The Bogotá Altiplano, on the Cordillera Oriental, is one of the major highland basins of this system.

At 2,600 meters above sea level, it is cool enough to be productive for highland agriculture but not so high that human occupation becomes physiologically difficult.

Its rich soils, fed by the volcanic geology of the Andes, supported intensive agriculture in the Muisca period and continue to do so today — the Bogotá savanna is one of the most agriculturally productive areas in Colombia.

As a highland corridor, the Altiplano offered a route for movement between the northern Andes and the broader South American highlands to the south.