Colombia Hotels Posadas and Fincas

Colombia

OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Colombia

Geography
Area: 1.14 million sq. km. (440,000 sq. mi.); about three times the size of Montana; fourth-largest country in South America.
Cities: Capital--Bogota (pop. 2005 projected: 7.1 million). 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 plains, cooler in highlands.

People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Colombian(s).
Population (July 2007): 44.38 million.
Annual population growth: 1.4%.
Religion: Roman Catholic 90%.
Language: Spanish.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--80% of children enter school. Only 5 years of primary school are offered in many rural areas. Literacy--93% in urban areas, 67% in rural areas.
Health: Infant mortality rate--25/1,000. Life expectancy--total population 72.27 yrs., men 68.44 yrs., women 76.24 yrs.
Ethnic groups: Mestizo (58%), white (20%), Afro-Colombian (18%) mixed black-Amerindian (3%) and Amerindian (1%).

Government
Type: Republic.
Independence: July 20, 1810.
Constitution: July 1991.
Branches: Executive--President (chief of state and head of government). Legislative--Bicameral Congress.
Judicial--Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Council of State, Superior Judicial Council.
Administrative divisions: 32 departments; Bogota, capital district.
Major political parties: Conservative Party of Colombia, Liberal, National Unity, Radical Change, Alternative Democratic Pole, and numerous small political movements.
Suffrage: Universal, age 18 and over.

Principal Government Officials
President--Alvaro URIBE Velez
Vice President--Francisco SANTOS Calderon
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Fernando ARAUJO Perdomo
Minister of Defense--Juan Manuel SANTOS Calderon
Ambassador to the United States--Carolina BARCO Isakson
Ambassador to the Organization of American States--Camilo OSPINA Bernal
Ambassador to the United Nations--Claudia BLUM de Barberi

Colombia maintains an embassy in the United States at 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 (tel. 202-387-8338). Consulates are located in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, San Juan and Washington DC.

Economy
GDP (2006): $125 billion; base year 1994: $105.9 billion.
Annual growth rate (2006): 6.8%.
Per capita GDP (2006): $2,976.
Government expenditures (2006): 22.2% of GDP.
Natural resources: Coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nickel, gold, silver, copper, platinum, emeralds.
Manufacturing (14.4% of GDP): Types--textiles and garments, chemicals, metal products, cement, cardboard containers, plastic resins and manufactures, beverages, wood products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electrical equipment.
Agriculture (13.1% of GDP): Products--coffee, bananas, cut flowers, cotton, sugarcane, livestock, rice, corn, tobacco, potatoes, soybeans, sorghum. Cultivated land--8.2% of total area.
Other sectors (by percentage of GDP): Government, personal and other services--18.6%; financial services--17.1%; commerce--11.2%; transportation and communications services--7.9%; construction and public works--5.4; mining and quarrying--4.5%; electricity, gas, and water--2.9%.
Trade: Exports (2006)--$24.3 billion: petroleum, coal, coffee, flowers, textiles and garments, ferronickel, bananas, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, gold, sugar, cardboard containers, printed material, cement, plastic resins and manufactures, emeralds. Major markets--U.S., Venezuela, Germany, Netherlands, Japan. Imports (2006)--$24.5 billion: machinery/equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment, mineral products, consumer products, metals/metal products, plastic/rubber, paper products, aircraft, oil and gas industry equipment, supplies. Major suppliers--U.S., Germany, Japan, Panama, Venezuela.

PEOPLE
Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. 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.). Ethnic diversity in Colombia is a result of the intermingling of indigenous peoples, Europeans and Africans. Today, only about 1% of the people can be identified as fully indigenous on the basis of language and customs.

Colombia