It was founded in 1538 by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and was the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada until independence. It is the main financial, cultural, administrative and urban center of the country; Bogota has approximately 7.2 million inhabitants, who reside only in its urban core, while the metropolitan region of Bogota, which includes all the cities and towns of the surroundings, it has approximately 8.5 million inhabitants, so in that way, it is the fourth most populous city in South America.