Bogotá is located at an altitude of 2640 m (8660 ft) above sea level on the Cordillera Oriental of the Northern Andean Mountains. The city is situated at the base of two mountains, Guadalupe and Monserrate. On the summits of these mountains, which are over 3200 m (10,500 ft) high, stand two small churches which are widely visited by tourists and locals. The population of Bogotá is currently increasing at a rate close to 5% per year, mostly due to people coming from rural areas of Colombia. The city is constantly expanding in size to meet this influx of people. Currently the urban area covers 384.3 km² and the more mountainous outlying regions extend 1222.5 km².

Several rivers, one of which, the San Francisco, passes through the city, converge near the southwestern edge of the Cundinamarca-Boyacá plateau and form the Funza River (Río Funza), also known as the Bogotá River (Río Bogotá). This river flows all the way to Tequendama Falls (Salto del Tequendama), a vertical waterfall 145 metres (475 feet) high. Currently, most of the river's water is used to power a hydroelectric project.

Bogotá's climate is mild and temperate, the average annual temperature is about 14 °C (57 ° F), with about 1100 mm (44 inches) of rainfall.

The city is planned on a grid, with numbered carreras (avenues), from south to north, intersecting numbered calles (streets) going east-west. Among the city's squares is the Bolivar square, where many important government buildings and churches are located. Bogotá is connected by road to the Atlantic coast to the north and to the Pacific coast to the west, as well as to all other major cities in Colombia. The Pan-American Highway and the Simón Bolívar Highway both pass through the city. Because of Colombia's mountain rugged terrains, the city is served by El Dorado International Airport. The TransMilenio bus rapid transit system is the most modern form of public transit serving the city, recently opened to the public in November 2000 an became a solution to past transportation chaos

• There are many parks in Bogotá and most of them have facilities for concerts, plays, movies, storytellers and other activities. "El Tunal" park, for instance, is a big park which is regularly used to stage free concerts (such as the annual Rock al Parque, a free festival in which new and popular latin rock bands play for free). The park is also frequented in the month of August and used for kite flying, a national tradition.