Somondoco is a town and municipality in the 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...

n Department

Departments of Colombia

Colombia is an unitary republic formed by thirty-two departments and a Capital District . Each department has a Governor and a Department Assembly , elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods...

 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...

. This town and larger municipal area are located in the Valle de Tenza. The Valle de Tenza is the ancient route connecting the Sabanas of Cundinaboyacense and the Llanos. The area is dotted with many such little towns all located at approximately the same altitude (1500–1700 meters). Somondoco is a very old center of population extending back into prehistory. The reason for the development of this town by the Muiscas Indians was the availability of emeralds from the mountain. While most towns and cities in Colombia have founders, Somondoco does not.

Somondoco has 500 residents. There are more than 15,000 residents in the Municipal area also called Somondoco. The form of government is an elected mayor (Alcalde) and council. The nearest larger town is Guateque which is about 30 minutes away by car. There are frequent taxis. There are several microempresa producing handicrafts and collectables. There are two restaurants.