| Chiquinquirá | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality and town |
| Pushpin Map: | Colombia |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Colombia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Colombia |
| Subdivision Type1: | Department |
| Subdivision Name1: | Boyacá Department |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Western Boyacá Province |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Wilmar Ancizar Triana González (2020–2023) |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | never |
| Area Total Km2: | 165 |
| Area Urban Km2: | 6.38 |
| Population As Of: | 2018 census |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 56054 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Urban: | 49016 |
| Population Density Urban Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Chiquinquireño |
| Coordinates: | 5.6189°N -73.82°W |
| Timezone: | Colombia Standard Time |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Elevation M: | 2556 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 154640-49 |
| Area Code: | 57 + 8 |
| Website: | Official website |
Chiquinquirá is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá,[2] part of the subregion of the Western Boyacá Province. Located some 115 km north of Bogotá, Chiquinquirá is situated 2556m (8,386feet) above sea level and has a yearly average temperature
The name Chiquinquirá comes from Chibcha and means "Place of swamps covered with fog".[3]
Chiquinquirá is constituted by two zones: the urban zone or town which is formed by approximately 40 neighbourhoods between the strata 1 and 4, and the rural zone which is divided in 17 sub zones located around the city.
It is home to the Basílica de Chiquinquirá, which houses the image of the Virgen de Chiquinquirá, the patroness saint of Colombia. Chiquinquirá is a major point of religious pilgrimage (source: Colombia Lonely Planet Guide, 2nd Edition, 1995).
The area of Chiquinquirá used to be inhabited by the Muisca before the Spanish conquest and Chiquinquirá was an important place in the Chiquinquirá Valley. It was ruled by an independent cacique within the Muisca Confederation. It was never properly founded as a municipality.[4]
In November, 1967, 81 people in Chiquinquirá, most of them children, were fatally poisoned and hundreds more became seriously ill after eating bread that had been made with flour that had been contaminated with a powdered insecticide.[5] [6]
Murder charges would later be filed against a Bogotá truck driver who had delivered the flour and the owner of the bakery that had baked and sold the bread to local residents.[7]
The Chiquinquirá Sandstone is named after the town.