It is Colombia, not columbia. The Republic of Colombia is situated in Northern South America. Its capital, Bogota', also Santa Fe de Bogota,' is a city in the central part of the country, coextensive with Bogota's Capital District. It is located at an elevation of about 2,740 meters (about 8660 ft) on a mountain-rimmed plateau high in the Cordillera Oriental of the Andes Mountains. With a population of 11.5 million, it is one of the largest cities in South America. Bogota' was founded on the 6th of August 1538 by the Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, who fought the Chibcha Indians near the site of the populous tribe center called Bacata. The new city became the vice-regal capital of New Granada in 1717. It was captured by Simon Bolïvar in 1819 and was the capital of the independent nation of Great Colombia (which included modern-day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela). It became the capital of New Granada (later renamed Colombia) in 1830 when Great Colombia was dissolved.