The Lengupá River, part of the Orinoco drainage basin, flows through the valley and connects the higher altitude Altiplano Cundiboyacense with the Llanos Orientales.

[4] The Tenza Valley was inhabited by the Muisca before the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada entered the central highlands of Colombia.

The Tenza Valley was ruled by a cacique who was loyal to the zaque based in Hunza, present-day Tunja.

Archaeologist Juanita Sáenz Samper has discovered three agricultural terraces and five cemeteries hosting one grave and pertaining to pre-Columbian times.

Main products cultivated are maize, yuca, potatoes, papa criolla, sugarcane, tomatoes, bananas, coffee, fique, arracacha, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, mangoes, chirimoya, oranges, avocadoes, pineapples, mandarines, papayas, maracuyá, guayaba and lulo.