Lake Fúquene

Lake Fúquene
View of Lake Fúquene
Lake Fúquene
Lake Fúquene is shown in the south of Boyacá, bordering Cundinamarca
Location	Fúquene, Boyacá & Cundinamarca
Coordinates	5°28′00″N 73°45′00″W / 5.46667°N 73.75000°W / 5.46667; -73.75000Coordinates: 5°28′00″N 73°45′00″W / 5.46667°N 73.75000°W / 5.46667; -73.75000
Type	Intermontane
Primary outflows	Suárez River
Basin countries	Colombia
Max. length	9.1 kilometres (5.7 mi) (1957)
Max. width	6.2 kilometres (3.9 mi) (1957)
Surface area	30 square kilometres (320,000,000 sq ft)
Average depth	2.5 metres (8.2 ft)
Max. depth	4 metres (13 ft) (1957)
Water volume	82.5 cubic megametres (2.91×1021 cu ft)
Surface elevation	2,540 metres (8,330 ft)
Islands	Formerly Isla grande or Chiguy/Chuiguí

Lake Fúquene is a heart-shaped lake located in the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, in the north of Cundinamarca, Colombia, at the border with Boyacá. The Andean lake, at an average altitude of 2,540 metres (8,330 ft), was considered sacred in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the area before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca in the 1530s.

Due to drainage of the waters for agriculture and dairy farming, the lake levels have dropped drastically in recent years and many flora and fauna species have disappeared.

In the Chibcha language of the Muisca Fúquene means "Place of swamps covered with fog", "Bed of the fox" or "Holy People", referring to the religious rituals of the Muisca. Muisca means "people" in Chibcha.

Lake Fúquene, the lake in the Ubaté-Chiquinquirá Valley, one of the four major valleys of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, was an important ritual lake in the culture of the Muisca. It formed the connection between the territories of the zipa in the south and zaque in the north and merchants between the two parts of the Muisca Confederation would pass the lake.

When conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and his troops arrived at the lake in 1537, the water level was 10 metres (33 ft) to 15 metres (49 ft) higher.

Since 1934 about 70% of the lake surface has been gone; from 100 square kilometres (1.1×10⁹ sq ft) to 30 square kilometres (320,000,000 sq ft). In this time, the lake level has dropped by 1 metre (3.3 ft).