It is the largest of Bogotá's 20 localities, starting in the north at the edge of the urban frontier with Usme and stretching to the south at the border of Cundinamarca with the departments of Meta and Huila.

The Sumapaz Páramo, covering most of the locality, was a sacred site for the indigenous Muisca in pre-Columbian times.

In the 16th century, it was discovered by conquistadors led by Nicolaus Federmann in their quest for El Dorado.

La Violencia of 1948 gave rise to the formation of the guerrilla groups still present in Colombia.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Colombian army took the territory from guerrilla hands as part of a counter-guerrilla strategy of president Álvaro Uribe.