See also: Colombia (homonymy)

The Colombia is a country located at the western north of the South America. It is the single country of South America which have coasts on the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Bogotá.

History

See also: History of Colombia

The Spanish colonizers arrived in this area roughly in 1500, finding there the Tribu S Indigène S Chibchas (or Muiscas) and the Taironas, which were decimated and conquered. The Spanish S built various colony S. there Later, they were converted into Province S melting the Nouvelle Grenade like core with the whole beginning and, starting from 1717, like Vice-royauté. This viceroyalty included various provinces which had belonged until this moment to the jurisdiction of the viceroyalties of the Nouvelle Spain and of the Peru. The independence movement began in 1810, mainly carried out by Simón Bolívar and Francisco of Paula Santander, and triumphed in 1819. The territory which was then known as being the viceroyalty of the Nouvelle Grenadine, is converted into République Fédéral E of the Grande Colombia following the Bataille of Boyacá (the August 7th 1819).

Internal divisions of capacities led in 1830 to the separation of the departments which composed the Grande Colombia is: The Venezuela, the Ecuador and Colombia. Following this separation, Cundinamarca took the name of Nouvelle Grenade until in 1886 where it took the current name, that is to say the Republic of Colombia. Internal divisions remained, starting a Civil war which inter alia causes led to the secession of Panamá in 1903, with the interference of the the United States.

Colombia continues to see the confrontation since the Années 1960 between groups armed such as the Revolutionary armed forces with Colombia (FARC), the Armée with national release (ELN - Spanish acronym), the plain Autodéfenses of Colombia (AUC) more recently on a side and the regular army of the other. The traffic of Stupéfiant S is also a source of extreme tensions in Colombia.

Policy

See also: Political of Colombia

Colombia is a parliamentary République. The right to vote is granted to all the old citizens of more than 18 years. The President is elected for one 4 years period. The Parliament is made up of two rooms: the House of Commons (163 elected members every 4 years) and the Senate (102 members, also elected every 4 years). The Colombian right is copied from the model of the Spanish right and the Napoleonean code introduced by Andrés Bello.

May 29th, 2006, Álvaro Uribe is re-elected president with 62,2  % of the voices as of the first turn of the presidential election of the Sunday, May 28. With the capacity since 2002, the conservative Álvaro Uribe thus remains president of Colombia until 2010.

Geography

See also: Geography of Colombia

There are five great areas in the country: the Caribbean , the Peaceful , the the Andes, the Orinoquie, and the Amazonia. In each area, food, the ethnic composition, the Language and the economic activities vary. The most populated zones are: the zone of the Andes (where are the cities most important in particular Bogotá, Medellín, Bucaramanga, Cúcuta, Pasto, Manizales, Pereira, Neiva and Ibagué (inter alia) and the zone of the northern coast: the Caribbean one, where are Barranquilla, Carthagène (the tourist city of the country), Santa Marta, Sincelejo, Montería and Valledupar (inter alia). The third city of the country, Cali, is at the border of zones Pacifique and Andean. The three other zones, the Peaceful coast, Orinoquie and Amazonia are developed, in particular the departments of the Chocó, Vaupés, Guainía, Putumayo, Caquetá, Guaviare, Vichada and Amazonas. The Colombian Andes, unlike those of the other Andean countries, are divided into three solid masses by large rivers: the Cauca and the Magdalena, which was formerly the most important loader-gate of the country. These geographical contrasts offer a great climatic diversity in a restricted zone. For example, at less than one hour in the car (60 km) far from the “cold” of Bogotá, one can find deserts, tropical forests or subtropical or even of the eternal snow.

Land borders

Subdivisions

See also: Departments of Colombia

Colombia is divided into 32 departments and a capital district (Bogotá). The departments are:

Economy

See also: Economy of Colombia

Colombia is the 5th economic power American Latino E, behind the Brésil, the Mexico, the Argentine and the Venezuela, with a GDP of 100 billion Dollar S (value 2005 at the price and foreign exchange rates current).

The external Dette of Colombia amounted to 50,9% of the GDP in March 2003.

Demography

See also: Demography of Colombia

Culture

Famous Colombian personalities

Codes

Colombia has as codes:

See too

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