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Republic of ColombiaRepública de Colombia
Flag Coat of arms of Colombia Coat of arms
Motto: "Libertad y Orden" (Spanish) "Liberty and Order"
Anthem: Oh, Gloria Inmarcesible!

Capitaland largest city	Bogotá
Official languages	Spanish
Government	Republic

• President	Álvaro Uribe Vélez

Independence from Spain

• Declared	July 20 1810
• Recognised	August 7 1819

• Water (%)	8.8
Population
• July 2005 estimate	45,600,000 (28th)
• 2005 census	42,090,502
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$337.286 billion (29th)
• Per capita	$7,565 (81st)
HDI (2004)	0.790 Error: Invalid HDI value (70th)
Currency	Peso (COP)
Time zone	UTC-5
Calling code	57
ISO 3166 code	CO
Internet TLD	.co

Colombia, formally the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia, IPA: [re'puβ̞lika ð̞e ko'lombja]), is a country located in the northwestern region 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 the only country in South America that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.

Colombia is a large and physically diverse nation. It is the fourth-largest country in South America (after Brazil, Argentina, and Peru), with an area seven times greater than that of New England and more than twice that of France. Its vast territory is one of great physical contrasts, ranging from the towering, snowcapped peaks of the Andes to the hot, humid plains of the Amazon River Basin. 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. The nation's population is not evenly distributed, however: most people live in the mountainous western third of the country, where the capital city of Bogotá, as well as most of Colombia's other large cities, are located.

Colombia currently suffers from a low-intensity conflict involving rebel guerrilla groups, paramilitary militias, and drug trafficking. The conflict originated around 1964-1966, when the FARC and the ELN were founded and began their guerrilla insurgency campaigns against successive Colombian government administrations. However, since the election of Álvaro Uribe, the security situation has improved somewhat.

COLOMBIA APESTA!!!!

colombia apesta!!!!!!!

History

COLOMBIA APESTA

Geography

This disputes the Colombian claim that coca will be eradicated in 2008.

Politics

COLOMBIA APESTA

Administrative divisions

COLOMBIA APESTA!!!!

Economy

COLOMBIA APESTA!!!!

Culture

General

People

Entertainment

Art-related

Fernando Botero's museum ([[MedellínMuseo de Antioquia)
Bank of Republic Collection (Bogotá)
Salón de Artistas Colombianos

Museums

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

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son unos maleducados

Transportation

Main article: Transportation in Colombia

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.

Colombia's principal airport is El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá. Several national airlines (Avianca, AeroRepública, AIRES and SATENA), and international airlines (such as Iberia, American Airlines, Varig, Copa, Continental, Delta, Air Canada, Aerogal,TAME, TACA) operate from El Dorado. Bogotá's airport is one of the largest and most expensive in Latin America. Because of its central location in Colombia and America, it is preferred by national land transportation providers, as well as national and international air transportation providers.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Colombia

File:Cartagena Beach.jpg

Cartagena, one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country.

With approximately 43.6 million people in 2006, Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.

Movement from rural to urban areas was very heavy in the mid-twentieth century, but has since tapered off. The urban population increased from 31% of the total population in 1938, to 57% in 1951 and about 70% by 1990. Currently the figure is about 77%. 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 kilometer (two persons per sq. mi.). 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 forms the basics of Colombia's current demographics: European immigrants, Indigenous Natives, Africans, Asians, Middle Easterners and other recent immigrants. Many of the indigenous peoples were absorbed into the mestizo population, but the remaining 700,000 currently represent over eighty-five distinct cultures. The European immigrants were primarily Spanish colonists, but a small number of other Europeans (Dutch, German, French, Swiss, Belgian and in smaller numbers Polish, Lithuanian, English and Croatian communities) immigrated during the Second World War and the Cold War. For example, former Bogotá mayor Antanas Mockus is the son of Lithuanian immigrants. The Africans were brought as slaves, mostly to the coastal lowlands, beginning early in the sixteenth century, and continuing into the nineteenth century. After abolition, a national ideology of mestizaje encouraged the mixing of the indigenous, European and Native Amerindian communities into a single mestizo ethnic identity.

Other immigrant populations include Asians and Middle Easterners, particularly Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.

Ethnic groups

As with all Latin American countries, census data in Colombia does not take in to account Race, so percentages are basically estimates from other sources and can vary from one another. Statistics reveal that Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and overwhelmingly speakers of Spanish, and that a majority of them are the result of the a mixture of Europeans, Africans, Amerindians.

58% of the population is mestizo, or of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, while 20% is of white European ancestry. Another 14% is mulatto, or of mixed black African and white European ancestry, while 4% is of black African ancestry and 3% is of mixed black African and Amerindian ancestry. Pure indigenous Amerindians comprise 1 percent of the population. There are 101 languages listed for Colombia in the Ethnologue database, of which 80 are spoken today as living languages. There are about 500,000 speakers of indigenous languages in Colombia today.

More than two-thirds of all Colombians live in urban areas—a figure significantly higher than the world average. 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. Also, a large proportion of Colombians are young, largely because of recent decreases in the infant mortality rate. While 33 percent of the people are 14 years of age or younger, just 4 percent are aged 65 or older.

Religion

The National Administrative Department of Statistics does not collect religious statistics, and accurate reports are hard to obtain. Based on various estimates, a very large part of the population, between 81% and 90%, practices Roman Catholicism. 1% of Colombians practice indigenous religions. Under 1% practice Judaism, Islam and Mormonism. 60% of respondents to a poll by El Tiempo report that they do not practice their faith actively.

The Colombian constitution guarantees religious freedom, but also states that the State "is not atheist or agnostic, nor indifferent to Colombians' religious sentiment." Religious groups are readily able to obtain recognition as organized associations, but some smaller ones face difficulty in obtaining recognition as religious entities, which is required to offer chaplaincy services in public facilities.

Cathedral of Cúcuta
Cathedral of Bogotá
Cathedral of Manizales Cathedral of Manizales
Church of Amalfi, Antioquia

Crime

Colombia has become notorious for its illicit drug production, kidnappings, and murder rate. In the 1990s, it became the world's largest producer of cocaine and coca derivatives. Cultivation of coca in 2000 was estimated at 402,782 acres (163,300 hectares).Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). However, it has descended in recent years to 39 murders per 100,000 people, bringing it down in the List of countries by murder rate below the levels of South Africa. Over 90 percent of the murdered are males. Regions like Putumayo, Guaviare and Arauca remain at 100 or more murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005. Neighbouring Venezuela, meanwhile, has seen a rise from 13 in 1991 to 33 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2005 and Ecuador has gone from 11 in 1991 to 18 in 2004.

Between 1992 and 1999 a total of 5,181 kidnappings, two-thirds of the world's reported, occurred in Colombia. In the year 2005, 800 kidnappings were reported, (73% less than in 2002) of which 35% were rescued in the same year. In 2005, 18,960 vehicles were stolen(37% less than in 2002) and 18,111 persons were murdered(38% less than in 2002).

Bibliography

Internet

Colombia, The World Factbook, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, updated 12 December 2006.
Colombia, Human Development Report 2006, United Nations Development Programme.
El Choco: The African Heart of Colombia, Luis Gilberto Murillo Urrutia, speech given New York, February 23, 2001
"Intute - World Guide - Colombia". Retrieved 2007-03-08.
The Languages of Colombia
^ International Religious Freedom Report 2005, by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, November 8, 2005.
^ Cite error: The named reference nationmaster was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Colombian Crime Statistics(2005)

Books

Academia Colombiana de Historia (1986), Historia extensa de Colombia (41 volúmenes). Bogotá: Ediciones Lerner, 1965-1986. ISBN 9589501338 (Obra completa)
Barrios, Luis (1984), Historia de Colombia. Quinta edición, Bogotá: Editorial Cultural
Bedoya F., Víctor A. (1944), Historia de Colombia: independencia y república con bases fundamentales en la colonia. Colección La Salle, Bogotá: Librería Stella
Bushnell, David (1996), Colombia una nación a pesar de sí misma: de los tiempos precolombinos a nuestros días. Bogotá: Planeta Editores. ISBN 9586144879
Caballero Argaez, Carlos (1987), 50 años de economía: de la crisis del treinta a la del ochenta. Segunda edición, Colección Jorge Ortega Torres, Bogotá: Editorial Presencia, Asociación Bancaria de Colombia. ISBN 9589040039
Cadavid Misas, Roberto (2004), Cursillo de historia de Colombia: de la conquista a la independencia. Bogotá: Intermedio Editores. ISBN 9587091345
Calderón Schrader, Camilo; Gil, Antonio; Torras, Daniel (2001), Enciclopedia de Colombia (4 volúmenes). Barcelona: céano Grupo Editorial, 2001. ISBN 8449419476 (Obra completa)
Calderón Schrader, Camilo (1993), Gran enciclopedia de Colombia (11 volúmenes). Bogotá: Círculo de Lectores. ISBN 9582802944 (obra completa)
Cavelier Gaviria, Germán (2003), Centenario de Panamá: una historia de la separación de Colombia en 1903. Bogotá: Universidad Externado de Colombia. ISBN 9586167186
Forero, Manuel José (1946), Historia analítica de Colombia desde los orígenes de la independencia nacional. Segunda edición, Bogotá: Librería Voluntad.
Gómez Hoyos, Rafael (1992), La independencia de Colombia. Madrid: Editorial Mapfre, Colecciones Mapfre 1492. ISBN 8471005964
Granados, Rafael María (1978), Historia general de Colombia: prehistoria, conquista, colonia, independencia y Repúbica. Octava edición, Bogotá: Imprenta Departamental Antonio Nariño.
Hernández de Alba, Guillermo (2004), Como nació la República de Colombia. Colección Bolsilibros. Bogotá: Academia Colombiana de Historia. ISBN 9588040353
Hernández Becerra, Augusto (2001), Ordenamiento y desarreglo territorial en Colombia. Bogotá: Universidad Externado de Colombia, ISBN 9586165558
Hernández Rodríguez, Guillermo (1949), De los Chibchas a la colonia y a la república. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Sección de Extensión Cultural.
Jaramillo Uribe, Jaime; Tirado Mejía, Alvaro; Calderón Schrader, Camilo (2000), Nueva historia de Colombia (12 volúmenes). Bogotá: Planeta Colombiana Editorial. ISBN 9586142515 (Obra completa)
Ocampo López, Javier (1999), El proceso ideológico de la emancipación en Colombia. Colección La Línea de Horizonte, Bogotá: Editorial Planeta. ISBN 9586147924
Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo (1998), Colombia indígena. Medellín: Hola Colina. ISBN 9586382761
Restrepo, José Manuel (1974), Historia de la revolución de la República de Colombia. Medellín: Editorial Bedout.
Rivadeneira Vargas, Antonio José (2002), Historia constitucional de Colombia 1510-2000. Tunja: Editorial Bolivariana Internacional. Tercera edición.
Tovar Pinzón, Hermes (1975), El movimiento campesino en Colombia durante los siglos XIX y XX. Bogotá : Ediciones Libres, segunda edición.
Trujillo Muñoz Augusto (2001), Descentralización, regionalización y autonomía local. Bogotá: Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
Vidal Perdomo Jaime (2001), La Región en la Organización Territorial del Estado. Bogotá: Universidad del Rosario.
Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook. 2005.