Sativanorte borders Susacón in the north, in the south Sativasur and Tutazá, in the west Onzaga of the department of Santander and in the east Jericó and Socotá.

[1] The names for Sativanorte and Sativasur are derived from the cacique Sátiva, which in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means: "Captain of the Sun".

[2] Sativanorte and Sativasur were called Sátiva in the times before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca on the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of Colombia.

Sátiva was inhabited during the Herrera Period and later, as part of the Muisca Confederation, ruled by the cacique Tundama, from the city with the same name, today known as Duitama.

The Spanish conquistadores who conquered the area submitting the Muisca in 1540 were Gonzalo Suárez Rendón and Hernán Pérez de Quesada.