Colombia is a South American country. Located in the
northwest of the continent, it covers an area of
1,138,910 km2. Colombia is bathed in the
west by the Pacific Ocean and in the north by the
Caribbean Sea. It borders Panama in the northwest,
Venezuela in the east, Brazil in the southeast, and Peru
and Ecuador in the south. The main Colombian rivers are:
Orinoco, Amazonas, Madalena and Atrato.
The majestic snowy peaks of the interior of the country
dominate the landscape that is composed of equatorial
forests and savannas where groups of Indians survive who
continue to follow the ways of life of their
ancestors. Forests cover half of Colombia's territory.
Colombia's main cities are Bogotá, the capital, with 6
981 500 inhabitants (2004), Cali (2 333 000 inhab.)
(2004), Medellín (1 983 300 inhab) (2004) and
Barranquilla (1 358 800 inhab. ) (2004).
Climate
The climate is tropical in the coastal areas, moderated
by the altitude in the highest areas.
Economy
Colombia has an economy based on agriculture and
industry. Coffee, together with bananas, sugar cane and
flowers are the main products. Marijuana and cocaine
have been growing illicitly on a large scale in
Colombia, fueling the black economy and their smuggling
is estimated to represent twice as much coffee
exports. The main mineral resources are natural gas,
oil, iron, coal and silver. Its production of gold and
emeralds is one of the largest in South America and is
controlled by the government. The industry is diverse,
from food to textiles, to chemistry. Colombia's main
trading partners are the United States of America,
Venezuela, Japan and Germany.
Population
The population is 43 593 035 inhabitants (2006), which
corresponds to a population density of 37.72 inhab./km2. The
birth and death rates are respectively 20.48% and
5.58%. Average life expectancy is 71.99 years. It is
estimated that, in 2025, the population will be 55 065
000 inhabitants.
The population is composed of mestizos, whites, mulattos
and Amerindians, who have more than 180 languages and
dialects. Catholics represent 95% of the population. The
official language is Castilian.
Art and Culture
Colombian art has been greatly influenced by European
culture, namely that which comes from Spain. The best
known figure in Colombian culture is Gabriel García
Márquez, author of the workOne Hundred Years of
Solitude , considered one of the best novels in
Latin America.
History
Before being conquered by Spain, in 1525, with the
founding of the city of Santa Marta, Colombia was
inhabited by the Chibcha Indians. In 1538, it was part
of the colony of New Granada that included Panama and
Venezuela. In 1819, the territory of which Ecuador was
also a part, became independent under the name of Grande
Colombia, a state formed by Simón Bolívar. Colombia
achieved full autonomy in 1886.
In 1948, Colombian politician and lawyer Jorge Eliécer
Gaitán, a popular liberal party candidate for the
Presidency of the Republic, was assassinated. This
event, which became known as "bogotazo", was the motto
for a decade-long civil war that killed 250,000
people. The leftist guerrillas continued to give no
respite and in 1957 the conservative and liberal parties
formed a national front in which they practiced an
alternating government. In 1978 the Liberals won by
majority the congress and the presidency but maintained
the agreement with the National Front. In 1982,
political prisoners of the left-wing guerrillas were
amnestied. Colombia's justice minister was assassinated
in 1984 for having started an anti-drug campaign, yet
the incumbent president, Belisário Betancur gave a great
impulse to this campaign that led to the disappearance
of its minister. In 1986 it was the end of the National
Front. The Liberal Party won the elections and President
Virgílio Vargas declared a new fight against cocaine
traffickers after the death of the presidential
candidate, Luís Carlos Galan in 1990.
A bombing campaign was carried out by drug lords in
retaliation for confiscating property and extraditing
cartels to the United States. US President George Bush
was one of the anti-drug allies in Colombia in the year
1990. Several heads linked to drug trafficking
surrendered to the authorities and were arrested. This
wave of arrests included Medellín's cocaine leader Pablo
Escobar, who managed to escape from prison in July 1992
but was killed while on the run in 1993. A state of
emergency was declared a year later.
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