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Capitals of the world
Bogotá, capital of Colombia: facts and figures
Bogotá is the capital of Colombia. It has about 11,000,000 residents, which makes it the 13th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 2,558 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Quito, 731 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Colombia |
| Continent | South America |
| City population | 11,000,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 13th of 172 |
| Elevation | 2,558 m |
| Founded | 1538 |
| Time zone | America/Bogota |
| Coordinates | 4.71° N, 74.07° W |
| Country population | 53,425,635 residents |
| Country GDP | 457.4 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $8,562 |
| Life expectancy | 77.9 years |
| Internet users | 79.3 % |
| Big Mac price | COP 25,900 (about $8.00) |
Climate through the year
Bogotá averages 13.7 °C from December to February and 13.3 °C from June to August. July is the coldest month of the year and February the warmest, and the city receives 1,051 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 13.4 °C |
| February | 14.0 °C |
| March | 14.0 °C |
| April | 13.8 °C |
| May | 13.8 °C |
| June | 13.3 °C |
| July | 13.1 °C |
| August | 13.4 °C |
| September | 13.8 °C |
| October | 13.7 °C |
| November | 13.6 °C |
| December | 13.6 °C |
What makes it stand out
- Size: 2nd most populous capital in South America (11,000,000 residents).
- Elevation: 3rd highest capital in the world (2,558 m).
- Prices: 2nd priciest capital for a Big Mac in South America ($8.00).
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Quito is the closest capital to Bogotá.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Quito | Ecuador | 731 km |
| Panama City | Panama | 766 km |
| Caracas | Venezuela | 1,018 km |
| San José | Costa Rica | 1,247 km |
| Kingston | Jamaica | 1,504 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Bogotá to a place and a number you already know: it is 731 km from Quito, and it is the 13th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Colombia compares with every other country on figures like these, the most expensive Big Mac index ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Big Mac price: The Economist's Big Mac index, from its published dataset. The index covers about 55 economies, so most capitals here have no figure.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Bogotá is the capital of Colombia, in South America, with about 11,000,000 residents, averaging 13.7 °C from December to February and 13.3 °C from June to August.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Colombia?
Bogotá is the capital of Colombia. It has about 11,000,000 residents and lies in South America.
How many people live in Bogotá?
About 11,000,000, which ranks Bogotá 13th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Bogotá?
Bogotá averages 13.7 °C from December to February and 13.3 °C from June to August, with 1,051 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Bogotá?
A Big Mac costs COP 25,900 (about $8.00) there. GDP per capita in the country is $8,562, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Quito, capital of Ecuador: facts and figures
Quito is the capital of Ecuador: 2,000,000 residents, 2,903 m above sea level, 11.9 °C from June to August and 12.0 °C from December to February. Key figures and sources.
- Panama City, capital of Panama: facts and figures
Panama City is the capital of Panama: 1,900,000 residents, 13 m above sea level, 26.6 °C from December to February and 26.3 °C from June to August.
- Caracas, capital of Venezuela: facts and figures
Caracas is the capital of Venezuela: 2,900,000 residents, 890 m above sea level, 21.1 °C from December to February and 22.9 °C from June to August.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.