Colombia - Flag of Colombia, Etymology of Colombia, History, Tourism, Land Use, Politics, Geography, Ethnic Groups, Economy, Demographics

Official name Republic of Colombia, Span República de Colombia

Local name Colombia Timezone GMT -5 Area 1 140 105 km²/440 080 sq mi population total (2002e) 41 008 000 Status Republic Date of independence 1819 Capital Bogotá Language Spanish (official) Ethnic groups Mestizo (58%), European descent (20%), mulatto (14%) Religion Roman Catholic (95%), other (5%) Physical features Located in NW South America, includes several island possessions (Providencia, San Andrés and Mapelo); Andes run N–S, dividing narrow coastal plains from forested lowlands of Amazon basin; Cordillera Central rises 5000 m/16 000 ft to the high peak of Huila, 5750 m/18 865 ft; rivers include Vaupés, Magdalena, Cauca, and Guaviare. Climate Hot, humid coastal plains (NW and W); annual rainfall over 2500 mm/100 in; drier period on Caribbean coast (Dec–Apr); hot, humid tropical lowlands in E. Currency 1 Colombian Peso (COP) = 100 centavos Economy Virtually self-sufficient in food; major crops include coffee, bananas, cotton; leather; gold, silver, emeralds, coal, oil; widespread illegal cocaine trafficking. GDP (2002e) $251·6 bn, per capita $6100 Human Development Index (2002) 0·772 History Spanish occupation from early 16th-c, displacing Amerindian peoples; governed by Spain within Viceroyalty of Peru, later Viceroyalty of New Granada; independence in 1819, after the campaigns of Simón Bolívar; Union with Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama as Gran Colombia, 1821–30. Civil war in 1950s; considerable political unrest in 1980s; new constitution, 1991; ongoing conflict with FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) led to establishment of a FARC-controlled zone in S Colombia, 1998, as part of peace negotiations, but conflict continuing into the 2000s; governed by a President, bicameral Congress and Cabinet.

República de Colombia Republic of Colombia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Spanish: Libertad y Orden English: Liberty and Order
Anthem: Oh, Gloria Inmarcesible!
Capital (largest city)	Bogotá 4°39′N 74°3′W
Official language	Spanish
Government	Republic
- President	Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Independence	From Spain
- Declared	July 20, 1810
- Recognised	August 7, 1819
Area
- Total	1,141,748 km² (26th) 440,839 sq mi
- Water (%)	8.8%
Population
- July 2005 estimate	45,600,000 (28th)
- 2005 census	41,468,384
- Density	40/km² (161st) 104/sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
- Total	$337.286 billion (29th)
- Per capita	$7,565 (81st)
HDI  (2004)	0.790 (medium) (70th)
Currency	Peso (COP)
Time zone	(UTC-5)
Internet TLD	.co
Calling code	+57

Colombia, or formally, the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia (help·info), IPA [re'puβ̞lika ð̞e ko'lombja]), is the northwesternmost country of South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, to the south by Ecuador and Peru, to the North by the Atlantic Ocean, through the Caribbean Sea, and to the west by Panama and the Pacific Ocean.

Colombia is a large and physically diverse nation. Not only is Colombia large in area, but it also has a large population, containing more people than any other South American country except Brazil. Most of the people live in the mountainous western third of the country, where Bogotá, the capital, and most of Colombia's other large cities are located.

Colombia currently suffers from a low intensity armed conflict involving rebel guerrilla groups, paramilitary militias, and drug trafficking, that started to develop since approximately 1964 or 1966, which was when the FARC and later the ELN were founded and subsequently started their guerrilla insurgency campaigns against successive Colombian government administrations.

Flag of Colombia

The current flag of Colombia is yellow, blue and red. The flag was first created in Haiti where Simon Bolivar was preparing to attain independence for Gran Colombia. The blue shows the two oceans which border North and West Colombia. The other is the blood of Jesus Christ, clearly showing the Christian roots of Colombia.

Etymology of Colombia

The word "Colombia" comes from the name of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón in Spanish, Cristobal Colom in Catalan, Christophe Colomb in French, Cristoforo Colombo in Italian) and was conceived by the revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to the New World, especially to all American territories and colonies under Spanish and Portuguese rule. The name was then adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819 formed by the union of Venezuela, New Granada and Ecuador.

In 1830, when Venezuela and Ecuador separated, the Cundinamarca region which remained became a new country, the Republic of New Granada. In 1863 New Granada changed its name officially to United States of Colombia, and in 1886 adopted its present day name: Republic of Colombia.

History

Circa 10000 BC, hunter-gatherer societies existed near present-day Bogotá (at "El Abra" and "Tequendama") which traded with one another and with cultures living in the Magdalena River Valley. Within Colombia, the two cultures with the most complex cacicazgo systems were the Tayronas on the Atlantic Coast, and the Muiscas in the highlands around Bogotá, both of which were of the Chibcha language family. Simon Bolivar had become the first president of Colombia/ Fransisco de Paula Santander was vice president, and when Simon Bolivar stepped down, Santander became the second president of Colombia. The rebellion finally succeeded in 1819, when the territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Great Colombia, as a Confederation with Ecuador and Venezuela. In 1863 the "United States of Colombia" was created, lasting until 1886, when the country finally became known as the Republic of Colombia.

To replace the previous 1886 document, a new constitution was made in 1991, after being drafted by the Constituent Assembly of Colombia.

In recent decades the country has been plagued by the effects of the influential drug trade and by guerrilla insurgents such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), or FARC, and illegal counter-insurgency paramilitary groups such as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), or AUC, which along with other minor factions have been engaged in a bloody internal armed conflict.

In the late 1990s, President Andrés Pastrana implemented an initiative named Plan Colombia, with the dual goal of ending the armed conflict and promoting a strong anti-narcotic strategy.

During the presidency of Alvaro Uribe, who was elected on the promise to apply military pressure on the FARC and other criminal groups, some security indicators have improved, showing a decrease in reported kidnappings (from 3700 in the year 2000 to 1441 in 2004) and a decrease of more than 48% in homicides between July 2002 and May 2005.

Analysts and critics inside Colombia agree that there has been a degree of practical improvement in several of the mentioned fields, but the exact reasons for the figures themselves have sometimes been disputed, as well as their specific accuracy. Some opposition sectors have criticized the government's security strategy, claiming that it is not enough to solve Colombia's complex problems and that it has contributed to creating a favorable environment for the continuation of some human rights abuses.

Colombia is also the first nation in the Americas and the second in the world to develop its own airline. The national airline of Colombia is Avianca.

Tourism

Colombia has one festival for everyday of the year. During the most famous festivals (such as the Cali Fair, The Barranquilla Carnival, The Iberoamerican Theater Festival and The Flower Festival) is when the most tourists come to Colombia. Many people also come into Colombia during Christmas time and the Independence of Colombia. It is interesting to note that even though Colombia has unfortunately been plagued with travel warnings because of FARC and other guerillas groups, it has surprisingly continued to attract more tourists in recent years. Since President Uribe took office in 2002, he has notably increased Colombia's stability and security by significantly boosting its military strength and police presence throughout the country. The World Tourism Organization reported in 2004 that Colombia achieved the 3rd highest percentage increase of tourist arrivals in South America between 2000 and 2004.

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Land Use

Colombia has more physical diversity packed into its borders than any other area of comparable size in Latin America. In the extreme west are the very narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal lowlands, which are backed by the Serranía de Baudó, the lowest and narrowest of Colombia's mountain ranges. This range differs from Colombia's other mountain ranges in that it contains several large basins.

This cross section of the republic does not include two of Colombia's regions: the Caribbean coastal lowlands and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, both in the northern part of the country. the reed-filled marshes of the area are called ciénagas by the people of Colombia.

Colombia's proximity to the equator influences its climates.

Rainfall varies by location in Colombia, tending to increase as one travels southward. Colombia's rainy southeast, however, is often drenched by more than 200 in. In fact, altitude is one of the most important influences on vegetation patterns in Colombia.

Politics

Colombian Constitution of 1991

Executive Branch: Colombia is a republic where the executive branch dominates government structure.

Legislative branch: Colombia's bicameral parliament is the Congress of Colombia or Congreso, which consists of the 166-seat House of Representatives of Colombia and the 102-seat Senate of Colombia. Colombia is also a member of the South American Community of Nations. With congressmen, Colombia also elects Department deputies, and city councils.

Judicial Branch: In the 1990s, the Colombian judicial system underwent significant reforms and is undergoing a process of migration from an inquisitorial system to an adversarial system. Parts of the coffee growing region of Colombia and Bogotá have already adopted the adversarial system, with the rest of the country following suit starting on January 1, 2006.

Geography

Colombia is divided into 32 departments and one capital district.

Cities of Colombia

Colombia has a total of 22 principal cities, which are listed below in order of importance:

Bogotá (La Atenas Suramericana – South America's Athens) - Capital Medellín (La ciudad de la eterna primavera – The City Of Eternal Spring; also called La Sultana del Valle - Valley's Sultan) Barranquilla (La puerta de oro de Colombia – Colombia's Golden Gate) Bucaramanga (La ciudad Bonita – The Pretty City) Cartagena de Indias (La heroica – The Heroic) Cúcuta (La hermosa villa - The Beautiful Village) Pereira (La querendona, trasnochadora y morena – The Lovely Sleepless Brunette) Santa Marta (La perla de oro - The golden pearl) Ibagué (Capital Músical de Colombia - Colombia's Music Capital) Pasto (Ciudad Sorpresa – The Surprise City) Manizales (La ciudad de las puertas abiertas – The City Of Open Gates) Neiva (Neivayork, La capital bambuquera de América - Capital of bambuquo of America) Armenia (La Ciudad Milagro – The Miracle City) Valledupar (Capital mundial del vallenato – World's Vallenato Capital) Villavicencio (La Puerta al Llano - The Llano's Gate) Sincelejo (La ciudad de las corralejas - The city of the "bullruns") Montería (La capital ganadera de Colombia - The colombian cattle capital) Buenaventura (Bello Puerto del Mar - Beautiful Seaport) Popayán (La Ciudad Blanca - The White City) Tunja (La capital del haba, el tejo y la ruana) Quibdó (La perla negra - The black pearl)

Ethnic Groups

Statistics reveal that Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and overwhelmingly speakers of Spanish, and that a majority of them are mestizos (of mixed European and Native Amerindian descent). The ancestors of the black population were brought to Colombia to work as slaves on tropical-lowland plantations during the colonial period. They have contributed much to Colombia's cultural heritage. The literacy rate (88 percent) in Colombia is also well above the world average, and the rate of population growth is slightly higher than the world average.

Economy

After experiencing decades of steady growth (average GDP growth exceeded 4% in the 1970-1998 period), Colombia experienced a recession in 1999 (the first full year of negative growth since 1929), and the recovery from that recession was long and painful. Colombia's economy suffers from weak domestic and foreign demand, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflicts. Colombia's main exports include manufactured goods (41.32% of exports), petroleum (28.28%), coal (13.17%), and coffee (6.25%). Colombia is also the largest exporter of plantains to the United States.

The problems facing the country range from pension system problems to drug dealing to high unemployment.

Colombia Stock Exchange

Demographics

With approximately 43.6 million people in 2006 , Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. The nine eastern lowlands departments, constituting about 54% of Colombia's area, have less than 3% of the population and a density of less than one person per square kilometer (two persons per sq. Colombia's total population in 2015 is projected to be more than 52 million.

The country has a diverse population that reflects its colourful history and the peoples that have populated here from ancient times to the present. The historic amalgam of the different main groups are the basics of Colombia's current demographics: European immigrants, Indigenous Natives, African slaves, Asians, Middle Easterners and Others Recent immigrants.

Culture

List of universities in Colombia Colombian cuisine Music of Colombia Carnival in Colombia Festivals in Colombia Iberoamerican Theater Festival

People

List of Colombian people List of Latin American artists List of people on stamps of Colombia

Entertainment

Cinema of Colombia List of Colombian TV Shows

Sports

Football Baseball Basketball Cyclism "Tejo" Speed skating Rana Bolas Criollas Coleo Volleyball

Tourism

Ecotourism

Colombian National Coffee Park (Montenegro, Quindío) Nevado del Ruiz National Park (near Manizales) Bogotá Botanical Garden (Bogotá) PANACA Park Tayrona Park (Santa Marta) Desierto de Tatacoa Chicamocha Canyon National Park Gorgona y Malpelo Museum of Gold (Bogotá)

Art related sites

Fernando Botero's museum (Bogotá) Bank of Republic Collection (Bogotá)

Museums

Gold Museum (Bogotá downtown) Archeological Museum of Pasca (Pasca) San Felipe Castle (Cartagena, Colombia) Museo Nacional (Colombian National Museum) (Bogotá downtown)

Transportation

Colombia has a network of national highways maintained by the Instituto Nacional de Vías or INVIAS (National Institute of Roadways) government agency. The Pan-American Highway travels through Colombia, connecting the country with Venezuela to the east and Ecuador to the south.

Miscellaneous topics

Colombia Portal

Communications in Colombia Departments of Colombia Foreign relations of Colombia Military of Colombia Palenquero Transportation in Colombia Colombian Armed Conflict Asociación Scouts de Colombia Education in Colombia List of the Roman Catholic dioceses of Colombia