Lake Tota is the largest lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 in Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, located in the east of Boyacá

Boyacá Department

Boyacá is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".Boyacá is centrally located within Colombia, almost entirely within the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera to the border with Venezuela, although the western end...

 department. It has an area of 55 km² and a depth of 60 meters.
The major town on the lake is Aquitania

Aquitania, Boyacá

Aquitania is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the Sugamuxi Province a subregion of Boyaca. The town of Aquitania seats by the lake Tota....

, located on its eastern side. Other nearby villages include Tota

Tota, Boyacá

Tota is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the Sugamuxi Province a subregion of Boyaca....

, Iza

Iza, Boyacá

Iza is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia.Iza is located near the Tota Lake, part of the Sugamuxi Province a subregion of Boyaca....

 and Cuitiva

Cuitiva, Boyacá

Cuitiva is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province a subregion of Boyaca....

. Lake Tota was an important religious center for the Muisca

Muisca

Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...

 culture. It is now famous for its rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

 and opportunities for water sports. Although the introduction of rainbow trout has had valuable economic effects for the area, it led to the near-complete disappearance of native fish species from the lake.

Lake Tota is a breeding ground for several threatened or endangered bird species, including the Least Bittern

Least Bittern

The Least Bittern is a small wading bird, the smallest heron found in the Americas.This bird's underparts and throat are white with light brown streaks. Their face and the sides of the neck are light brown; they have yellow eyes and a yellow bill. The adult male is glossy greenish black on the...

 (Ixobrychus exilis bogotensis), the Colombian Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Duck

The Ruddy Duck is a small stiff-tailed duck.Their breeding habitat is marshy lakes and ponds throughout much of North America, and in South America in the Andes. They nest in dense marsh vegetation near water. The female builds her nest out of grass, locating it in tall vegetation to hide it from...

 (Oxyura jamaicensis andina), the Bogotá Rail

Rallidae

The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small to medium-sized birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and the family also includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules...

 (Rallus semiplumbeus) and Apolinar's Wren

Wren

The wrens are passerine birds in the mainly New World family Troglodytidae. There are approximately 80 species of true wrens in approximately 20 genera....

 (Cistothorus apolinari). The last confirmed sighting of the Colombian Grebe

Colombian Grebe

The Colombian Grebe , was a grebe found in the Bogotá wetlands in the Eastern Andes of Colombia. The species was still abundant on Lake Tota in 1945. The species has occasionally been considered a subspecies of Black-necked Grebe The Colombian Grebe (Podiceps andinus), was a grebe (aquatic...

 (Podiceps andinus), now considered to be extinct, was at Lake Tota.

The area around Lake Tota is one of the major onion

Onion

The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...

producing regions of Colombia.