Geography
Area: 1.14 million sq. km. (440,000 sq. mi.); about the size of California and Texas combined; fourth-largest country in South America.
Cities: Capital--Bogota (pop. 8.26 million; 2011). Other major cities include Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, and Cartagena.
Terrain: Flat coastal areas, with extensive coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, three rugged parallel mountain chains, central highlands, and flat eastern grasslands.
Climate: Tropical on coast and eastern grasslands, cooler in highlands.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Colombian(s).
Population (2011): 46.04 million.
Annual population growth: 1.2%.
Religion: 80% Catholic; 13.5% non-Catholic Christian; 4.5% other religious groups (including Seventh Day Adventist, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Islam, and Judaism); 2% no religion.
Language: Spanish.
Education: Education is free and compulsory for the first 5 years; only 5 years of primary school are offered in many rural areas. Attendance--90% of children are enrolled in primary school; 74% in secondary schools. Literacy--93% (2009).
Health: Infant mortality rate--16/1,000. Life expectancy--total population 75 years, men 71.27 years, women 78.03 years.
Ethnic groups: Mestizo (58%), white (20%), mulatto (14%). The population of Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups is officially reported to be around 10%. Non-governmental groups (NGOs) and human rights groups estimate this number may actually be more than 25%.
Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: July 20, 1810 (from Spain).
Constitution: July 5, 1991.
Branches: Executive--president (head of state and government). Legislative--bicameral Congress. Judicial--Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Council of State, Superior Judicial Council. The Prosecutor General is nominated (along with two other candidates) by the president and elected by the Supreme Court. This office is not a part of the executive branch; it is an independent agency.
Administrative divisions: 32 departments; Bogota, capital district.
Major political parties: Colombian Conservative Party, Colombian Liberal Party, Social Party of National Unity, Radical Change, Alternative Democratic Pole, Party of National Integration, and numerous smaller movements.
Suffrage: Universal, age 18 and over.
Economy
GDP (purchasing power parity; International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2010): $435.1 billion.
GDP (current prices; IMF): $285.5 billion.
Annual growth rate: 4%-6% (2011 projected); 5.1% (first quarter 2011).
Per capita GDP (purchasing power parity; IMF 2010 est.): $9,566.
Natural resources: Coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nickel, gold, silver, copper, platinum, emeralds.
Industry (14.4% of GDP): Types--textiles, garments, footwear, chemicals, metal products, cement, plastic resins and manufactures, beverages, wood products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electrical equipment.
Agriculture (7.1% of GDP): Products--coffee, bananas, cut flowers, cotton, sugarcane, livestock, rice, corn, tobacco, potatoes, soybeans, sorghum, cocoa beans, oilseed.
Services (46% of GDP): Government services, financial services, commerce, transportation and communication, construction and public works, utilities.
Mining (7.8% of GDP): Main products--coal, gold, nickel.
Trade: Exports (2010 est.)--$39 billion: petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, cut flowers. Major markets--U.S., E.U., China, Ecuador. Imports(2010 est.)--$41 billion: machinery/equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment, mineral products, consumer products, paper products, oil and gas industry equipment, electricity. Major suppliers--U.S., China, Mexico, Brazil, Germany.
PEOPLE
Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. Sixty-one cities have a population of 100,000 or more; four cities have a population of more than 1 million. Most of Colombia’s population is concentrated around the northern and western departments. The nine eastern lowlands departments, constituting about 54% of Colombia's area are sparsely populated (less than 3% of the population; density of less than one person per square kilometer).
Ethnic and cultural diversity in Colombia reflects the indigenous, European (mainly Spanish), and African heritages of its inhabitants. Today, only about 3% of the people identify themselves as indigenous. Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups have faced challenges related to their integration into mainstream Colombian society.
Around 45.5% of Colombians live below the poverty line, and the country continues to face large income disparities and inadequate social services. The history of the country, including decades-long violent conflict involving outlawed armed groups and drug cartels coupled with human rights violations, has complicated the advancement of government social programs to address these extensive problems. Colombia continues to make progress in improving the security of the country, which is an essential building block for stability and democracy.
HISTORY, GOVERNMENT, AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
During the pre-Columbian period, the area now known as Colombia was inhabited by indigenous societies situated at different stages of socio-economic development, ranging from hunters and nomadic farmers to the highly structured Chibchas, who are considered to have been one of the most developed indigenous groups in South America.
Santa Marta was the first permanent Spanish settlement founded in 1525. Santa Fe de Bogota was founded in 1538 and, in 1717, became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, which included what are now Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Bogota was one of three principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World.
On July 20, 1810, the citizens of Bogota created the first representative council to defy Spanish authority. Full independence was proclaimed in 1813, and in 1819 the Republic of Greater Colombia was formed to include all the territory of the former Viceroyalty (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama). Simon Bolivar was elected its first president with Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president. Conflicts between followers of Bolivar and Santander led to the formation of two political parties that have since dominated Colombian politics. Bolivar's supporters, who later formed the nucleus of the Conservative Party, sought strong centralized government, alliance with the Roman Catholic Church and a limited franchise. Santander's followers, forerunners of the Liberals, wanted a decentralized government, state control over education and other civil matters, and a broader suffrage.
Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each party held the presidency for roughly equal periods of time. Colombia maintained a tradition of civilian government and regular, free elections. Notwithstanding the country's commitment to democratic institutions, Colombia's history also has been characterized by widespread, violent conflict. Two civil wars resulted from bitter rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties: The War of a Thousand Days (1899-1903) claimed an estimated 100,000 lives and La Violencia (the Violence) (1946-1957) claimed about 300,000 lives.
ECONOMY
Colombia is a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to the United States. In 1990, the administration of President Cesar Gaviria (1990-94) initiated economic liberalization or "apertura," with tariff reductions, financial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and adoption of a more liberal foreign exchange rate. These policies eased import restrictions and opened most sectors to foreign investment, although agricultural products remained protected.
The Uribe administration sought to maintain prudent fiscal policies and pursued tough economic reforms including tax, pension, and budget reforms. The Santos administration has been promoting economic growth by pursuing free trade agreements with other South American and Asian countries, as well as the U.S. and Canada. The average unemployment rate in 2011 is around 10%, down from 12% in 2009. Despite recent improvements in Colombia’s economy, the country continues to have a high rate of poverty (45.5%) and one of the highest levels of income disparity in the world.
Colombia's economic growth in the last decade can be attributed to an increase in security, resulting in greater foreign investment; economic reforms in the oil and gas sectors; prudent monetary policy; and export growth fueled in part by the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA) of 2002. Investments as a percentage of GDP were around 28% in mid-2011, which is higher than both Brazil and Chile.
First-quarter GDP growth for 2011 was 5.1%, and economists project growth levels between 4% and 6% in 2011. Per capita GDP has doubled since 2002, while unemployment fell from 15.7% in 2002 to 11.8% in 2010. Colombia has concluded or is pursuing free trade agreements (FTAs) with the U.S., EU, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Panama, South Korea, and Japan in addition to its existing trade agreements with Mexico, Chile, Central America, the Andean Community of Nations, and Mercosur.
Industry and Agriculture
As the most industrially diverse member of the Andean Community, Colombia has five major industrial centers--Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, and Bucaramanga--each located in a distinct geographical region. Colombia's industries include mining (coal, gold, and emeralds), oil, textiles and clothing, agribusiness (cut flowers, bananas, sugarcane, and coffee), beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, cement, construction, iron and steel products, and metalworking. There is also a burgeoning service economy comprised of tourism and information technology exports (call centers, software development, animation).
Colombia's diverse climate and topography permit the cultivation of a wide variety of crops. In addition, all regions yield forest products, ranging from tropical hardwoods in the lowlands, to pine and eucalyptus in the colder areas. Cacao, sugarcane, coconuts, bananas, plantains, rice, cotton, tobacco, cassava, and most of the nation's beef cattle are produced in the hot regions from sea level to 1,000 meters elevation. The temperate regions--between 1,000 and 2,000 meters--are better suited for coffee, flowers, corn and other vegetables, pears, pineapples, and tomatoes. The cooler elevations--between 2,000 and 3,000 meters--produce wheat, barley, potatoes, cold-climate vegetables, flowers, dairy cattle, and poultry.
U.S. Embassy
Calle 24, Bis #48-50
Bogota, Colombia
(tel: (571) 315-0811; fax: (571) 315-2197)
The mailing address is Carrera 45 No. 24B-27
(Internet: http://bogota.usembassy.gov/)