Methodology and sources
Where does the data on this site come from?
By Casa Trufa · Updated on
From public sources, each with its date. The 1,122 municipalities and their population come from DANE (Colombia’s national statistics office); altitude, from a NASA elevation model; climate zones, from the classification used by IDEAM (Colombia’s hydrology, meteorology and environmental studies institute); airports, from OurAirports. Prices are third-party figures, and we say so next to each one. What we could not obtain does not appear.
- Municipalities
- 1,122
- DANE’s DIVIPOLA
- Departments
- 33
- 32 plus Bogotá, D.C.
- Airports
- 50
- With scheduled service, per OurAirports
- Data processed
- October 7, 2026
- Population projected for 2026
Where does each figure come from?
| Data | Source | Date | Limit you should know about |
|---|---|---|---|
| Departments and municipalities, codes and coordinates | DANE, DIVIPOLA | Dataset updated on January 24, 2025 | 1,122 records: municipalities, the island of San Andrés and the non-municipalized areas. |
| Population (2026) | DANE, municipal population projections 2020–2035 | Updated in March 2023, based on the 2018 census | It is a projection, not a count. Nuevo Belén de Bajirá (Chocó) is not in it and shows “No data”. |
| Altitude | SRTM 90 m elevation model (NASA/CGIAR), via OpenTopoData | Queried on October 7, 2026 | A single point per municipality, the DIVIPOLA one. It can differ by tens of meters from the figure for the main square: that is why it is shown rounded and with “≈”. |
| Department and municipality boundaries (the map) | DANE, Marco Geoestadístico Nacional 2025 (national geostatistical framework) | Downloaded on October 9, 2026 | Outlines simplified for drawing: good for finding your way, not for measuring or for settling a boundary. San Andrés and Providencia go in an inset, enlarged; Malpelo and the cays are not drawn. |
| Climate zone (piso térmico) | IDEAM, Nota Técnica 2025-003 (update of the Caldas-Lang climate classification) | 2025 | It is the band that matches the altitude, with its reference temperature. It is not the temperature measured in each municipality. |
| Nearest airport and distances | OurAirports: airports in Colombia with scheduled service and an IATA code | Downloaded on October 7, 2026 | Straight-line distances, not by road. Routes change: we don’t say which airlines fly or whether they accept puppies. |
| Price ranges by breed | Breeders’ pages and the press, each figure with its link in the price guide | Checked in October 2026 | They are figures advertised by third parties. Casa Trufa does not publish prices: we give them on WhatsApp for each litter. |
| Laws and regulations | The text of each law or decree, linked where it is cited | Checked in October 2026 | Bills are described as bills. Where we could not read a text in full, we say that we did not. This is not legal advice. |
Can the data be downloaded?
Yes. The table of all 1,122 municipalities is a CSV file that opens in any spreadsheet: DIVIPOLA code, department, population projected for 2026, approximate altitude, climate zone, nearest airport with its straight-line distance, and our criterion on the Bernese Mountain Dog at that altitude. The column headers are in English; place names keep their Spanish spelling.
Download colombia-municipalities.csv
The source data is public. If you use the table, credit Casa Trufa and the original sources, and keep the date: population is a projection and altitude is an approximation.
What is a climate zone (piso térmico), and how do we work it out?
It is an altitude band with an average reference temperature. Colombia lies in the tropics, where a place’s climate depends above all on its height above sea level. Colombians call these bands pisos térmicos. We give each municipality the climate zone that matches its altitude:
- Hot (hot lowlands): 0 to 1,000 m (3,280 ft), an average of 24 °C (75 °F) or more.
- Temperate (temperate zone): 1,001 to 2,000 m (3,280–6,560 ft), an average between 17.5 and 24 °C (64–75 °F).
- Cool (cool highlands): 2,001 to 3,000 m (6,560–9,840 ft), an average between 12 and 17.5 °C (54–64 °F).
- Páramo (high-mountain) (páramo): above 3,000 m (9,840 ft), an average below 12 °C (54 °F).
The bands are those of the Caldas classification, as set out in IDEAM, Nota Técnica 2025-003 (update of the Caldas-Lang climate classification). They are a reference, not a measurement: two municipalities at the same altitude can have very different rainfall and humidity, and this site does not know that.
How do we decide which breed we recommend in each climate?
With a qualitative criterion, the one we would give a family over the phone, applied to the altitude of each municipality. It does not come from a clinical trial and does not claim to: that is why every cell says why. For the Bernese Mountain Dog the climate zone is too coarse and we use the altitude itself: we recommend it without reservations from about 1,800 m (5,910 ft) up, with reservations between 1,000 and 1,800 m (3,280–5,910 ft), and we don’t recommend it in the hot lowlands (tierra caliente).
| Breed | Hot0 to 1,000 m (3,280 ft) | Temperate1,001 to 2,000 m (3,280–6,560 ft) | Cool2,001 to 3,000 m (6,560–9,840 ft) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maltese | AdaptsWith a short coat, water always within reach and walks early in the morning or after dark. | Suits it wellNo special care needed for the climate. | Suits it wellDry the coat fully after a bath, and add a light sweater if it is clipped very short. |
| Maltipoo | AdaptsA short clip and no midday sun. At home, a cool spot to rest. | Suits it wellNo special care needed for the climate. | Suits it wellDry fully after a bath; a sweater if the coat is kept very short. |
| Cavalier | With reservationsA fairly short muzzle and a predisposition to heart disease: only with a cool home, short walks at dawn and strict weight control. | Suits it wellThe climate it lives best in. | Suits it wellIt does well; dry it off after rain. |
| Cockapoo | AdaptsIt has energy to spare: exercise goes early or after dark, and the coat stays short. | Suits it wellNo special care needed for the climate. | Suits it wellDry fully after a bath or rain. |
| Border Collie | With reservationsWorkable on a farm with shade and water, working only in the cool hours. Hard exercise in the sun is a heatstroke risk. The double coat is never shaved. | Suits it wellA good climate for a breed that needs to move a lot every day. | Suits it wellWhere it performs best. |
| Blue Heeler | Suits it wellThe most heat-tolerant of the seven. It asks for shade, water and tick control. | Suits it wellNo special care needed for the climate. | Suits it wellIt also does well in the cool highlands. |
| Bernese | We don’t recommend itA double-coated mountain dog of 36–50 kg (79–110 lb): it suffers in the hot lowlands. We would rather say so than hand one over. | With reservationsOnly with heat management: cool floors, shade, walks at dawn and after dark. Let’s talk it through first. | Suits it wellCool weather, which is its own. It needs space and floors that are not slippery. |
Casa Trufa’s general guideline. For the Bernese Mountain Dog, the “Temperate” column refers to the lower part of the band; from about 1,800 m (5,910 ft) upward the climate suits it.
Why do some cities have a page of their own and others don’t?
Every municipality is on the site: each one is a row in its department’s table, with its data. 82 have a page of their own: the departmental capitals, the municipalities with 100,000 people or more, and the odd one that is searched for often. Bogotá is both a district and a department, and it has a single page.
We don’t make a thousand identical pages by swapping the name of the town. For a small municipality we have nothing to say that does not fit in its row, and we prefer an honest table to a thousand pages of filler.
Delivery: the 33 departments and the municipality searchWhat data don’t we have?
- Temperature and rainfall measured in each municipality.
- Distances and travel times by road: every distance on the site is a straight line.
- Each airline’s current conditions for traveling with a puppy: they are confirmed case by case.
- The full text of some municipal rules. Where we could not read it, the page says so and points to the source that cites it.
Who publishes this site, and how can you check?
Casa Trufa is a family dog breeder in Colombia. What we say about ourselves can be checked on the site itself: the health test results we publish for each parent dog come with their document.
- info@casatrufa.com
Frequently asked questions about the data
Where does each municipality’s population come from?
From the 2020–2035 municipal population projections by DANE (Colombia’s national statistics office), which start from the 2018 census. The site uses the total projected for 2026. It is a projection, not a count, and every table says so underneath.
Why does the altitude carry the “≈” sign?
Because it is approximate. It comes from a digital elevation model with a resolution of 90 m (295 ft), SRTM, read at a single point per municipality: the DIVIPOLA one. In cities with hilly terrain it can differ by tens of meters from the figure usually quoted, so it is rounded to the nearest ten.
Does the site say what the temperature is in my municipality?
No. We could not get a table of measured temperatures by municipality, so we did not make one up. The site shows the climate zone (piso térmico) that matches the altitude, under the Caldas classification used by IDEAM, with its average reference temperature.
Are the prices shown here Casa Trufa’s?
No. They are ranges that other breeders and the press were publishing in October 2026, each with its link. Casa Trufa does not publish a fixed figure: we give it on WhatsApp for each litter, with what it includes.
Sources
- DANE: DIVIPOLA, municipality codes (datos.gov.co)
- DANE: proyecciones de población municipal 2020-2035 (Colombia’s national statistics office, municipal population projections)
- OpenTopoData: SRTM dataset (NASA/CGIAR)
- IDEAM, Nota Técnica 2025-003: actualización de la clasificación climática Caldas-Lang (Colombia’s weather and climate institute, update of the Caldas-Lang climate classification). Altitude bands of each climate zone (piso térmico)
- OurAirports: open airport data
- Ley 1774 de 2016, protección animal (Law 1774 of 2016, animal protection)
- Ley 1581 de 2012, protección de datos personales (Law 1581 of 2012, personal data protection)
- Ley 1480 de 2011, Estatuto del Consumidor (Law 1480 of 2011, Consumer Statute). Legal guarantee and the information owed to consumers
- Decreto 780 de 2016, sector salud (Decree 780 of 2016, health sector; text). Articles 2.8.5.2.20 (public streets) and 2.8.5.2.37 (urban perimeter), cited through the Senate report
- Asociación Club Canino Colombiano: Reglamento de crianza 2024 (ACCC breeding regulations, 2024)
Let’s talk
See a figure that doesn’t add up?
Tell us which one and where yours comes from. If you are right, we correct it and change the date.