Essential Information & explanations, latest texts & monographs on Colombia.

Love in the Time of Cholera by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ

Walking Ghosts: Murder and Guerrilla Politics in Colombia by Steven Dudley

Cosmic Banditos: A Contrabandista's Quest for the Meaning of Life by A. C. Weisbecker

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Lonely Planet Colombia (Colombia, 3rd Ed) by Krzysztof Dydyniski

Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw by Mark Bowden

Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World by Alan Weisman

Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society (Latin American Histories) by Frank Safford

More Terrible than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia by Robin Kirk

Law in a Lawless Land: Diary of a Limpieza by Michael Taussig

Until Death Do Us Part: My Struggle to Reclaim Colombia by Ingrid Betancourt

My Cocaine Museum by Michael T. Taussig

Footprint Colombia Handbook: The Travel Guide by Peter Pollard

A Guide to the Birds of Colombia by Steven L. Hilty

Killing Peace: Colombia's Conflict and the Failure of U.S. Intervention by Garry M. Leech

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. República de Colombia (In Detail) (Full size) National motto: Libertad y Orden (Spanish; "Liberty and Order") Official language Spanish Capital Bogota President Álvaro Uribe Vélez Area - Total - % waterRanked 25th 1,138,910 km² 8.8% Population - Total (2003) - Density Ranked 28th 44,531,434 36/km² Independence - Declared - Recognised From Spain July 20, 1810 August 7, 1819 Currency Colombian peso Time zone UTC -5 National anthem Oh Gloria Inmarcesible! Internet TLD .CO Calling Code57 Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 History 2 Politics 3 Departments 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External links History Main article: History of Colombia Spanish explorers arrived in the area around 1500, at which time they encountered many Chibchan peoples who they subjugated through warfare, disease, exploitation, and conquest. They soon established settlements that eventually grew into the provinces which where part of the Captaincy General of New Granada. As it became a Viceroyalty in 1717, some other provinces of northwestern South America came under its jurisdiction. An independence movement sprang up around 1810 that finally succeeded in 1819 when the territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Greater Colombia (Gran Colombia). Internal political and territorial divisions led to the secession of Venezuela and Quito (today's Ecuador) in 1830 and the remaining Department of Cundinamarca was renamed New Granada until 1856 when it became the Granadine Confederation until 1863 when it became the United States of Colombia until 1886 when it became the Republic of Colombia. Internal divisions remained, occasionally igniting civil war and contributing to the US-sponsored secession of Panama in 1903. The country continues to be plagued by guerrilla insurgents such as FARC, counter-insurgency paramilitary groups (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia) 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 Main article: Politics of Colombia 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 102-seat Senate and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives. 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 Main article: Departments of Colombia Colombia is divided into 32 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento):

< Additionally, there is one capital district (distrito capital), Bogotá D.C.. Geography Main article: Geography of Colombia 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 controls the islands of Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia in the Caribbean and the other in 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 Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla, Ibagué, Manizales, Pasto, Cúcuta and Bucaramanga. Economy Main article: Economy of Colombia 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 Main article: Demographics of Colombia 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. Culture Main article: Culture of Colombia

Miscellaneous topics

External links

PEC - Official governmental portal (in Spanish)
Casa de Narińo - Official presidential site (in Spanish)
Colombia Banknotes
Colombia from the air - On-line book with aerial pictures of Colombia (English)
Colombia, a new vision - On-line book with photographs of Colombia and its people (English)

The above article is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Bibliographic Resources
Updates and comments at Essential Facts blog
Are you interested in Feng Shui?
Price Theory Resources
World Class Photographers
Some philosophical movements
Top PDF and eBook Downloads

Interesting Links

Sports
Kitchen Knowledge
Hollywood Icons
Mythology
Philosophy
Retirement
Biology
Biology & Biologists
Cats & Dogs
Ethics
Logic
The Greats
Architectural Dates & Places
Styles ABC
Styles DTOI
Styles JTON
Styles OTOZ
Economics
Game theory
History
Marketing
Medical Update d06 More
Chromosomes and Genomics
Psychology
Enginering Systems 1
Mathematics
Brilliant Mathematicians
Classic Authors
Fear No Exams
Nexus
Characters & countries
Science Plus
Science & Computers
Quantum Theory

Note again ... some material here is adapted from from Wikipedia All Wikipedia article text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

©2004, All applicable rights reserved as appropriate.