CHB meaning in Regional ?

The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan language family, also called Muysca and Mosca. They were encountered by conquistadors ordered by the Spanish Empire in 1537 at the time of the conquest. Subgroupings of the Muisca were mostly identified by their allegiances to three great rulers: the zaque, centered in Hunza, ruling a territory roughly covering modern southern and northeastern Boyacá and southern Santander; the zipa, centered in Bacatá and encompassing most of modern Cundinamarca, the western Llanos; and the iraca, religious ruler of Suamox and modern northeastern Boyacá and southwestern Santander.

The territory of the Muisca spanned an area of around 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) from the north of Boyacá to the Sumapaz Páramo and from the summits to the western portion of the Eastern Ranges. Their territory bordered the lands of the Panche in the west, the Muzo in the northwest, the Guane in the north, the Lache in the northeast, the Achagua in the east, and the Sutagao in the south.

At the time of the Spaniard invasion, the area had a large population, although the precise number of inhabitants is not known. Estimates vary from half a million to up to three million inhabitants. Their economy was based on agriculture, salt mining, trading, metalworking, and manufacturing.

In modern times, the population of the Muisca has drastically decreased, although in the municipalities and districts Cota, Chía, Tenjo, Suba, Engativá, Tocancipá, Gachancipá, and Ubaté, descendants of the Muisca are present. A census by the Ministry of Interior Affairs in 2005 provided a total of 14,051 Muisca people in Colombia.

Important contributors to the knowledge about the Muisca have been their main conquistador, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada; Spanish poet, soldier, and priest Juan de Castellanos (16th century); bishop Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita and franciscan Pedro Simón (17th century); and Javier Ocampo López and Gonzalo Correal Urrego (recent).