Colombia

The Republic of Colombia is a country in northwestern South America. To the
north is found the Caribbean Sea, while it borders Venezuela to the east,
Brazil to the southeast, Peru and Ecuador to the south, and Panama and the
Pacific Ocean to the west.

                                          National motto: Libertad y Orden
History                                    (Spanish; "Liberty and Order")
                                         Official
Spanish explorers arrived in the area    language        Spanish
around 1500, at which time they          Capital         Bogota
encountered many Chibchan peoples who
they subjugated through warfare,         President       çlvaro Uribe VŽlez
disease, exploitation, and conquest.
They soon established settlements that   Area            Ranked 25th
eventually grew into the colony of New   Ê- Total        1,138,910 km²
Granada, which included all of Spanish   Ê- % water
                                                         8.8%
northwestern South America, and became a
viceroyalty in 1717. An independence     Population
movement sprang up around 1810 that      Ê- Total (2002) Ranked 28th
                                                         41,088,227
finally succeeded in 1819 when New
Granada became the Republic of Greater   Ê- Density      36/km²
Colombia (Gran Colombia).                Independence    From Spain
                                         Ê- Declared     July 20, 1810
Internal political and territorial       Ê- Recognised   August 7, 1819
divisions led to the secession of        Currency        Colombian peso
Venezuela and Ecuador in 1830 and the
country was renamed New Granada until    Time zone       UTC -5
1856 when it became the Granadine
Confederation until 1863 when it became  National anthem Oh Gloria
                                                         Inmarcesible!
the United States of Colombia until 1886 Internet TLD    .CO
when it became the Republic of Colombia.
Internal divisions remained,             Calling Code    57
occasionally igniting civil war and
contributing to the US-sponsored secession of Panama in 1903. The country
continues to be plagued by guerilla insurgents such as FARC and the effects
of the influential drug trade, which are hampering political and economic
reforms and leading to disruptions of public life and international concern.

Politics

Colombia is a republic where the executive branch dominates government
structure. The president, elected together with the vice-president by
popular vote for a single four-year term, functions as both head of state
and head of government.

Colombia's bicameral parliament is the Congress or Congreso, which consists
of the Senate or Senado of 102 seats and the House of Representatives or
Camara de Representantes of 166 seats. Members of both houses are elected by
popular vote to serve four-year terms. The Colombian judicial system has
undergone significant reforms in the 1990s.

Departments

Colombia is divided into 32 departments (departamentos, singular -
departamento) and 1 capital district (distrito capital), marked by a *:

   * Amazonas (Leticia)                * La Guajira (Riohacha)
   * Antioquia (Medell’n)              * Magdalena (Santa Marta)
   * Arauca (Arauca)                   * Meta (Villavicencio)
   * Atl‡ntico (Barranquilla)          * Nari–o (Pasto)
   * Bol’var (Cartagena)               * Norte de Santander (Cœcuta)
   * Boyac‡ (Tunja)                    * Putumayo (Mocoa)
   * Caldas (Manizales)                * Quind’o (Armenia)
   * Caquet‡ (Florencia)               * Risaralda (Pereira)
   * Casanare (Yopal)                  * San Andres and Providencia (San
   * Cauca (Popay‡n)                     Andres)
   * Cesar (Valledupar)                * Bogot‡ D.C. (Bogot‡) *
   * Choc— (Quibd—)                    * Santander (Bucaramanga)
   * C—rdoba (Monter’a)                * Sucre (Sincelejo)
   * Cundinamarca (Bogot‡)             * Tolima (IbaguŽ)
   * Guain’a (Puerto In’rida)          * Valle del Cauca (Cali)
   * Guaviare (San JosŽ del            * VaupŽ (Mitœ)
     Guaviare)                         * Vichada (Puerto Carre–o)
   * Huila (Neiva)

The most important departaments are: Antioquia, Valle del Cauca,
Cundinamarca, Bolivar and Tolima.

Geography

The western half of Colombia is dominated by the Andes, which split into
three great mountain ranges, the Western, Central and Eastern Cordillera. In
between the ranges the Cauca and Magdalena rivers flow into the low-lying
plains along the Caribbean coast. The highlands are home to some
occasionally active volcanoes and the highest point is the Pico Cristobal
Colon at 5,775 m.

The eastern half is characterised by lowland plains, often densily forested,
which contain many rivers such as the Putumayo, the Yapura, the Meta, or the
Guaviare that either flow to the Orinoco or the Amazon River. Colombia also
holds several small islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific Ocean.

The local climate is tropical along both coasts and in the eastern plains,
whereas the mountain ranges and highlands can be considerably cooler.
Colombia's largest city is its capital Bogota, other major cities include
Medell’n, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla, IbaguŽ, Manizales, Pasto, Cœcuta
and Bucaramanga.

Economy

Colombia's economy suffered from weak domestic demand, austere government
budgets, and a difficult security situation. The current government faces
economic challenges ranging from pension reform to reduction of
unemployment. Two of Colombia's leading exports, oil and coffee, face an
uncertain future; new exploration is needed to offset declining oil
production, while coffee harvests and prices are depressed.

Problems in public security are a concern for Colombian business leaders,
who are calling for progress in the government's peace negotiations with
insurgent groups. Colombia is looking for continued support from the
international community to boost economic and peace prospects.

Demographics

Ethnic diversity in Colombia is a result of the intermingling of indigenous
Amerindians, Spanish colonists, and African slaves, producing a mixture of
mestizos (58%), whites (20%), mulattos (14%), blacks (4%), and mixed
black-Amerindians (3%). Today, only about 1% of the people can be identified
as fully Amerindian on the basis of language and customs. The predominant
religion in Colombia is Roman Catholicism.

Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil
and Mexico. Movement from rural to urban areas has been heavy. The urban
population increased from 57% of the total population in 1951 to about 74%
by 1994. Thirty cities have a population of 100,000 or more. 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 kilometre.

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