VGN-NW35e battery).
The city averages 2025 hours (or about 169 days) of sunshine per year.[22] The climate is a temperate marine one, is generally moderate all year round, and rarely sees temperatures rise above 25 °C (77 °F), or fall below 4 °C (39 °F). The hottest recorded temperature in the city is 31.1 °C (88 °F), while −1.9 °C (28 °F) is the coldest. The city is notorious however for its southerly blasts in winter(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S battery), which may make the temperature feel much colder. The city is generally very windy all year round with high rainfall; average annual rainfall is 1249 mm, June and July being the wettest months. Frosts are quite common in the hill suburbs and the Hutt Valley between May and September. Snow is very rare, although snow fell on the city and many other parts of the Wellington region in July and August 2011(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S battery).
Earthquakes
See also: Earthquakes in New Zealand
New Zealand government "Beehive" and the Parliament Buildings
Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of earthquakes in 1848[26] and from another earthquake in 1855. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on a fault to the north and east of Wellington. It ranks as probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history, (Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T battery) with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the Moment magnitude scale. It caused vertical movements of two to three metres over a large area, including raising an area of land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of Wellington's central business district. For this reason the street named Lambton Quay is now 100 to 200 metres (325 to 650 ft) (Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T battery) from the harbour. Plaques set into the footpath along Lambton Quay mark the shoreline in 1840 and indicate the extent of the uplift and reclamation.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred more minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. The inhabitants, particularly those in high-rise buildings(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15 battery), typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings constructed in Wellington were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored Government Buildings,[28] near Parliament is the largest wooden office building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15L battery), especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents also place their hopes of survival in good building regulations, which gradually became more stringent in the course of the twentieth century.
Te Aro Park in downtown Wellington
Wellington showcases a variety of architectural styles from the past 150 years – 19th century wooden cottages, such as the Italianate Katherine Mansfield Birthplace in Thorndon(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15M battery), some streamlined Art Deco structures such as the old Wellington Free Ambulance headquarters, the Central Fire Station, Fountain Court Apartments, the City Gallery, and the former Post and Telegraph Building, as well as the curves and vibrant colours of post-modern architecture in the CBD.
The oldest building in Wellington is the 1858 Colonial Cottage in Mount Cook.[29] The tallest building in the city is the Majestic Centre on Willis Street at 116 metres high, (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15S battery) the second tallest being the structural expressionist State Insurance Building at 103 metres.[31] Futuna Chapel in Karori was the first bicultural building in New Zealand, and is thus considered one of the most significant New Zealand buildings of the twentieth century.
The Bucket Fountain, Cuba Street; erected in 1969
Old St Paul's is an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture adapted to colonial conditions and materials, as is St Mary of the Angels(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ17G battery). The Museum of Wellington City & Sea building, the Bond Store, is in the Second French Empire style, and the Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building is in a late English Classical style. There are several restored theatre buildings: the St James Theatre, the Opera House and the Embassy Theatre(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ17L battery).
Civic Square is surrounded by the Town Hall and council offices, the Michael Fowler Centre, the Wellington Central Library, Capital E (home of the National Theatre for Children), the City-to-Sea Bridge, and the City Gallery.
As it is the capital city, there are many notable government buildings in Wellington. The circular-conical Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18E battery), on the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, was constructed between 1969 and 1981 and is commonly referred to as the Beehive. Across the road from the Beehive is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere,[32] part of the old Government Buildings which now houses part of Victoria University of Wellington's Law Faculty(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18G battery).
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is on the waterfront.
Other notable buildings include Wellington Town Hall, Wellington Railway Station, Dominion Museum (now Massey University), State Insurance Building, Westpac Stadium, and Wellington Airport at Rongotai. Leading Wellington architects include Frederick Thatcher, Frederick de Jersey Clere, W. Gray Young, Bill Alington, Ian Athfield, Roger Walker and Pynenburg and Collins(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18S battery).
Wellington contains many iconic sculptures and structures such as the Bucket Fountain in Cuba Street and Invisible City by Anton Parsons on Lambton Quay. Recently a number of new kinetic sculptures have been commissioned, such as the Zephyrometer.[33] This giant 26-metre orange spike built for movement by artist Phil Price has been described as "tall(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18T battery), soaring and elegantly simple" and which "reflects the swaying of the yacht masts in the Evans Bay Marina behind it" and "moves like the needle on the dial of a nautical instrument, measuring the speed of the sea or wind or vessel."[34]
Apartments at Oriental Bay
Wellington experienced a real estate boom in the early 2000s and the effects of the international property bust at the start of 2007(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ19L battery). In 2005, the market was described as "robust".[35] But by 2008, property values had declined by about 9.3% over a 12-month period, according to one estimate. More expensive properties declined more steeply in price, sometimes by as much as 20%.[36] "From 2004 to early 2007, rental yields were eroded and positive cash flow property investments disappeared as house values climbed faster than rents(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ19VN battery). Then that trend reversed and yields slowly began improving," according to two New Zealand Herald reporters writing in May 2009.[37] In the middle of 2009, house prices had dropped, interest rates were low, and buy-to-let property investment was again looking attractive, particularly in the Lambton precinct, according to these two reporters(SONY Vaio VGN-SR11M Battery).
A Wellington City Council survey conducted in March 2009 found the typical central city apartment dweller was a New Zealand native aged 24 to 35 with a professional job in the downtown area, with household income higher than surrounding areas. Three quarters (73%) walked to work or university, 13% travelled by car, 6% by bus, 2% bicycled (although 31% own bicycles), and did not travel very that far since most (73%) worked or studied in the central city(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/B Battery). The large majority (88%) did not have children in their apartments; 39% were couples without children; 32% were single-person households; 15% were groups of people flatting together. Most (56%) owned their apartment; 42% rented (of renters, 16% paid $351 to $450 per week, 13% paid less and 15% paid more – only 3% paid more than $651 per week). The report continued: "The four most important reasons for living in an apartment were given as lifestyle and city living (23%),(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/P Battery) close to work (20%), close to shops and cafes (11%) and low maintenance (11%) ... City noise and noise from neighbours were the main turnoffs for apartment dwellers (27%), followed by a lack of outdoor space (17%), living close to neighbours (9%) and apartment size and a lack of storage space (8%)(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/S Battery)."
Wellington households are primarily one-family, making up two thirds (67%) of households, followed by single-person households (25%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2006 census and pertain to the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities). (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/B battery)
Wellington is marketed as the 'coolest little capital in the world' by Positively Wellington Tourism, an award-winning regional tourism organisation[40] set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997. The organisation’s council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/P battery).
In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements.[43] The city’s long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/S battery)
Tourism is a major contributor to Wellington’s economy, injecting approximately $1.3 million into the region annually and accounting for 9% of total FTE employment.[45] The city is consistently named as New Zealanders’ favourite destination in the quarterly FlyBuys Colmar Brunton Mood of the Traveller survey[46] and it was fourth in Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011’s Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25M/B battery)
New Zealanders make up the city’s largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits being made to Wellington each year. Kiwi visitors spend on average $2.4 million a day in the city.[47] The capital has approximately 540,000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and $436 million in the city each year. Wellington's largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210,000 making the trip across the Tasman and spending a total of approximately $334 million annually(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25S/B battery).
Cruise tourism to the capital is experiencing a major boom, in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125,000 passengers and crew visit the city on 60 liners. There are 80 vessels booked for stopovers in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than $31 million into the region’s economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/P battery)
Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, the city hosted 6495 conference events involving nearly 800,000 delegate days; this injected approximately $100 million into the economy.[50]
Popular tourist attractions include Museum of Wellington City & Sea Wellington Zoo and Zealandia (Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/S battery).
You can explore Wellington with this online visitor experience.
The maximum electricity demand for the Wellington region is forecast to grow on average by 1.4% annually over the next 15 years, from 756 MW in 2012 to 934 MW by 2027. (This is slightly lower than the national average demand growth of 1.7% per annum). The largest source of generation in the region is Meridian Energy's West Wind wind farm, with a maximum output of 143 MW. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/B battery) The West Wind wind farm is a few kilometres west of Wellington's central business district, on Quartz Hill and Terawhiti Station. There are some other small generators in the region, but the total peak generation is only 165 MW.
The peak demand in the region greatly exceeds the local generation, and power supply is therefore highly dependent on the National Grid transmission network operated by Transpower. Four 220 kV transmission circuits from Bunnythorpe(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/P battery), near Palmerston North, provide the main connections with the rest of the national grid. The region is also supplied by the North Island terminal of the HVDC link (the Cook Strait cable), located at Haywards substation, on State Highway 58 above the Hutt Valley. A major upgrade of the HVDC link to be commissioned in 2013 will increase the overall capacity of the link from 700 MW to 1,000 MW from 2012, and 1,200 MW from 2014(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/S battery).
Further information: HVDC Inter-Island
Wellington's local power distribution network is owned and managed by Wellington Electricity. The main power supplies to the Wellington central business district come from Transpower grid exit point substations at Central Park and Wilton. The Central Park substation is the largest grid exit point in the Wellington region, with a peak demand of over 170 MW (Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/J battery) (forecast to grow to 200 MW by 2020). There are a range of constraints and limitations with this substation, and alternative investment solutions are being developed to improve future security of supply.[54]
The strong winds of the Wellington area, while advantageous for wind farms, sometimes damage power lines. In May 2009, one windstorm left about 2500 residents without electric power for a several hours. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/Q battery)In addition, lightning strikes and occasional faults in the electric power system sometimes cause power outages.[56]
Te Papa ("Our Place"), the Museum of New Zealand.
Wellington is home to Te Papa (the Museum of New Zealand), the National Library of New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Museum, Colonial Cottage, the New Zealand Cricket Museum, the Cable Car Museum, Old St Paul's, and the Wellington City Art Gallery(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN/S battery).
Wellington has become home to myriad high-profile events and cultural celebrations, including the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival, biennial Wellington Jazz Festival, biennial Capital E National Arts Festival for Children and major events such as Brancott Estate World of Wearable Art, Cuba Street Carnival, Visa Wellington On a Plate, New Zealand Fringe Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29XN/S battery), New Zealand International Comedy Festival (also hosted in Auckland), Summer City, The Wellington Folk Festival (in Wainuiomata), New Zealand Affordable Art Show, the New Zealand Sevens Weekend and Parade, Out in the Square, Vodafone Homegrown, the Couch Soup theatre festival, and numerous film festivals.
The annual children's Artsplash Festival brings together hundreds of students from across the Wellington region(Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M/S battery). The week-long festival includes music and dance performances and the presentation of visual arts.
Filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson, Sir Richard Taylor and a growing team of creative professionals have turned the eastern suburb of Miramar into a film-making, post-production and special effects infrastructure, giving rise to the moniker 'Wellywood'. Jackson's companies include Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, Camperdown Studios(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/B battery), post-production house Park Road Post, and Stone Street Studios near Wellington Airport.[57] Recent films shot partly or wholly in Wellington include the Lord of The Rings trilogy, King Kong and Avatar. Jackson described Wellington in this way: "Well, it's windy. But it's actually a lovely place, where you're pretty much surrounded by water and the bay. The city itself is quite small, but the surrounding areas are very reminiscent of the hills up in northern California(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/P battery), like Marin County near San Francisco and the Bay Area climate and some of the architecture. Kind of a cross between that and Hawaii."[58]
Sometime Wellington directors Jane Campion and Geoff Murphy have reached the world's screens with their independent spirit. Emerging Kiwi film-makers, like Robert Sarkies, Taika Waititi, Costa Botes and Jennifer Bush-Daumec,[59] are extending the Wellington-based lineage and cinematic scope(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/S battery). There are agencies to assist film-makers with such tasks as securing permits and scouting locations.[60]
Wellington has a large number of independent cinemas, including The Embassy, Paramount, The Empire, Penthouse, the Roxy and Light House, which participate in film festivals throughout the year. Wellington also has one of the country's highest turn-outs for the annual New Zealand International Film Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H battery).
The local music scene has produced bands such as The Warratahs, The Phoenix Foundation, Shihad, Beastwars, Fly My Pretties, Rhian Sheehan, Birchville Cat Motel, Black Boned Angel, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Black Seeds, Fur Patrol, Flight of the Conchords, Connan and the Mockasins, Rhombus and Module. The New Zealand School of Music was established in 2005 (Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/B battery)through a merger of the conservatory and theory programmes at Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Nevine String Quartet and Chamber Music New Zealand are based in Wellington. The city is also home to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Internationally renowned men's A Cappella chorus Vocal FX(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/P battery).
Theatre and the dramatic arts
Wellington is home to Downstage Theatre, Bats Theatre, Circa Theatre, the National Maori Theatre company Taki Rua, National Dance & Drama School Toi Whakaari and the National Theatre for Children at Capital E in Civic Square.
Wellington is home to groups that perform Improvised Theatre and Improvisational comedy, including Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), The Improvisors and youth group, Joe Improv. Te Whaea National Dance & Drama Centre(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/S battery), houses New Zealand's University-level school's of Dance and Drama, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School & New Zealand School of Dance. These Brother & Sister Institutions are separately run entities that share the building's facilities.
St James' Theatre on Courtenay Place is a popular venue for artistic performances.
Wellington is the home for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the New Zealand School of Dance.
Wellington has a small but thriving comedy scene(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35M/B battery), aided in recent years by the emergence of the Fringe Bar as the home for Wellington comedy. The venue hosts up to three nights of comedy every week, with a mix of stand-up, improv and sketch. The monthly El Jaguar Fiesta de Variety showcases a mix of music, singing, burlesque, and comedy.[61] Other venues which host comedy in Wellington include the San Francisco Bath House(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/B battery).
Many of New Zealand's prominent comedians have either come from Wellington or have got their start there, such as Ginette McDonald ("Lynn of Tawa"), Raybon Kan, Dai Henwood, Ben Hurley, Steve Wrigley, Guy Williams, and, most famously, the Flight of the Conchords and the satirist John Clarke ("Fred Dagg"), who found even greater fame after he moved to Australia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/P battery).
The comedy group Breaking the 5th Wall[62] operates out of Wellington and has regular shows around the city, performing a mix of sketches and semi-improvised theatre.
Wellington is also home to groups that perform improvised theatre and improvisational comedy, including Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), The Improvisors and youth group Joe Improv.
Wellington also hosts shows in the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/S battery). The NZ International Comedy Fest 2010 featured over 250 local and international comedy acts and was a revolutionary first in incorporating an iPhone application for the Festival.[63]
Art Ferns and Civic Square
From 1936 to 1992 Wellington was home to the National Art Gallery of New Zealand, when it was amalgamated into Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Wellington is also home to the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts and the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. The city's arts centre, Toi Poneke, is a nexus of creative projects(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/P battery), collaborations, and multi-disciplinary production. Arts Programmes and Services Manager Eric Vaughn Holowacz and a small team based in the Abel Smith Street facility have produced ambitious initiatives such as Opening Notes, Drive by Art, and public art projects. The city is home to experimental arts publication White Fungus. The Learning Connexion provides art classes. Other visual art galleries include the City Gallery(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/Q battery).
Wellington's café culture is prominent. The city has more cafes per capita than New York City.[64] Restaurants are either licensed to sell alcohol, BYO (bring your own), or unlicensed (no alcohol); many let you bring your own wine.[65] Restaurants offer a variety of cuisines, including from Europe, Asia and Polynesia. "For dishes that have a distinctly New Zealand style(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38 battery), there are lamb, pork and cervena (venison), salmon, crayfish (lobster), Bluff oysters, pāua (abalone), mussels, scallops, pipis and tuatua (both New Zealand shellfish); kumara (sweet potato); kiwifruit and tamarillo; and pavlova, the national dessert," recommends one tourism website.[66]
Wellington Phoenix FC – football (soccer) club playing in the Australasian A-League, the only fully professional football club in New Zealand(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P battery)
Team Wellington – Wellington's club in the semi-professional New Zealand Football Championship
Central Pulse – netball team representing the Lower North Island in the ANZ Championship, primarily based in Wellington
Wellington Firebirds and Wellington Blaze – men's and women's cricket teams
Wellington Saints – basketball team competing in New Zealand's National Basketball League
Sporting events hosted in Wellington include(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S battery):
six pool games and two quarter-final games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup
the Wellington Sevens – a round of the IRB Sevens World Series held at the Westpac Stadium over several days every February. This rugby sevens tournament contributes around $6 million to the local economy each year
the 2011 Tae Kwon Do World Champs
the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005
the Wellington 500 street race for touring cars, between 1985 and 1996
the McEvedy Shield – annual athletics meet for college students from Rongotai College, St Patrick's College (Silverstream), St Patrick's College (Wellington), and Wellington College(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/W battery)
Victoria University of Wellington has four campuses and works with a three trimester system (beginning March, July, and November).[67] It enrolled 21,380 students in 2008; of these, 16,609 were full-time students. Of all students, 56% were female and 44% male. While the student body was primarily New Zealanders of European descent, (Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/B battery) 1,713 were Maori, 1,024 were Pacific students, 2,765 were international students. 5,751 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded. The school has 1,930 full-time employees.[68]
Massey University has a Wellington campus known as the "creative campus" and offers programs in communication and business, engineering and technology, health and well-being, and creative arts. Its school of design was established in 1886(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/P battery), and has research centres for studying public health, sleep, Maori health, small & medium enterprises, disasters, and tertiary teaching excellence. It combined with Victoria University of Wellington to create the New Zealand School of Music.
The University of Otago has a Wellington branch with its Wellington School of Medicine and Health(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H battery).
In addition, there is Whitireia New Zealand which has large campuses in Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti; the Wellington Institute of Technology and New Zealand's National Drama school, Toi Whakaari. For further information, see List of universities in New Zealand.
The Wellington area has numerous primary and secondary schools. See List of schools in the Wellington Region for more information(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/B battery).
See also: Public transport in Wellington and List of bus routes in Wellington
A view from Wadestown of the rail yard looking southwest
Wellington is served to the north by State Highway 1 in the west and State Highway 2 in the east, meeting at the Ngauranga Interchange north of the city centre, where SH 1 runs through the city to the airport. Road access into the capital is lower in grade than most other cities in New Zealand – between Wellington and the Kapiti Coast(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/P battery), SH 1 travels along the Centennial Highway, a narrow accident-prone section of road, and between Wellington and Wairarapa, SH 2 transverses the Rimutaka Ranges on a similar narrow accident-prone road. Wellington has two short motorways, both part of SH 1: the Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway and the Wellington Urban Motorway, which in combination with a small non-motorway section in the Ngauranga Gorge connect Porirua with Wellington City(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/W battery).
Commuting patterns in the Wellington region during 2006; darker red lines indicate greater traffic. Source: Statistics New Zealand.[70]
Bus transport in Wellington is supplied by several different operators under the banner of Metlink. Buses serve almost every part of Wellington City, with most of them running along the "Golden Mile" from Wellington Railway Station to Courtenay Place. Most of the buses run on diesel, but nine routes use trolleybuses – the only remaining public system in Oceania(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46MD/B battery).
Two of Tranz Metro's EM class electric multiple units working a southbound morning service on the Hutt Valley Line. Wellington is the only New Zealand city with electric suburban trains.
Wellington lies at the southern end of the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) and the Wairarapa Line, converging on Wellington Railway Station at the northern end of central Wellington. Two long-distance services leave from Wellington(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46TD/B battery): the Capital Connection, for commuters from Palmerston North, and The Overlander to Auckland. During 2006, there was serious discussion to withdraw the Overlander because of lack of passengers; a railway spokesperson said the number of passengers was so low that "we could not justify keeping it going".[71] In September 2006, however, the then operator announced there would be continued service but on a reduced basis (Sony VAIO VGN-SR48J/B battery) (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the off-peak winter season, and daily in the peak summer and Easter period).
Four electrified suburban lines radiate to the outer suburbs – the Johnsonville Line north to the northern suburbs, ending at Johnsonville; the Kapiti Line along the NIMT to Porirua and to Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49D/J battery); the Melling Line to Lower Hutt via Petone, and the Hutt Valley Line along the Wairarapa Line via Waterloo and Taita to Upper Hutt. A diesel-hauled carriage service, the Wairarapa Connection, connects several times daily to Masterton in the Wairarapa via the 8.8-kilometre (5.5 mi) long Rimutaka Tunnel.
Wellington is the northern terminus of Cook Strait ferries to Picton in the South Island, provided by state-owned Interislander and private Bluebridge(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49VN/H battery). Local ferries connect Wellington city centre with Eastbourne, Seatoun and Petone.
Wellington International Airport is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of the city. It is serviced by flights from across New Zealand, and to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Flights to other international destinations require a transfer at another airport, as larger aircraft cannot use Wellington's short (1,936-metre or 6,352-foot) runway(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10J/S Battery). The airport is the base for Wellington Aero Club, a private not-for-profit aeronautical flight school.
In terms of land area, Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, and one of the biggest in Latin America. It figures amongst the 30 largest cities of the world and it is the third-highest capital city in South America at 2,625 metres (8,612 ft) above sea level, after Quito and La Paz. (SONY PCG-5G3L battery) With its many universities and libraries, Bogotá has become known as "The Athens of South America".[6] Bogotá owns the largest moorland of the world, which is located in the Sumapaz Locality.[7] The city ranked 54th in the 2010 Global Cities Index,[8] and is listed as global city of the Beta+ kind by the GaWC(SONY PCG-F305 battery).
The area of modern Bogotá was first populated by groups of indigenous people who migrated from Mesoamerica.[citation needed] Among these groups were the Muiscas, who settled in what is now mainly Cundinamarca and Boyacá. With the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, the area became a major settlement, founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and later capital of the Spanish provinces and the seat of the Viceroyalty of New Granada(SONY PCG-5J1L battery). With independence, Bogotá became capital of the Gran Colombia and later the capital of the Republic of Colombia.
The first populations inhabiting Bogotá were the Muiscas, members of the Chibcha language family. At the arrival of the conquerors, the population was estimated to be half a million indigenous people(SONY PCG-5J2L battery). They occupied the highland and mild climate flanks between the Sumapaz Mountains to the southwest and Cocuy's snowy peak to the northeast, covering an approximate area of 25,000 km², comprising Bogotá's high plain, the current Boyacá department portion and a small Santander region. Most fertile lands were ancient Pleistocene lake beds and regions irrigated by high Bogotá, Suárez, Chicamocha and some Meta affluent river beds(SONY PCG-5K2L battery).
In this area, the population was organised in two large federations, each commanded by a chief. The southwest area was dominated by the Zipa with the center located in Bacatá, currently Bogotá. He was the strongest leader, occupying two-fifths of the territory. The northeast zone was the Zaque domain and the center was Hunza region, currently Tunja(SONY PCG-5L1L battery). Muisca population however, contrasting with Tayrona population, did not develop large cities. Muisca, eminently farmers, formed a disperse population occupying numerous small villages and hut settlements. In addition, some free isolated tribes also existed: Iraca or Sugamuxi, Tundama, and Guanentá(SONY PCG-6S2L battery).
From 1533, a belief persisted in the sense that Río Grande de la Magdalena was the trail to the South Sea, to Peru, legendary Dorado. Such was the target Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the Spaniard conqueror who left Santa Marta on 6 April 1536 with 500 soldiers, heading towards the interior of current Colombia. The expedition divided into two groups(SONY PCG-6S3L battery), one under Quesada command to move on land, and the other commanded by Diego de Urbino would go up river in four brigantine ships to later on meet Quesada troops at the site named Tora de las Barrancas Bermejas. When they arrived, they heard news about Indians inhabiting the south and making large salt cakes used to trade for wild cotton and fish. Jiménez decided to abandon the route to Peru and cross the mountain in search for salt villages(SONY PCG-6V1L battery). They saw crops, trails, white salt cakes and then huts where they found corn, yucca and beans. From Tora, the expedition went up the Opón River and found Indians covered with very finely painted cotton mats. When they arrived to Grita Valley, of the expedition leaving Santa Marta, only 70 men were left(SONY PCG-6W1L battery).
Along their trip, they took a large amount of gold and emeralds. In Hunza, they captured the Zaque Quemuenchatocha and headed towards Sogamoso, where they plundered and set the Sun temple on fire and obtaining immense prize.
On 22 March 1537, they arrived from the north crossing Nemocón and Zipaquirá salt villages to a place they named Valle de los Alcázarea (Valley of the Fortress) (SONY PCG-7111L battery). Already in Chibcha territory they found goods roads and moved southwest. In the next few days, they came across several villages, among them Lenguazaque and Suesca. They continued through Cajicá, Chía and Suba, the start of Bogotá Kingdom, where they fought Bogotá Chief Indians, who tried to prevent them from entering their town, and saw Muequetá or Bacatá fenced ranch village(SONY PCG-71511M battery), built on a swampy ravine, and Tisquesusa Zipa capital on the right margin of the Tisquesusa River.
The fountain of Quevedo, one of the possible foundation sites of Bogotá
Following the conquerors motto to found and to populate, Quesada decided to build an urban settlement to live in good order and under stable government. To the east on the foothills, they found an Indian village named Teusaquillo near the Zipa's recreation residence(SONY PCG-6W3L battery), supplied with water, wood and planting land and protected from winds by Monserrate and Guadalupe hills.
In 1553, the Main Plaza —now Plaza de Bolívar— was moved to its current site and the first cathedral construction on the eastern side began.[citation needed] On the other sides, the Chapter and the Royal Audience were located. The street joining the Major Plaza and Herbs Plaza —currently Santander Park(SONY PCG-7113L battery)— was named Calle Real(Royal Street), now Seventh Carrera.
Formed by Whites, Mestizos, Indians, and slaves, from the second half of the 16th century, the population began rapidly growing. The 1789 census recorded 18,161 inhabitants, and by 1819, the city population amounted to 30,000 inhabitants distributed in 195 blocks. Importance grew when the diocese was created. Up to 1585, the only parish was the Cathedral(SONY PCG-7133L battery), later on Las Nieves to the north and Santa Bárbara south of the Main Plaza were created.
The city mayor and the chapter formed by two councilmen, assisted by the constable and the police chief, governed the city. For better administering these domains, in April 1550, the Audience of Santafé de Bogotá was organized. At that time, the city became the capital and the home of New Kingdom of Granada government(SONY PCG-7Z1L battery). Fourteen years later in 1564, the Spanish Crown designated the first Royal Audience Chairman, Andrés Díaz Venero de Leyva. The New Granada became a viceroyship in 1739 and kept that condition until Liberator Simón Bolívar achieved independence in 1819.
Nineteenth century
Political uneasiness felt all over Spanish colonies in America was expressed in New Granada in many different ways, accelerating the movement to independence. One of the most transcendent was the Revolution of Comuneros(SONY PCG-7Z2L battery) , a riot of the inhabitants started in Villa del Socorro —current Department of Santander—in March 1781. Spanish authorities suppressed the riot, and José Antonio Galán, the leader was executed. He left an imprint, though. He was followed in 1794 by Antonio Nariño, precursor of independence by translating and publishing in Santa Fe, the Rights of Men and the Citizen, and by the 20 July movement leaders in 1810(SONY PCG-8Y1L battery). Independence outcry originated in an apparently slight dispute between Creole and Spaniards over the loan of a flowerpot, but became a popular uprising.
The period between 1810 and 1815 is known as "La Patria Boba" (The Foolish Fatherland), because during those years Creoles fought among themselves seeking ideal government forms, initial ideological struggles began and the first two republican political parties —federalists and centralists—were formed(SONY PCG-8Y2L battery).
The Royal Street, today known as the Seventh Avenue (Carrera Séptima).
Between 1819 and 1849, there were no fundamental structural changes from the colonial period. By the mid-19th century, a series of fundamental reforms were enacted, some of the most important being slavery abolition and religious, teaching, print and speech industry and trade freedom, among others. During the decade of the 70s(SONY PCG-8Z2L battery), radicalism accelerated reforms and state and social institutions were substantially modified. However, during the second half of the century, the country faced permanent pronouncements, declarations of rebellions between states, and factions which resulted in civil wars: the last and bloodiest was the One Thousand Days War from 1899 to 1902. After independence, Bogotá continued to enjoy the privilege of being the main educational and cultural center of the new nation(SONY PCG-8Z1L battery).
In 1823, a few years after the formation of Gran Colombia, the Public Library, now the National Library, was enlarged and modernized with new volumes and better facilities. The National Museum was founded. Those institutions were of great importance to new republic's cultural development. The Central University was the first State school, precursor of the current National University, founded in 1867 and domiciled in Bogotá(SONY PCG-7112L battery).
Bogotá's Railroad Central Station
On 25 December 1884, the first tramway pulled by mules was inaugurated, and covered the route from Plaza de Bolívar to Chapinero,[10] and in 1892, the line linking Plaza de Bolívar and La Sabana Station started operating. The tramway ran over wood rails, but since it easily derailed, steel rails imported from England were installed. In 1894, a tramway car ran the Bogotá-Chapinero line every 20 minutes(SONY PCG-6W2L battery). The tramway provided services until 1948, and was then replaced by buses.
President Rafael Núñez declared the end of Federalism, and in 1886 the country became a centralist republic ruled by the constitution in force – save some amendments – up to 1991. In the middle of political and administration avatars, Bogotá continued as the capital and principal political center of the country(SONY PCG-5K1L battery).
From a base of only 20,000 people in 1793, the city grew to 117,000 in 1912. Population growth was rapid after 1870, largely because of immigration from the eastern highlands.
Early in the 20th century, Colombia had to face devastating consequences from the One Thousand Days War, which lasted from 1899 to 1902, and the loss of Panama. Between 1904 and 1909, the lawfulness of the liberal party was re-established and(SONY VGP-BPS8 battery) President Rafael Reyes endeavored to implement a national government. Peace and state reorganization generated the increase of economic activities. Bogotá started deep architectural and urban transformation with significant industrial and artisan production increases. In 1910, the Industrial Exposition of the Century took place at Park of Independence(SONY VGP-BPS8A battery). Stands built evidenced industrial, artisan work, beaux arts, electricity and machinery progress achieved. The period from 1910 to 1930 is designated conservative hegemony. Between 1924 and 1928, hard union struggles began, with oil fields and banana zone workers' strikes, leaving numerous people killed.
Bogotá had practically no industry. Production was basically artisan work grouped in specific places, similar to commercial sectors(SONY VGP-BPL8 battery). Plaza de Bolívar and surroundings lodged hat stores, at Calle del Comercio –current Carrera Seventh– and Calle Florián –now Carrera Eight– luxurious stores selling imported products opened their doors; at Pasaje Hernández, tailor's shops provided their services, and between 1870 and 1883, four main banks opened their doors: Bogotá, Colombia, Popular and Mortgage Credit banks(SONY VGP-BPS9 battery).
Bogotazo
See also: Bogotazo and La Violencia
Following the banana zone killings and conservative party division, Enrique Olaya Herrera took office in 1930. The liberal party reformed during 16 years of the so-called Liberal Republic, agricultural, social, political, labor, educational, economic and administrative sectors. Unionism strengthened and education coverage expanded(SONY VGP-BPS9/S battery). In 1938, the fourth centenary of Bogotá foundation, the population had reached 333,312 inhabitants, a celebrated event.
The celebration produced a large number of infrastructure works, new construction and work sources. Following the 1946 liberal party division, a conservative candidate took presidential office again in 1948, after the killing of liberal leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, Bogotá's downtown was virtually destroyed as violence reigned. From then, Bogotá's urban(SONY VGP-BPS9A battery), architectural and population sectors were substantially reorganized.
[edit]Modern Bogotá
In January 2012, Gustavo Petro became Mayor with a pledge to ban carrying weapons on the city's streets.[12]
Astronaut view of Bogota
Bogotá is located on the west of the Savannah of Bogotá (Sabana de Bogotá), 2640 metres (8661 ft) above sea level. (SONY VGP-BPS9A/B battery) Although it is located in what is popularly called "savannah" (sabana), the geographical site is actually a high plateau in the Andes mountains. The extended region is also known as "Altiplano Cundiboyacense" which literally means "high plateau of Cundinamarca and Boyacá".
The Bogotá River crosses the sabana, forming Tequendama Falls (Salto de Tequendama) to the south. Tributary rivers form valleys with flourishing villages, whose economy is based on agriculture, livestock raising and artisanal production. (SONY VGP-BPS9/B battery)
The sabana is bordered to the east by the Eastern Cordillera of the Andes mountain range. Surrounding hills, which limit city growth, run from south to north, parallel to the Guadalupe and Monserrate mountains. The western city limit is the Bogotá River. The Sumapaz Paramo (moorland) borders the south and to the north Bogotá extends over the plateau up to the towns of Chía and Sopó(SONY VGP-BPS9A/S battery).
Bogotá has a subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cfb). The average temperature on is 14.0 °C (57 °F),[13] varying from 3 to 20 °C (37 to 68 °F) during the course of the day. Dry and rainy seasons alternate throughout the year. The driest months are December, January, July and August. The warmest month is March, bringing a maximum of 19.7 °C (67.5 °F). The coolest nights occur in January, with an average of 5.4 °C (41.7 °F) in the city(SONY VGP-BPL9 battery); temperatures can fall below freezing in the nearby towns, causing frosts and fog in early morning, with the lowest recorded temperature within the city being −7.2 °C (19.0 °F).[14] in February 2007.
The official highest recorded temperature is 24.9 °C (77 °F) reached in January 1992 and March 1995(SONY VGP-BPS10 battery).
Hailstorm in Bogotá
The rainiest months are April, May, September, October and November, in which typical days are mostly overcast, with low clouds and some winds, bringing maximum temperatures of 18 °C (64 °F) and lows of 7 °C (45 °F). Hailstorms are very common during the rainy season, and can be very strong, especially in October(SONY VGP-BPL10 battery). Days are mild or cool and nights can get moderately cold due to the city having mild winds at night all year round, though frequent fog from sinking of cold mountain air in the enclosed valley of the city means sunshine totals are much lower than would be expected for a relatively dry location in such a low latitude.
While temperatures are relatively consistent throughout the year(SONY VGP-BPS11 battery), weather conditions can change dramatically during the course of a single day. Climatic conditions are irregular and variable due to the El Niño and La Niña climatic phenomena which occur in and around the Pacific basin and are responsible for pronounced climatic changes. This makes the city's weather unpredictable; sunny mornings can turn into a severe-storm afternoon (SONY VGP-BPL11 battery) (something commonly referred as sol de lluvia (literally, "rainy sun"). Similar to Quito, precipitation amounts possess irregular patterns throughout the year.
Urban layout and nomenclature
Carrera Séptima (Seventh Avenue)
Bogotá has 20 localities, or districts, forming an extensive network of neighborhoods. Areas of higher economic status tend to be located to the north and northeast, close to the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera. Poorer neighborhoods are located to the south and southeast, many of them squatter areas. The middle classes usually inhabit the central(SONY VGP-BPL12 battery), western and northwestern sections of the city.[citation needed]
Street arrangement of Bogotá based on the Cartesian coordinate system: North is to the right.
The urban layout in the center of the city is based on the focal point of a square or plaza, typical of Spanish-founded settlements, but the layout gradually becomes more modern in outlying neighborhoods. The current types of roads are classified as calles (streets) (SONY VGP-BPS12 battery), which run perpendicular to the Cordillera, with street numbers increasing towards the north, and also towards the south (with the suffix "Sur") from Calle 0. Carreras run parallel to the hills, with numbering increasing as one travels east or west of Carrera 1 (with the suffix "Este" for roads east of Carrera 0). At the southeast of the city, the addresses are logically sur-este(SONY VGP-BPS13 battery). Other types of roads more common in newer parts of the city may be termed Eje (Axis), Diagonal or Transversal. The numbering system for street addresses recently changed, and numbers are assigned according to street rank from main avenues to smaller avenues and local streets. Some of Bogotá's main roads, which also go by a proper name in addition to a number, are(SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery):
Norte-Quito-Sur or NQS (North Quito South Avenue, from 9th road at north following railway to 30th road Avenue, or Quito City Avenue, and Southern Highway)
Autopista Norte-Avenida Caracas (Northern Highway, or 45th road, joined to Caracas Avenue, or 14th road)
Avenida Circunvalar (from downtown following hillside on eastern hills going to La Calera, mostly the 1-este (1st-east))
Avenida Suba (60th transversal from 100th street to the Suba Hills; 145th street from Suba Hills westward) (SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery)
Avenida El Dorado (El Dorado Avenue, or 26th street)
The largest and most populous city in Colombia, Bogotá had 7,363,782 inhabitants in its metropolitan area (2005 census),[3] with a population density of approximately 4,310 inhabitants per square kilometer. Only 15,810 people are located in rural areas of Capital District. 47.5% of the population are male and 52.5% women(SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery).
View of Bogotá at dusk from Monserrate.
British architectural style in Bogotá
99.5% of households have electricity service, while 98.7% have water service and 87.9% have telephone service. However, 32.6% of citizens were living in poverty (living on less than US$2 a day) in 2005.
In Bogotá, as in the rest of the country, the acceleration of the urbanization process is not only due to industrialization(SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery), since there are complex political and social reasons such as poverty and violence which led to migration from rural to urban areas throughout the twentieth century and beyond. This has led to an exponential growth of population in urban areas creating misery belts in their surroundings. A dramatic example of this is the number of displaced people who have arrived in Bogotá(SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery). According to the Consultancy for Human Rights, Codhes, in the period from 1999 to 2005 more than 260,000 people arrived in Bogotá as a result of displacement, about 3.8% of the total population of Bogotá.[citation needed]
The majority of the displaced population lives in the Ciudad Bolívar, Kennedy, Usme, and Bosa sections(SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery).
The racial composition of the city's population includes people of Mestizo origin (those of mixed Amerindian and European descent), in addition to Europeans, mostly Spaniards, and other European ethnic groups. It has a large Middle Eastern population, made up mostly of Lebanese and Syrian immigrants. (SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery)The Afro-Colombian population in Bogotá is smaller than cities along the coast such as Cartagena, where Colombians of African descent have historically resided.
Bogotá has gone to great lengths to change its crime rate and its image with increasing success after being considered in the mid-90s to be one of the most violent cities in the world.[18] In 1993 there were 4,352 intentional homicides at a rate of 81 per 100,000 people; (SONY VGP-BPS21B battery) in 2007, Bogotá suffered 1,401 murders at a rate of 19 per 100,000 inhabitants.[20] This success was the result of a participatory and integrated security policy, "Comunidad Segura", that was first adopted in 1995 and continues to be enforced.[21]
Bogotá is the capital of the Republic of Colombia, and houses the national legislature, the Supreme Court of Justice(SONY VGP-BPS21 battery), and the center of the executive administration as well as the residence of the President of the Republic (Casa de Nariño).[22] These buildings, along with the Principal Mayor's office, the Lievano Palace (Palacio de Liévano), are located within few meters from each other on the Bolívar Square (Plaza de Bolívar). The square is located in the city's historical center, La Candelaria, which features architecture in Spanish Colonial and Spanish Baroque styles(SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery).
The Principal Mayor and District Council – both elected by popular vote – are responsible for city administration. In 2011 Gustavo Petro was elected Mayor; his term runs from 2012 to 2015. Previous recent mayors of Bogotá include Luis Eduardo Garzón, Antanas Mockus Sivickas and Enrique Peñalosa Londoño(SONY VGP-BPS13AS battery).
The city is divided into 20 localities: Usaquén, Chapinero, Santa Fe, San Cristóbal, Usme, Tunjuelito, Bosa, Kennedy, Fontibón, Engativá, Suba, Barrios Unidos, Teusaquillo, Los Mártires, Antonio Nariño, Puente Aranda, La Candelaria, Rafael Uribe Uribe, Ciudad Bolívar, Sumapaz.
Each of the 20 localities is governed by an administrative board elected by popular vote, made up of no fewer than seven members(SONY VGP-BPS13S battery). The Principal Mayor designates local mayors from candidates nominated by the respective administrative board.
Bogotá is the main economic and industrial center of Colombia. In the period 2003–2006, its commercial GDP grew by 10.3% annually, accounting for 25.3% of GDP national trade. However, the unemployment rate reached 11.3% and a 31.6 percent underemployment. (SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery) The city is one of the largest industrial centers in Latin America. The Colombian government fosters the import of capital goods, Bogotá being one of the main destinations of these imports (the size of Bogota's industry accounted for 24.4% of Colombia's total in 2003). This is due in part to its geographical location, which makes the city a strategic point in terms of logistics(SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery), since transportation of goods to other parts of the country is relatively fast. This also facilitates the supply of raw materials for industry in the city, by its proximity to agricultural regions like the Eastern Plains. Several multinational companies have established their regional operations here during the last decades. However, the distance from the ports reduces the competitive advantages for exporting industrial products(SONY VGP-BPS14 battery). Thus services (including telecommunications and trade) are gaining share versus industry.
In 2005, consumer goods led industrial production, followed by intermediate and capital goods. Of the 248,000 companies available to Bogotá, 78% are linked to service activities, contributing to 76% employment and 79% of GDP. The highest concentrations of industrial establishments are in Puente Aranda, Fontibón(SONY VGP-BPL14 battery), Kennedy, Los Mártires, and Barrios Unidos, and Engativá (in that order). Important business include the food industries, chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, publishing and metalworking. Also in 2005, the town with the highest labor productivity was Tunjuelito, followed by Teusaquillo and Chapinero.
The main international trading partner in Bogotá in 2003 was the United States, followed by the European Union(SONY VGP-BPS14/B battery). The city exports mainly agricultural products (30%), chemicals (10%) and textiles (7%), and imports transportation materials (17%), machinery except electrical (17%) and electrical machinery (14%).
In 2008, the World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) from the United Kingdom ranked Bogotá as a beta level city, one of their highest rankings. Beta level cities are important world cities that are instrumental in linking their region or state into the world economy. (SONY VGP-BPS14/S battery)
Colombia bore in the 1980s and early 1990s, tourism in Bogotá has increased since the 2000s due to aggressive publicity campaigns and improvements in both infrastructure and safety. In 2007 the Instituto Distrital de Turismo (District Institute of Tourism) was created with the goal of making Bogotá a sustainable tourist destination(SONY VGP-BPS14B battery).
The hotels in the historical center of La Candelaria and its surrounding areas cater to lovers of culture and the arts. This area also has the bulk of hostels in the city as well. The hotels located near Ciudad Salitre are intended for visitors who make short stops in Bogotá or need proximity to El Dorado International Airport(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery).
Important landmarks and tourist stops in Bogotá include the botanical garden José Celestino Mutis, La Quinta de Bolivar, the national observatory, the planetarium, Maloka, the Colpatria observation point, the observation point of La Calera, the monument of the American flags, and La Candelaria (the historical district of the city) (SONY VGP-BPS22 battery). There is also Usaquen, a colonial landmark where brunch and flea market on Sundays is a traditional activity. The city has numerous green parks and amusement parks like Salitre Magico or Mundo Aventura. Just outside the city you can find the salt cathedral and very near candelaria you can find the Cerro Monserrate. (SONY VGP-BPS18 battery) .
There are also several areas of the city where fine restaurants can be found. The G Zone, the T Zone and La Macarena are well known for their gastronomic offerings.
Since the 2000s huge hotel chains have been arriving to the city giving one of the most exclusive hotel services around the world. Some of the most important hotel chains that have arrived to Bogotá are: Marriott, Radisson, JW Marriott, Hilton, NH Hoteles, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, among others(SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery).
Gran Estacion mall in western Bogota
Bogotá's economy has significantly been boosted due to new shopping malls built within the last few years. As of December 2011, over 160 new malls are planned to be built on top of the existing 100 malls.[24] Notable malls include:
Centro Andino
Centro Mayor (the largest mall in the country)
Santafé (the second largest mall in the country)
The city has several television stations: Canal Capital and Citytv are local stations, Canal 13 is a regional station(SONY VGP-BPS22A battery), and is home to the national channels Caracol TV, RCN TV, Canal Uno, Canal Institucional, and Señal Colombia. It has multiple satellite television services like DirecTV and Telefonica; cable TV is mostly provided by the Mexican company Telmex (formerly TV Cable Bogotá, Superview, and Cablecentro) and the Venezuelan company Super Cable, and satellite dishes which offer hundreds of international channels, plus several exclusive channels for Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ battery).
In the capital all the major radio networks in the country are available, in both AM and FM; 70% of the FM stations offer RDS service.
There are several newspapers, including El Tiempo, El Espectador, El Periódico, and El Nuevo Siglo, plus economical dailies La República and Portafolio, tabloids El Espacio, Q'Hubo, and Extra, and Communist Party's Voz Proletaria. Bogotá also offers a free newspaper called aDn(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S battery).
A house in the Chapinero locality, near downtown Bogotá. (Estrato 4)
Energy and sewer bills are stratified based on the location of owner's residence and income,[25] with the intended purpose that wealthier branches of society subsidize the energy bills of the poorer. Bogotá is divided into six socio-economic "estratos" (strata):
A biarticulated TransMilenio bus.
Bogotá's growth has placed a strain on its roads and highways, but within the past decade significant efforts to upgrade the infrastructure have been undertaken(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15T battery). Private car ownership, despite being under 27%[citation needed], forms a major part of the congestion, in addition to taxis, buses and commercial vehicles. Buses remain the main means of mass transit. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the TransMilenio. The traditional system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15G battery): Bus (large buses), Buseta (medium size buses) and Colectivo (vans or minivans). The bigger buses were divided into two categories: Ejecutivo, which was originally to be a deluxe service and was not to carry standing passengers, and corriente or normal service. Since May 2008, all buses run as corriente services. Bogotá is a hub for domestic and international bus routes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ4000 battery). The Bogotá terminal serves routes to most cities and towns in Colombia[26] and is the largest in the country. There is international service to Ecuador, Perú and Venezuela.
TransMilenio Museo del Oro Station
The TransMilenio 'rapid transit system' was created during Enrique Peñalosa's mayoral term,[27] and is a form of bus rapid transit that has been deployed as a measure to compensate for the lack of a subway or rail system(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ460E battery). TransMilenio combines articulated buses that operate on dedicated bus roads (busways) and smaller buses (feeders) that operate in residential areas, bringing passengers to the main grid. TransMilenio's main routes are: Caracas Avenue, Northern Highway (Autopista Norte), 80th Street, Americas Avenue, Jiménez Avenue, and 30th Avenue (also referred to as Norte Quito Sur or N.Q.S. for short) (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ440N battery). Routes for Suba Avenue and Southern Highway (Autopista Sur), the southern leg of the 30th Avenue, were opened in April 2006. The third phase of the system will cover 7th Avenue, 10th Avenue, and 26th Street (or Avenida El Dorado). The system is planned to cover the entire city by 2030. Although the Transmilenio carries commuters to numerous corners of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L battery), it is more expensive than any public transport except taxis, and fares increase with petroleum fuel prices. As of 2011 the price of a ticket was C$1700 (about US$0.85); however, a single ticket allows unlimited transfers until the passenger leaves the system, and passengers travel on feeder routes for free. Transmilenio does not yet cover some main routes, and buses are overcrowded(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z battery).
100 Street north to Highway
Despite the city's chronic congestion, many of the ideas enacted during the Peñalosa years are regarded worldwide to be cost-effective, efficient and unique solutions. In addition to TransMilenio, the Peñalosa administration and voter-approved referenda helped to establish travel restrictions on cars with certain licence plate numbers during peak hours called Pico y placa(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M battery); "Car Free Days" on Sundays; a massive system of bicycle paths and segregated lanes called ciclorrutas; and the removal of thousands of parking spots in an attempt to make roads more pedestrian-friendly. Ciclorrutas is one of the most extensive dedicated bike path networks of any city in the world, with a total extension of 303 km. It extends from the north of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18M battery), 170th Street, to the south, 27th Street, and from Monserrate on the east to the Bogotá River on the west. The ciclorruta was started by the 1995–1998 Antanas Mockus administration, and considerably extended during the administration of Mayor Peñalosa.[28] Since the construction of the ciclorruta bicycle use in the city has increased(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18 battery).
Bogotá's principal airport is El Dorado International Airport, west of the city's downtown, at the end of Avenue El Dorado. Due to its central location in Colombia and in Latin America, it is a hub for domestic and international airlines. Currently the national airport has begun to take more responsibility due to the congestion at the international airport(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31S battery).
El Dorado is heavily congested, as it handles more passengers than its optimal capacity. Work on a major expansion of El Dorado airport started in September 2007. When completed, this will expand capacity from the current 8 million passengers a year to 25 million.[29]
A secondary airport, Catam, serves as a base for Military and Police Aviation; there is also Guaymaral Airport, for private aviation activities(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z battery).
Building of Science and Technology Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo, National University of Colombia.
Centro Ático at Pontifical Xavierian University
Often known as the Athens of South America,[30] Bogotá has an extensive educational system of both primary and secondary schools and colleges. Due to the constant migration of people into the nation's capital, the availability of quotas for access to education offered by the State free of charge is often insufficient. The city also has a diverse system of colleges and private schools(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E battery).
Mario Laserna Building. University of the Andes.
There are a number of universities, both public and private. In 2002, there were a total of 106 higher education institutions; in Bogotá there are several universities, most partially or fully accredited by the NAC (National Accreditation Council): National University of Colombia, University of the Andes, Colombia, District University of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J battery), La Sabana University, Pontifical Xavierian University, Our Lady of the Rosary University, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Military University Nueva Granada, Sergio Arboleda University, Jorge Tadeo Lozano University, Catholic University of Colombia Santo Tomás de Aquino University and La Salle University(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M battery).
The city has a University City at the National University of Colombia campus located in the traditional sector Teusaquillo. It is the largest campus in Colombia and one of the largest in Latin America. The town of La Candelaria is home to the largest concentration of private universities in Latin America(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31B battery).
Additionally, Bogota is becoming increasingly popular among foreigners and tourists wishing to learn Spanish while discovering the Latin American culture. Schools such as the Meboc Institute have been set up to offer flexible courses to international students at competitive prices.
In Colombia, the primary and secondary schools educational system goes from pre-kindergarten to eleventh grade, that being the high school senior year(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ32 battery). Education in Colombia is not obligatory(only until 8th grade) as in other countries, but the government has implemented a promotional campaign nationwide to influence families with low economic levels to get their children enrolled in school.
Profamilia Transmilenio station near downtown Bogotá
Bogotá has many cultural venues including 58 museums, 62 art galleries, 33 library networks, 45 stage theatres, 75 sports and attraction parks, and over 150 national monuments.[31] Many of these are renowned globally such as(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21 battery):
The Luis Angel Arango Library, the most important in the region which receives well over 6 million visitors a year;[32]
The Colombian National Museum, one of the oldest in the Americas, dating back to 1823;[33]
The Ibero-American Theater Festival, largest of its kind in the world, receives 2 million attendees enjoying over 450 performances across theaters and off the street;[34]
The Bogotá Philharmonic is the most important symphony orchestra in Colombia, with over 100 musicians and 140 performances a year(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S battery);
The Cristobal Colon Theater, the Country's oldest Opera House, opened in 1892, is home to the National Symphony Association's major act, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia;[36]
Rock al Parque or Rock at the Park, the most important open air rock music festival in Latin America. Recurring annually, it gathers over 320,000 music fans who can enjoy over 60 band performances for free during three days a year. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M battery) The series have been so successful during its 15 years of operation that the city has replicated the initiative for other music genres, resulting in other recent festivals like Salsa at the Park, Hip Hop at the Park, Ballet at the Park, Opera at the Park, and Jazz at the Park.
Bogotá has worked heavily in recent years to position itself as leader in cultural offerings in South America, and it is increasingly being recognized worldwide as a hub in the region for the development of the arts(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M battery). In 2007 Bogotá was awarded the title of Cultural Capital of Ibero-America by the UCCI (Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities), and it became the only city to have received the recognition twice, after being awarded for the first time in 1991.
Cultural history
Bogotá was a city quite isolated, since communication media were scarce. Only by the end of the century did such isolation decline thanks to the railroad and to some roads linking the city and the Magdalena river and down the river up to the Caribbean coast(Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery).
During the decade of the 70s, writers of varied trends grouped around Mosaico magazine, founded and directed by José María Vergara y Vergara, to make one of the first efforts to record Colombian literature history and to consolidate the cultural identity of the country.
Cultural life in the city concentrated in literary gatherings, which during the Nineteenth century allowed Bogotanians to share their literary and political concerns (Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery)and to attend musical and drama presentations. Maldonado Theater featured theatrical and opera presentations and by the end of the Nineteenth century Bogotá had two important theatres: the Theater Colón, inaugurated in 1892, and the Municipal Theatre, inaugurated in 1895, which featured zarzuela (operetta) and musical shows. Also the scenario for important Colombian history events during the decades of the 30s and 40s(Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery).
During the nineteenth century, despite constant riots and civil wars altering normal new republic development, Bogotá preserved traditions and uses dating back to colonial times, combined with some European influence.
In 1886 the National School of Beaux Arts was founded and definitely drove artistic development in the city. Alberto Urdaneta was the first director(Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery). Painters Epifanio Garay and Ricardo Acevedo Bernal, School professors, were important portraitists, but the most outstanding person at that time was painter Andrés de Santamaría (1860–1945), greatly renowned painting in Colombia. He was Beaux Arts School director twice and his work, associated to impressionism, is the most important of that time. Landscaping trend most famous representatives were Roberto Páramo(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E battery), Jesús María Zamora, Eugenio Peña, Luis Núñez Borda and Ricardo Gómez Campuzano, painters whose work is preserved in the permanent National Museum collection.
Bogotá gave the Spanish speaking world José Asunción Silva (1865–1896), Modernism pioneer. His poetic work in the novel De sobremesa position him in an outstanding American literature place. Rafael Pombo (1833–1912) was outstanding American romanticism poet who left a collection of fables essential part of children imagination and Colombian tradition(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery).
The urban morphology and typology of colonial buildings in Bogotá have been maintained since the late nineteenth century, long after the independence of Colombia (1810). This persistence of the colonial setting is still visible, particularly in La Candelaria, the historical center of Bogotá. Also kept up are the colonial houses of two stories, with courtyards(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J battery), gabled roofs, ceramic tiles and balconies. In some cases, these balconies were filled with glass during the Republican period, a distinguishing feature of the architecture of the sector (for example, the House of Rafael Pombo).
"Republican Architecture" was the style that prevailed between 1830 and 1930. Although there were attempts to consolidate a modern architectural language, the only examples seen are University City and White City at the National University of Colombia (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11 battery) (constructed 1936 to 1939). This work was developed by German architect James Daly, although architects of rationalist trends participated in the design of campus buildings. We also see in Bogotan architecture trends such as art deco, expressionism and organic architecture. This last trend was typified by Bogotan architects in the second half of the twentieth century such as Rogelio Salmona(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M battery).
In 2006 Bogotá won The Golden Lion Award at the Tenth International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale of Architecture, in recognition of "their efforts towards social inclusion, education, housing and public space, particularly through innovations in transportation."
Although renowned for its beautiful preservation of colonial architecture, there are also significant contemporary architecture examples found in the downtown and at the north of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S battery).
In 2014 BD Bacatá will be inaugurated, taking the place from Colpatria tower to become the tallest building of the city. The building its expected to be the beginning of the city's downtown renovation.
In 2007 Bogotá was named World Book Capital by UNESCO. Bogotá is the first Latin American city to receive this recognition, and the second one in the Americas after Montreal(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E battery). It stood out in programs, the library network and the presence of organizations that, in a coordinated manner, are working to promote books and reading in the city. Several specific initiatives for the World Book Capital program have been undertaken with the commitment of groups, both public and private, engaged in the book sector(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J battery).
The city is home to the Biblored, an institution which administers 16 small and four large public libraries (Biblioteca Virgilio Barco, Biblioteca El Tintal, Biblioteca El Tunal and Biblioteca Julio Mario Santodomingo). It also has six branches of the Library Network of the Family Compensation Fund Colsubsidio and libraries and documentation centers attached to institutions like the Museo Nacional de Colombia (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L battery) (specializing in old books, catalogs and art), Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá, the Alliance Française, and the Centro Colombo Americano.
Another set of libraries are the new collaborative initiatives between the state, city and international agencies. Examples are the Cultural Center Gabriel García Marquez, custom designed by the Fondo de Cultura Economica in Mexico, and the Spanish Cultural Center, which will begin construction with public funds and of the Spanish Government in downtown Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M battery).
The National Library of Colombia (1777) under the Ministry of Culture and the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango (1958) under the Bank of the Republic are the two largest public libraries in the city. The first is the repository of more than two million volumes, with an important collection of ancient books. The latter has almost two million volumes(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H battery). 45 thousand square meters in size, it hosts 10 thousand visitors a day. Bank of the Republic depends also on the Library Alfonso Palacio Rudas, north of the city, with about 50 thousand volumes. Other large public libraries are the Library of Congress in Colombia (with 100 thousand volumes), of the Instituto Caro y Cuervo (with nearly 200 thousand volumes, the largest Latin American library in Philology and Linguistics) (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M battery), the Library of the Academy of History The Library of the Academy of Language, the Library of the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History ICANH, and many university libraries.
Bogotá is home to historical records housed the General National Archive, a collection of about 60 million documents, one of the largest repositories of primary historical sources in Latin America. Bogotá is also home to the Musical Archive of the Cathedral of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z battery) (with thousands of books and choral song-colonial period), the Archdiocesan Archive, the Archive of the Conciliar Seminary of Bogotá, the Archive History National University of Colombia and the Archive of the Mint in Bogotá, under the Bank of the Republic.
National Museum of Colombia
The city offers 58 museums and over 70 art galleries. The National Museum of Colombia has acquisitions divided into four collections: art, history, archeology and ethnography. The Gold Museum, with 35 thousand pieces of tumbaga gold(Sony VAIO VGN-FW32J battery), along with 30 thousand objects in ceramic, stone and textiles, represents the largest collection of pre-Columbian gold in the world.
The Botero Museum has 123 works of Fernando Botero and 87 works by international artists. The Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá has a collection of graphic arts, industrial design and photography(Sony VAIO VGN-FW17W battery). The Museum of Colonial Art is home to an important collection of colonial art from Colombia. Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño hosts activities related to the performing arts and shows temporary exhibits of art in its halls and galleries.
Among the scientific museums are the Archeological Museum – Casa del Marqués de San Jorge, which has about 30 thousand pieces of pre-Columbian art, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales (UN), one of the four largest museums of natural sciences in Latin America(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E battery), and the Geological Museum, which has a collection specializing in Geology and Paleontology.
Bogotá has historical museums like the Casa Museo Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, the Museum of Independence (Museo de la Independencia), the Quinta de Bolivar and the Casa Museo Francisco José de Caldas, as well as the headquarters of Maloka and the Children's Museum of Bogotá. New museums include the Art Deco and the Museum of Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E battery).
Teatro de Cristóbal Colón (Christopher Colombus Theater)
Besides the Ibero-American Theater Festival, the city has forty-five theaters; the principal ones are the Colon Theater, the National Theater with its two venues, the traditional TPB Hall, the Theater of La Candelaria, the Carmarin Theater of Carmen (over 400 years old, formerly a convent), the Colsubsidio, and a symbol of the city(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H battery), the renovated Teatro Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (the highest capacity currently in South America), León de Greiff Auditorium (home of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra), and the Open Air Theater "La Media Torta", where musical events are also held.
Bogotá has its own film festival, the Bogotá Film Festival, and many theatres, showing both contemporary films and art cinema(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M battery).
The main cultural center of the city is the La Candelaria, historic center of the city, with a concentration of universities and museums. In 2007 Bogotá was designated the Ibero-American cultural Capital of Iberoamerica.
The "Nemesio Camacho el Campín" Stadium.
The District Institute for Recreation and Sport promotes recreation, sports and use of the parks in Bogotá(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J battery).
Football has been declared a symbol of Bogotá, and is widely played in the city. Colombian professional Football is popular. There are three professional clubs in the city, Millonarios, La Equidad, and Santa Fe. The twenty titles won by two of these teams (Millonarios have 13 and Santa Fe have 7) makes Bogotá second only to Cali in number of championships won(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery). The main football stadium is the Estadio Nemesio Camacho El Campín (known as the Campín Stadium), which is the headquarters of the Colombia national Football team, where they won the Copa América in 2001.
Other major sporting venues are the covered Coliseum El Campín, the aquatic complex of Parque Simón Bolívar, the Sports Palace(Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery), and the El Salitre Sports venue which includes the Velódromo Luis Carlos Galán (which hosted the 1995 UCI Track Cycling World Championships) and Diamond El Salitre ballpark.
Bogotá hosted the first Bolivarian Games held in 1938. The city hosted the National Games in 2004, winning the championship. It was a sub-venue Bolivarian Pan American Games. In addition, the city on the route of the Tour of Colombia(Sony VGN-NR11S Battery).
Bogotá is currently bidding to host the 2019 Pan American Games. [44]
As in the rest of Colombia, the value of family unity is quite important in Bogotan society, which is especially prominent in religious celebrations and special times of the year.
Historically the city has been predominantly Roman Catholic. Proof of this religious tradition is the number of churches built in the historic city center(Sony VGN-CR11Z Battery). The city has been seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bogotá since 22 March 1564. The seat of the Archbishop is the Primary Cathedral of Bogota; the archdiocese itself is located in new buildings in the north of the city.
The 1991 Constitution facilitated the presence of Protestant movements and other religious groups in the population. The city has a Muslim mosque located in the area of Chapinero. The main Ashkenazi Jewish synagogue (there are a total of 4 synagogues in Bogotá) (Sony VGN-CR11S Battery) is located on 94th street (also called State of Israel avenue). An Eastern Orthodox church and the San Pablo Anglican Cathedral, the mother church of the Episcopal Church in Colombia, are both located in Chapinero. The Mormon Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is located in the Niza neighborhood. There are four Buddhist centers located in the north of the city(Sony VGN-CR11M Battery). There are also a wide variety of numerous Protestant churches in different parts of the city including the Bogotá Baptist Chapel, the non-denominational Union Church, and the St. Matthaus Evangelical Lutheran Church which holds services in German as well as Spanish for the German-Colombian community.
A broad array of restaurants can be visited in Bogotá where typical and international food can be enjoyed. Parque de la 93, The G Zone(Sony VGN-CR11E Battery), La Candelaria and the International Centre are some of the main sectors where a number of international restaurants are found. Typical dishes of Bogotá include the Ajiaco,[45] a delightful soup prepared with chicken, a variety of potatoes, corn on the cob, and guascas (an herb), usually served with sour cream and capers(Sony VGN-CR21E Battery).
Tamale is a very traditional dish here. Colombian tamal is a paste made with rice, meat or chicken, chickpea, carrot, and spices, wrapped in plantain leaves and steam cooked.
Figs with arequipe, strawberries with cream, postre de natas and cuajada con melao are some of the main desserts offered in the city. Canelazo is a hot drink from the Altiplano prepared with aguapanela, cinnamon and aguardiente(Sony VGN-CR21S Battery).
There are many parks, many with facilities for concerts, plays, movies, storytellers and other activities.
"Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park" is a large park regularly used to stage free concerts (such as the annual Rock al Parque, a festival in which popular and/or recently formed international, latinamerican, and Colombian rock bands play free of charge) (Sony VGN-CR21Z Battery).
The public Parque Nacional (National Park) has many trees and green spaces, ponds, games for children, foot and bicycle paths, and venues for entertainment such as public screenings of movies and concerts and events organized by the Council of Bogotá. It is located between two main streets, the Circunvalar Avenue and the 7th Avenue.
The Bogotá Botanical Garden (Jardín Botánico de Bogotá) (Sony VGN-CR31S Battery).
The Children's Museum of Bogotá (Museo de los Niños) is a science, technology and art interactive museum specializing in children and youngsters ages 2 to 19.
"Parque de la 93" is located between 93rd and 93Ath street, and 12th and 13th avenue, and has day-time leisure activities and nightlife. Several of the top restaurants and bars in the city are in this park(Sony VGN-CR31E Battery).
Mundo Aventura is an amusement park, with an entry charge and charges for the different attractions. It has rides for adults and children, a petting zoo, and the "cerdodromo", where pigs race.
"Salitre Mágico" is another amusement park with rides and attractions. The park is near the Simón Bolívar park, where concerts are held throughout the year(Sony VGN-CR31Z Battery).
Parque del Chicó has trees, gardens, artificial creeks and ponds, and a colonial style house converted into a museum.
To the north Parque Jaime Duque has rides, a giant map of Colombia, popular exhibits, a zoo, and a big hand holding the world symbolizing God. There is a reproduction of the Taj Mahal in the park with a collection of reproductions of famous paintings. The park is also used for large concerts, mainly electronic music ones(Sony VGN-CR41Z Battery).
Maloka is an interactive museum of sciences.
Tourist train is a sightseeing train, popular with Bogotá residents, which runs to outlying towns Zipaquirá, Cajicá and Nemocón along the lines of the former Bogotá Savannah Railway on weekends. The route to Zipaquirá (famous for its salt cathedral) is 53 km long. Another line goes towards the north for 47 km and ends at Briceño(Sony VGN-CR41S Battery).
The flag originated with the insurgency movement against the colonial authorities which began on 20 July 1810, during which the rebels wore armbands with yellow and red bands, as these colours were those of the Spanish flag used as the flag for the New Kingdom of Granada. On 9 October 1952, exactly 142 years after these events, decree 555 of 1952 officially adopted the patriotic armband as the flag of Bogotá. (Sony VGN-CR41E Battery) The flag of Cundinamarca follows the same pattern, plus a light blue tile which represents the Virgin Mary's cape.
The flag itself is a yellow band above a red one. The yellow denotes the gold from the earth, as well as the virtues of justice, clemency, benevolence, the so-called "mundane qualities" (defined as nobility, excellence, richness, generosity, splendour, health, steadfastness, joy and prosperity), long life, eternity, power and constancy(Sony VGN-CR42Z Battery). The red denotes the virtue of charity, as well as the qualities of bravery, nobility, values, audacity, victory, honour and furor, Colombians call it the blood of their people.[citation needed]
The coat of arms of the city was granted by emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain) to the New Kingdom of Granada, by royal decree given in Valladolid, Spain on 3 December 1548. It contains a black eagle in the center, which symbolises steadfastness(Sony VGN-CR42S Battery). The eagle is also a symbol of the Habsburgs, which was the ruling family of the Spanish empire at the time. The eagle is crowned with gold and holds a red pomegranate inside a golden background. The border contains olive branches with nine golden pomegranates on a blue background. The two red pomegranates symbolize audacity(Sony VGN-CR42E Battery), and the nine golden ones represent the nine states which constituted the New Kingdom of Granada at the time. In 1932 the coat of arms was officially recognized and adopted as the symbol of Bogotá.[citation needed]
Bogotá's anthem lyrics were written by Pedro Medina Avendaño; the melody was composed by Roberto Pineda Duque. The song was officially declared the anthem by decree 1000 July 31, 1974, by then Mayor of Bogotá, Aníbal Fernandez de Soto(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/L Battery).
Wellington ( /ˈwɛlɪŋtən/) is the capital city and second most populous urban area of New Zealand after Auckland. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. It is home to 393,400 residents.
The Wellington urban area is the major population centre of the southern North Island, and is the seat of the Wellington Region – which in addition to the urban area covers the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/P Battery). The urban area includes four cities: Wellington, on the peninsula between Cook Strait and Wellington Harbour, contains the central business district and about half of Wellington's population; Porirua on Porirua Harbour to the north is notable for its large Māori and Pacific Island communities; Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt are largely suburban areas to the northeast, together known as the Hutt Valley. Wellington also holds the distinction of being the world's southernmost capital city(Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/W Battery).
In 2008, Wellington was classified as a Gamma World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory by Loughborough University.[4] The 2010 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world.[5] In 2011 Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011 named Wellington as fourth in its Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011, referring to the New Zealand capital as the "coolest little capital in the world"(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/B Battery).
Wellington was named after Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke's title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset.
In Māori, Wellington goes by three names. Te Whanga-nui-a-Tara refers to Wellington Harbour and means "the great harbour of Tara".(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/L Battery) Pōneke is a transliteration of Port Nick, short for Port Nicholson (the city's central marae, the community supporting it and its kapa haka have the pseudo-tribal name of Ngāti Pōneke).[8] Te Upoko-o-te-Ika-a-Māui, meaning The Head of the Fish of Māui (often shortened to Te Upoko-o-te-Ika), a traditional name for the southernmost part of the North Island, derives from the legend of the fishing up of the island by the demi-god Māui(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/P Battery).
Wellington is New Zealand's political centre, housing Parliament, the head offices of all Government Ministries and Departments and the bulk of the foreign diplomatic missions in New Zealand.
Wellington's compact city centre supports an arts scene, café culture and nightlife much larger than many cities of a similar size(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/R Battery). It is an important centre of New Zealand's film and theatre industry, and second to Auckland in terms of numbers of screen industry businesses.[9] Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Museum of Wellington City & Sea and the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival are all sited there(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G Battery).
Wellington had the 12th best quality of living in the world in 2009,[10] a ranking holding steady from 2007, according to a 2007 study by consulting company Mercer. Of cities with English as the primary language, Wellington ranked fourth in 2007.[11] Of cities in the Asia Pacific region, Wellington ranked third (2009) behind Auckland and Sydney, Australia.[10] Wellington became much more affordable(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/B Battery), in terms of cost of living relative to cities worldwide, with its ranking moving from 93rd (more expensive) to 139th (less expensive) in 2009, probably as a result of currency fluctuations during the global economic downturn from March 2008 to March 2009.[12] "Foreigners get more bang for their buck in Wellington, which is among the cheapest cities in the world to live", according to a 2009 article(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/L Battery), which reported that currency fluctuations make New Zealand cities affordable for multi-national firms to do business, and elaborated that "New Zealand cities were now more affordable for expatriates and were competitive places for overseas companies to develop business links and send employees".[13] Lonely Planet named Wellington 'the coolest little capital in the world' in its 'Best In Travel 2011' guide book(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/P Battery).
Legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the tenth century.
"The Old Shebang" on Cuba Street, c. 1883
European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory, on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840. The settlers constructed their first homes at Petone (which they called Britannia for a time) on the flat area at the mouth of the Hutt River. When that proved swampy and flood-prone they transplanted the plans, which had been drawn without regard for the hilly terrain(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/L Battery).
360° panorama of the old Government Buildings
In 1865, Wellington became the capital city of New Zealand, replacing Auckland, where William Hobson had placed the capital in 1841. The Parliament of New Zealand had first met in Wellington on 7 July 1862, on a temporary basis, but Wellington did not become the official capital city for three more years. In November 1863(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13T/P Battery), the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Alfred Domett, places a resolution before Parliament (meeting in Auckland) that "... it has become necessary that the seat of government ... should be transferred to some suitable locality in Cook Strait [region]." Apparently, there had been some concerns that the more highly populated South Island (where the goldfields were located) (Sony Vaio VGN-CR21/B Battery) would choose to form a separate colony in the British Empire. Several Commissioners invited from Australia (chosen for their neutral status to help resolve the question) declared that Wellington was a suitable location because of its central location in New Zealand and good harbour. Parliament officially met in Wellington for the first time on 26 July 1865. At that time, the population of Wellington was just 4,900. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR21E/L Battery)
As the national capital, Wellington is the location of the highest court of New Zealand, the Supreme Court. The historic former High Court building has been enlarged and restored for the use of the Supreme Court.
Government House, the official residence of the Governor-General, is in Newtown, opposite the Basin Reserve. Premier House, the official residence of the Prime Minister, is in Pipitea on Tinakori Road(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21E/P Battery).
The Wellington Urban Area (pink) is administered by four city councils
Wellington is at the south-western tip of the North Island on Cook Strait, the passage that separates the North and South Islands. On a clear day the snowcapped Kaikoura Ranges are visible to the south across the strait. To the north stretch the golden beaches of the Kapiti Coast. On the east the Rimutaka Range divides Wellington from the broad plains of the Wairarapa, a wine region of national notability(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21S/L Battery).
With a latitude of 41° 17' South, Wellington is the southernmost capital city in the world.[15] Wellington is also the most remote capital city in the world, the farthest away from any other capital city. Wellington is more densely populated than most other cities in New Zealand due to the restricted amount of land that is available between its harbour and the surrounding ranges of hills(Sony Vaio VGN-CR21S/P Battery). Wellington has very few open areas in which to expand, and this has brought about the development of the suburban towns in the greater urban area. Because of its location in the latitudes of the Roaring Forties, and also its exposure to the winds blowing through the Cook Strait, Wellington is known to New Zealanders as "Windy Wellington"(Sony Vaio VGN-CR23/B Battery).
More than most cities, life in Wellington is dominated by its central business district (CBD). Approximately 62,000 people work in the CBD, only 4,000 fewer than work in Auckland's CBD, despite that city having three times Wellington's population. Wellington's cultural and nightlife venues concentrate in Courtenay Place and surroundings located in the southern part of the CBD(Sony Vaio VGN-CR23/P Battery), making the nearby suburb of Te Aro the largest entertainment destination in New Zealand.
Wellington has a median income well above the average in New Zealand,[16] with Wellington having the highest median income of all New Zealand cities.[17] Wellington additionally has a much higher proportion of people with tertiary qualifications than the national average.[18] Wellington has a reputation for its picturesque natural harbour and green hillsides adorned with tiered suburbs of colonial villas(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21EF/S battery). The CBD is sited close to Lambton Harbour, an arm of Wellington Harbour. Wellington Harbour lies along an active geological fault, which is clearly evident on its straight western shore. The land to the west of this rises abruptly, meaning that many of Wellington's suburbs sit high above the centre of the city.
There is a network of bush walks and reserves maintained by the Wellington City Council and local volunteers(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21JF battery). These include Otari-Wilton's Bush dedicated solely to the protection and propagation of New Zealand native plants. The Wellington region has 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) of regional parks and forests.
In the east is the Miramar Peninsula, connected to the rest of the city by a low-lying isthmus at Rongotai, the site of Wellington International Airport. The narrow entrance to Wellington is directly to the east of the Miramar Peninsula(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF battery), and contains the dangerous shallows of Barrett Reef, where many ships have been wrecked (most famously the inter-island ferry Wahine in 1968).
On the hill west of the city centre are Victoria University and the Wellington Botanic Garden. Both of these can be reached by a funicular railway, the Wellington Cable Car.
Wellington Harbour has three islands: Matiu/Somes Island, Makaro/Ward Island and Mokopuna Island. Only Matiu/Somes Island is large enough for habitation(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21MF/W battery). It has been used as a quarantine station for people and animals, and as an internment camp during World War I and World War II. This island is now a conservation island, providing refuge for endangered species, much like Kapiti Island farther up the coast. There is access during daylight hours by the Dominion Post Ferry.
The urban area of Wellington stretches across the areas administered by Wellington, Hutt (covering Lower Hutt) (Sony VAIO VGN-NW31EF/W battery), Upper Hutt and Porirua City Councils. See Wellington City for a list of suburbs. See Hutt City for a list of Lower Hutt suburbs. See Porirua City for a list of suburbs. See Kapiti Coast (district), New Zealand for a list of suburbs.
The four cities have a total population of 397,300 (June 2011 estimate),[3] and the Wellington urban area contains 99% of that population. The remaining areas are largely mountainous and sparsely farmed or parkland and are outside the urban area boundary(Sony VAIO VGN-NW21ZF battery).
Another major population area is the Kapiti Coast area, north of Porirua City and including the towns of Paraparaumu, Waikanae and Otaki. The population of the Kapiti Coast is 49800. The beach and garden zones of these townships attract life-stylers and retired people: 24.6% are aged 65+ as at June 2011 estimates: See Waikanae River and Otaki Beach(Sony VAIO VGN-NW31JF battery).
The 2011 Census was cancelled as it was due to take place just after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake . The next census is expected to take place in 2013
Counts from the 2006 census gave totals by area, sex, and age. Wellington had the largest population of the four city council areas with 179,466 people, followed by Lower Hutt, Porirua and Upper Hutt. Women outnumber men in all four areas, according to data from Statistics New Zealand, particularly in the Wellington City area. (Sony VAIO VGN-NW320F/B battery)
Age distribution
Age distributions for the four cities are given (see table below). Overall, Wellington's age structure closely matches the national distribution. The relative lack of older people in Wellington is less marked when the neighbouring Kapiti Coast District is included. Nearly 7% of Kapiti Coast residents are over 80(Sony VAIO VGN-NW35e battery).
The city averages 2025 hours (or about 169 days) of sunshine per year.[22] The climate is a temperate marine one, is generally moderate all year round, and rarely sees temperatures rise above 25 °C (77 °F), or fall below 4 °C (39 °F). The hottest recorded temperature in the city is 31.1 °C (88 °F), while −1.9 °C (28 °F) is the coldest. The city is notorious however for its southerly blasts in winter(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/S battery), which may make the temperature feel much colder. The city is generally very windy all year round with high rainfall; average annual rainfall is 1249 mm, June and July being the wettest months. Frosts are quite common in the hill suburbs and the Hutt Valley between May and September. Snow is very rare, although snow fell on the city and many other parts of the Wellington region in July and August 2011(Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/S battery).
Earthquakes
See also: Earthquakes in New Zealand
New Zealand government "Beehive" and the Parliament Buildings
Wellington suffered serious damage in a series of earthquakes in 1848[26] and from another earthquake in 1855. The 1855 Wairarapa earthquake occurred on a fault to the north and east of Wellington. It ranks as probably the most powerful earthquake in recorded New Zealand history, (Sony VAIO VGN-NW11S/T battery) with an estimated magnitude of at least 8.2 on the Moment magnitude scale. It caused vertical movements of two to three metres over a large area, including raising an area of land out of the harbour and turning it into a tidal swamp. Much of this land was subsequently reclaimed and is now part of Wellington's central business district. For this reason the street named Lambton Quay is now 100 to 200 metres (325 to 650 ft) (Sony VAIO VGN-NW11Z/T battery) from the harbour. Plaques set into the footpath along Lambton Quay mark the shoreline in 1840 and indicate the extent of the uplift and reclamation.
The area has high seismic activity even by New Zealand standards, with a major fault line running through the centre of the city, and several others nearby. Several hundred more minor fault lines have been identified within the urban area. The inhabitants, particularly those in high-rise buildings(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15 battery), typically notice several earthquakes every year. For many years after the 1855 earthquake, the majority of buildings constructed in Wellington were made entirely from wood. The 1996-restored Government Buildings,[28] near Parliament is the largest wooden office building in the Southern Hemisphere. While masonry and structural steel have subsequently been used in building construction(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15L battery), especially for office buildings, timber framing remains the primary structural component of almost all residential construction. Residents also place their hopes of survival in good building regulations, which gradually became more stringent in the course of the twentieth century.
Te Aro Park in downtown Wellington
Wellington showcases a variety of architectural styles from the past 150 years – 19th century wooden cottages, such as the Italianate Katherine Mansfield Birthplace in Thorndon(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15M battery), some streamlined Art Deco structures such as the old Wellington Free Ambulance headquarters, the Central Fire Station, Fountain Court Apartments, the City Gallery, and the former Post and Telegraph Building, as well as the curves and vibrant colours of post-modern architecture in the CBD.
The oldest building in Wellington is the 1858 Colonial Cottage in Mount Cook.[29] The tallest building in the city is the Majestic Centre on Willis Street at 116 metres high, (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15S battery) the second tallest being the structural expressionist State Insurance Building at 103 metres.[31] Futuna Chapel in Karori was the first bicultural building in New Zealand, and is thus considered one of the most significant New Zealand buildings of the twentieth century.
The Bucket Fountain, Cuba Street; erected in 1969
Old St Paul's is an example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture adapted to colonial conditions and materials, as is St Mary of the Angels(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ17G battery). The Museum of Wellington City & Sea building, the Bond Store, is in the Second French Empire style, and the Wellington Harbour Board Wharf Office Building is in a late English Classical style. There are several restored theatre buildings: the St James Theatre, the Opera House and the Embassy Theatre(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ17L battery).
Civic Square is surrounded by the Town Hall and council offices, the Michael Fowler Centre, the Wellington Central Library, Capital E (home of the National Theatre for Children), the City-to-Sea Bridge, and the City Gallery.
As it is the capital city, there are many notable government buildings in Wellington. The circular-conical Executive Wing of New Zealand Parliament Buildings(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18E battery), on the corner of Lambton Quay and Molesworth Street, was constructed between 1969 and 1981 and is commonly referred to as the Beehive. Across the road from the Beehive is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere,[32] part of the old Government Buildings which now houses part of Victoria University of Wellington's Law Faculty(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18G battery).
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is on the waterfront.
Other notable buildings include Wellington Town Hall, Wellington Railway Station, Dominion Museum (now Massey University), State Insurance Building, Westpac Stadium, and Wellington Airport at Rongotai. Leading Wellington architects include Frederick Thatcher, Frederick de Jersey Clere, W. Gray Young, Bill Alington, Ian Athfield, Roger Walker and Pynenburg and Collins(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18S battery).
Wellington contains many iconic sculptures and structures such as the Bucket Fountain in Cuba Street and Invisible City by Anton Parsons on Lambton Quay. Recently a number of new kinetic sculptures have been commissioned, such as the Zephyrometer.[33] This giant 26-metre orange spike built for movement by artist Phil Price has been described as "tall(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18T battery), soaring and elegantly simple" and which "reflects the swaying of the yacht masts in the Evans Bay Marina behind it" and "moves like the needle on the dial of a nautical instrument, measuring the speed of the sea or wind or vessel."[34]
Apartments at Oriental Bay
Wellington experienced a real estate boom in the early 2000s and the effects of the international property bust at the start of 2007(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ19L battery). In 2005, the market was described as "robust".[35] But by 2008, property values had declined by about 9.3% over a 12-month period, according to one estimate. More expensive properties declined more steeply in price, sometimes by as much as 20%.[36] "From 2004 to early 2007, rental yields were eroded and positive cash flow property investments disappeared as house values climbed faster than rents(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ19VN battery). Then that trend reversed and yields slowly began improving," according to two New Zealand Herald reporters writing in May 2009.[37] In the middle of 2009, house prices had dropped, interest rates were low, and buy-to-let property investment was again looking attractive, particularly in the Lambton precinct, according to these two reporters(SONY Vaio VGN-SR11M Battery).
A Wellington City Council survey conducted in March 2009 found the typical central city apartment dweller was a New Zealand native aged 24 to 35 with a professional job in the downtown area, with household income higher than surrounding areas. Three quarters (73%) walked to work or university, 13% travelled by car, 6% by bus, 2% bicycled (although 31% own bicycles), and did not travel very that far since most (73%) worked or studied in the central city(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/B Battery). The large majority (88%) did not have children in their apartments; 39% were couples without children; 32% were single-person households; 15% were groups of people flatting together. Most (56%) owned their apartment; 42% rented (of renters, 16% paid $351 to $450 per week, 13% paid less and 15% paid more – only 3% paid more than $651 per week). The report continued: "The four most important reasons for living in an apartment were given as lifestyle and city living (23%),(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/P Battery) close to work (20%), close to shops and cafes (11%) and low maintenance (11%) ... City noise and noise from neighbours were the main turnoffs for apartment dwellers (27%), followed by a lack of outdoor space (17%), living close to neighbours (9%) and apartment size and a lack of storage space (8%)(SONY Vaio VGN-SR12G/S Battery)."
Wellington households are primarily one-family, making up two thirds (67%) of households, followed by single-person households (25%); there were fewer multiperson households and even fewer households containing two or more families. These counts are from the 2006 census and pertain to the Wellington region (which includes the surrounding area in addition to the four cities). (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/B battery)
Wellington is marketed as the 'coolest little capital in the world' by Positively Wellington Tourism, an award-winning regional tourism organisation[40] set up as a council controlled organisation by Wellington City Council in 1997. The organisation’s council funding comes through the Downtown Levy commercial rate(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/P battery).
In the decade to 2010, the city saw growth of over 60% in commercial guest nights. It has been promoted through a variety of campaigns and taglines, starting with the iconic Absolutely Positively Wellington advertisements.[43] The city’s long-term domestic marketing strategy was a finalist in the 2011 CAANZ Media Awards. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25G/S battery)
Tourism is a major contributor to Wellington’s economy, injecting approximately $1.3 million into the region annually and accounting for 9% of total FTE employment.[45] The city is consistently named as New Zealanders’ favourite destination in the quarterly FlyBuys Colmar Brunton Mood of the Traveller survey[46] and it was fourth in Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2011’s Top 10 Cities to Visit in 2011. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25M/B battery)
New Zealanders make up the city’s largest visitor market, with 3.6 million visits being made to Wellington each year. Kiwi visitors spend on average $2.4 million a day in the city.[47] The capital has approximately 540,000 international visitors each year, who spend 3.7 million nights and $436 million in the city each year. Wellington's largest international visitor market is Australia, with over 210,000 making the trip across the Tasman and spending a total of approximately $334 million annually(Sony VAIO VGN-SR25S/B battery).
Cruise tourism to the capital is experiencing a major boom, in line with nationwide development. The 2010/11 season saw 125,000 passengers and crew visit the city on 60 liners. There are 80 vessels booked for stopovers in the 2011/12 season – estimated to inject more than $31 million into the region’s economy and representing a 74% increase in the space of two years. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/P battery)
Wellington is a popular conference tourism destination due to its compact nature, cultural attractions, award-winning restaurants and access to government agencies. In the year ending March 2011, the city hosted 6495 conference events involving nearly 800,000 delegate days; this injected approximately $100 million into the economy.[50]
Popular tourist attractions include Museum of Wellington City & Sea Wellington Zoo and Zealandia (Karori Wildlife Sanctuary) (Sony VAIO VGN-SR25T/S battery).
You can explore Wellington with this online visitor experience.
The maximum electricity demand for the Wellington region is forecast to grow on average by 1.4% annually over the next 15 years, from 756 MW in 2012 to 934 MW by 2027. (This is slightly lower than the national average demand growth of 1.7% per annum). The largest source of generation in the region is Meridian Energy's West Wind wind farm, with a maximum output of 143 MW. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/B battery) The West Wind wind farm is a few kilometres west of Wellington's central business district, on Quartz Hill and Terawhiti Station. There are some other small generators in the region, but the total peak generation is only 165 MW.
The peak demand in the region greatly exceeds the local generation, and power supply is therefore highly dependent on the National Grid transmission network operated by Transpower. Four 220 kV transmission circuits from Bunnythorpe(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/P battery), near Palmerston North, provide the main connections with the rest of the national grid. The region is also supplied by the North Island terminal of the HVDC link (the Cook Strait cable), located at Haywards substation, on State Highway 58 above the Hutt Valley. A major upgrade of the HVDC link to be commissioned in 2013 will increase the overall capacity of the link from 700 MW to 1,000 MW from 2012, and 1,200 MW from 2014(Sony VAIO VGN-SR26/S battery).
Further information: HVDC Inter-Island
Wellington's local power distribution network is owned and managed by Wellington Electricity. The main power supplies to the Wellington central business district come from Transpower grid exit point substations at Central Park and Wilton. The Central Park substation is the largest grid exit point in the Wellington region, with a peak demand of over 170 MW (Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/J battery) (forecast to grow to 200 MW by 2020). There are a range of constraints and limitations with this substation, and alternative investment solutions are being developed to improve future security of supply.[54]
The strong winds of the Wellington area, while advantageous for wind farms, sometimes damage power lines. In May 2009, one windstorm left about 2500 residents without electric power for a several hours. (Sony VAIO VGN-SR28/Q battery)In addition, lightning strikes and occasional faults in the electric power system sometimes cause power outages.[56]
Te Papa ("Our Place"), the Museum of New Zealand.
Wellington is home to Te Papa (the Museum of New Zealand), the National Library of New Zealand, Archives New Zealand, the Museum of Wellington City & Sea, the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Museum, Colonial Cottage, the New Zealand Cricket Museum, the Cable Car Museum, Old St Paul's, and the Wellington City Art Gallery(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29VN/S battery).
Wellington has become home to myriad high-profile events and cultural celebrations, including the biennial New Zealand International Arts Festival, biennial Wellington Jazz Festival, biennial Capital E National Arts Festival for Children and major events such as Brancott Estate World of Wearable Art, Cuba Street Carnival, Visa Wellington On a Plate, New Zealand Fringe Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR29XN/S battery), New Zealand International Comedy Festival (also hosted in Auckland), Summer City, The Wellington Folk Festival (in Wainuiomata), New Zealand Affordable Art Show, the New Zealand Sevens Weekend and Parade, Out in the Square, Vodafone Homegrown, the Couch Soup theatre festival, and numerous film festivals.
The annual children's Artsplash Festival brings together hundreds of students from across the Wellington region(Sony VAIO VGN-SR31M/S battery). The week-long festival includes music and dance performances and the presentation of visual arts.
Filmmakers Sir Peter Jackson, Sir Richard Taylor and a growing team of creative professionals have turned the eastern suburb of Miramar into a film-making, post-production and special effects infrastructure, giving rise to the moniker 'Wellywood'. Jackson's companies include Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, Camperdown Studios(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/B battery), post-production house Park Road Post, and Stone Street Studios near Wellington Airport.[57] Recent films shot partly or wholly in Wellington include the Lord of The Rings trilogy, King Kong and Avatar. Jackson described Wellington in this way: "Well, it's windy. But it's actually a lovely place, where you're pretty much surrounded by water and the bay. The city itself is quite small, but the surrounding areas are very reminiscent of the hills up in northern California(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/P battery), like Marin County near San Francisco and the Bay Area climate and some of the architecture. Kind of a cross between that and Hawaii."[58]
Sometime Wellington directors Jane Campion and Geoff Murphy have reached the world's screens with their independent spirit. Emerging Kiwi film-makers, like Robert Sarkies, Taika Waititi, Costa Botes and Jennifer Bush-Daumec,[59] are extending the Wellington-based lineage and cinematic scope(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H/S battery). There are agencies to assist film-makers with such tasks as securing permits and scouting locations.[60]
Wellington has a large number of independent cinemas, including The Embassy, Paramount, The Empire, Penthouse, the Roxy and Light House, which participate in film festivals throughout the year. Wellington also has one of the country's highest turn-outs for the annual New Zealand International Film Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR33H battery).
The local music scene has produced bands such as The Warratahs, The Phoenix Foundation, Shihad, Beastwars, Fly My Pretties, Rhian Sheehan, Birchville Cat Motel, Black Boned Angel, Fat Freddy's Drop, The Black Seeds, Fur Patrol, Flight of the Conchords, Connan and the Mockasins, Rhombus and Module. The New Zealand School of Music was established in 2005 (Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/B battery)through a merger of the conservatory and theory programmes at Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Nevine String Quartet and Chamber Music New Zealand are based in Wellington. The city is also home to the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Internationally renowned men's A Cappella chorus Vocal FX(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/P battery).
Theatre and the dramatic arts
Wellington is home to Downstage Theatre, Bats Theatre, Circa Theatre, the National Maori Theatre company Taki Rua, National Dance & Drama School Toi Whakaari and the National Theatre for Children at Capital E in Civic Square.
Wellington is home to groups that perform Improvised Theatre and Improvisational comedy, including Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), The Improvisors and youth group, Joe Improv. Te Whaea National Dance & Drama Centre(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35G/S battery), houses New Zealand's University-level school's of Dance and Drama, Toi Whakaari: NZ Drama School & New Zealand School of Dance. These Brother & Sister Institutions are separately run entities that share the building's facilities.
St James' Theatre on Courtenay Place is a popular venue for artistic performances.
Wellington is the home for the Royal New Zealand Ballet and the New Zealand School of Dance.
Wellington has a small but thriving comedy scene(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35M/B battery), aided in recent years by the emergence of the Fringe Bar as the home for Wellington comedy. The venue hosts up to three nights of comedy every week, with a mix of stand-up, improv and sketch. The monthly El Jaguar Fiesta de Variety showcases a mix of music, singing, burlesque, and comedy.[61] Other venues which host comedy in Wellington include the San Francisco Bath House(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/B battery).
Many of New Zealand's prominent comedians have either come from Wellington or have got their start there, such as Ginette McDonald ("Lynn of Tawa"), Raybon Kan, Dai Henwood, Ben Hurley, Steve Wrigley, Guy Williams, and, most famously, the Flight of the Conchords and the satirist John Clarke ("Fred Dagg"), who found even greater fame after he moved to Australia(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/P battery).
The comedy group Breaking the 5th Wall[62] operates out of Wellington and has regular shows around the city, performing a mix of sketches and semi-improvised theatre.
Wellington is also home to groups that perform improvised theatre and improvisational comedy, including Wellington Improvisation Troupe (WIT), The Improvisors and youth group Joe Improv.
Wellington also hosts shows in the annual New Zealand International Comedy Festival(Sony VAIO VGN-SR35T/S battery). The NZ International Comedy Fest 2010 featured over 250 local and international comedy acts and was a revolutionary first in incorporating an iPhone application for the Festival.[63]
Art Ferns and Civic Square
From 1936 to 1992 Wellington was home to the National Art Gallery of New Zealand, when it was amalgamated into Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Wellington is also home to the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts and the Arts Foundation of New Zealand. The city's arts centre, Toi Poneke, is a nexus of creative projects(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/P battery), collaborations, and multi-disciplinary production. Arts Programmes and Services Manager Eric Vaughn Holowacz and a small team based in the Abel Smith Street facility have produced ambitious initiatives such as Opening Notes, Drive by Art, and public art projects. The city is home to experimental arts publication White Fungus. The Learning Connexion provides art classes. Other visual art galleries include the City Gallery(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38/Q battery).
Wellington's café culture is prominent. The city has more cafes per capita than New York City.[64] Restaurants are either licensed to sell alcohol, BYO (bring your own), or unlicensed (no alcohol); many let you bring your own wine.[65] Restaurants offer a variety of cuisines, including from Europe, Asia and Polynesia. "For dishes that have a distinctly New Zealand style(Sony VAIO VGN-SR38 battery), there are lamb, pork and cervena (venison), salmon, crayfish (lobster), Bluff oysters, pāua (abalone), mussels, scallops, pipis and tuatua (both New Zealand shellfish); kumara (sweet potato); kiwifruit and tamarillo; and pavlova, the national dessert," recommends one tourism website.[66]
Wellington Phoenix FC – football (soccer) club playing in the Australasian A-League, the only fully professional football club in New Zealand(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/P battery)
Team Wellington – Wellington's club in the semi-professional New Zealand Football Championship
Central Pulse – netball team representing the Lower North Island in the ANZ Championship, primarily based in Wellington
Wellington Firebirds and Wellington Blaze – men's and women's cricket teams
Wellington Saints – basketball team competing in New Zealand's National Basketball League
Sporting events hosted in Wellington include(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/S battery):
six pool games and two quarter-final games at the 2011 Rugby World Cup
the Wellington Sevens – a round of the IRB Sevens World Series held at the Westpac Stadium over several days every February. This rugby sevens tournament contributes around $6 million to the local economy each year
the 2011 Tae Kwon Do World Champs
the World Mountain Running Championships in 2005
the Wellington 500 street race for touring cars, between 1985 and 1996
the McEvedy Shield – annual athletics meet for college students from Rongotai College, St Patrick's College (Silverstream), St Patrick's College (Wellington), and Wellington College(Sony VAIO VGN-SR41M/W battery)
Victoria University of Wellington has four campuses and works with a three trimester system (beginning March, July, and November).[67] It enrolled 21,380 students in 2008; of these, 16,609 were full-time students. Of all students, 56% were female and 44% male. While the student body was primarily New Zealanders of European descent, (Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/B battery) 1,713 were Maori, 1,024 were Pacific students, 2,765 were international students. 5,751 degrees, diplomas and certificates were awarded. The school has 1,930 full-time employees.[68]
Massey University has a Wellington campus known as the "creative campus" and offers programs in communication and business, engineering and technology, health and well-being, and creative arts. Its school of design was established in 1886(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H/P battery), and has research centres for studying public health, sleep, Maori health, small & medium enterprises, disasters, and tertiary teaching excellence. It combined with Victoria University of Wellington to create the New Zealand School of Music.
The University of Otago has a Wellington branch with its Wellington School of Medicine and Health(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45H battery).
In addition, there is Whitireia New Zealand which has large campuses in Porirua, Wellington and Kapiti; the Wellington Institute of Technology and New Zealand's National Drama school, Toi Whakaari. For further information, see List of universities in New Zealand.
The Wellington area has numerous primary and secondary schools. See List of schools in the Wellington Region for more information(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/B battery).
See also: Public transport in Wellington and List of bus routes in Wellington
A view from Wadestown of the rail yard looking southwest
Wellington is served to the north by State Highway 1 in the west and State Highway 2 in the east, meeting at the Ngauranga Interchange north of the city centre, where SH 1 runs through the city to the airport. Road access into the capital is lower in grade than most other cities in New Zealand – between Wellington and the Kapiti Coast(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/P battery), SH 1 travels along the Centennial Highway, a narrow accident-prone section of road, and between Wellington and Wairarapa, SH 2 transverses the Rimutaka Ranges on a similar narrow accident-prone road. Wellington has two short motorways, both part of SH 1: the Johnsonville–Porirua Motorway and the Wellington Urban Motorway, which in combination with a small non-motorway section in the Ngauranga Gorge connect Porirua with Wellington City(Sony VAIO VGN-SR45T/W battery).
Commuting patterns in the Wellington region during 2006; darker red lines indicate greater traffic. Source: Statistics New Zealand.[70]
Bus transport in Wellington is supplied by several different operators under the banner of Metlink. Buses serve almost every part of Wellington City, with most of them running along the "Golden Mile" from Wellington Railway Station to Courtenay Place. Most of the buses run on diesel, but nine routes use trolleybuses – the only remaining public system in Oceania(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46MD/B battery).
Two of Tranz Metro's EM class electric multiple units working a southbound morning service on the Hutt Valley Line. Wellington is the only New Zealand city with electric suburban trains.
Wellington lies at the southern end of the North Island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) and the Wairarapa Line, converging on Wellington Railway Station at the northern end of central Wellington. Two long-distance services leave from Wellington(Sony VAIO VGN-SR46TD/B battery): the Capital Connection, for commuters from Palmerston North, and The Overlander to Auckland. During 2006, there was serious discussion to withdraw the Overlander because of lack of passengers; a railway spokesperson said the number of passengers was so low that "we could not justify keeping it going".[71] In September 2006, however, the then operator announced there would be continued service but on a reduced basis (Sony VAIO VGN-SR48J/B battery) (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the off-peak winter season, and daily in the peak summer and Easter period).
Four electrified suburban lines radiate to the outer suburbs – the Johnsonville Line north to the northern suburbs, ending at Johnsonville; the Kapiti Line along the NIMT to Porirua and to Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49D/J battery); the Melling Line to Lower Hutt via Petone, and the Hutt Valley Line along the Wairarapa Line via Waterloo and Taita to Upper Hutt. A diesel-hauled carriage service, the Wairarapa Connection, connects several times daily to Masterton in the Wairarapa via the 8.8-kilometre (5.5 mi) long Rimutaka Tunnel.
Wellington is the northern terminus of Cook Strait ferries to Picton in the South Island, provided by state-owned Interislander and private Bluebridge(Sony VAIO VGN-SR49VN/H battery). Local ferries connect Wellington city centre with Eastbourne, Seatoun and Petone.
Wellington International Airport is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of the city. It is serviced by flights from across New Zealand, and to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Flights to other international destinations require a transfer at another airport, as larger aircraft cannot use Wellington's short (1,936-metre or 6,352-foot) runway(SONY Vaio VGN-NS10J/S Battery). The airport is the base for Wellington Aero Club, a private not-for-profit aeronautical flight school.
RSS Feed