Portal:Colombia

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The Colombia Portal

Republic of Colombia
República de Colombia  (Spanish)
Location of Colombia (dark green) in South America (grey)
Location of Colombia (dark green)

in South America (grey)

ISO 3166 codeCO

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments. The Capital District of Bogotá is also the country's largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub. Other major urbes include Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Villavicencio and Bucaramanga. It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi) and has a population of around 52 million. Its rich cultural heritage—including language, religion, cuisine, and art—reflects its history as a colony, fusing cultural elements brought by immigration from Europe and the Middle East, with those brought by the African diaspora, as well as with those of the various Indigenous civilizations that predate colonization. Spanish is the official language, although Creole, English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally.

Colombia has been home to many indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish first landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by the mid-16th century, they had colonized much of present-day Colombia, and established the New Kingdom of Granada, with Santa Fé de Bogotá as its capital. Independence from the Spanish Empire was achieved in 1819, with what is now Colombia emerging as the United Provinces of New Granada. The new polity experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before becoming a republic—the current Republic of Colombia—in 1886. With the backing of the United States and France, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, resulting in Colombia's present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2005, there has been significant improvement in security, stability, and rule of law, as well as unprecedented economic growth and development. Colombia is recognized for its healthcare system, being the best healthcare in Latin America according to the World Health Organization and 22nd in the world. Its diversified economy is the third-largest in South America, with macroeconomic stability and favorable long-term growth prospects.

Colombia is one of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries; it has the highest level of biodiversity per square mile in the world and the second-highest level overall. Its territory encompasses Amazon rainforest, highlands, grasslands and deserts. It is the only country in South America with coastlines (and islands) along both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Colombia is a key member of major global and regional organizations including the UN, the WTO, the OECD, the OAS, the Pacific Alliance and the Andean Community; it is also a NATO Global Partner and a major non-NATO ally of the United States. (Full article...)

Steam on the mountain in July 2007

Nevado del Ruiz (Spanish pronunciation: [neβaðo ðel ˈrwis]), also known as La Mesa de Herveo (English: Mesa of Herveo, the name of the nearby town) is a volcano on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima in Colombia, about 129 km (80 mi) west of the capital city Bogotá. It is a stratovolcano composed of many layers of lava alternating with hardened volcanic ash and other pyroclastic rocks. Volcanic activity at Nevado del Ruiz began about two million years ago, during the Early Pleistocene or Late Pliocene, with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone formed during the present eruptive period, which began 150,000 years ago.

The volcano usually generates Vulcanian to Plinian eruptions, which produce swift-moving currents of hot gas and rock called pyroclastic flows. These eruptions often cause massive lahars (mud and debris flows), which pose a threat to human life and the environment. The impact of such an eruption is increased as the hot gas and lava melt the mountain's snowcap, adding large quantities of water to the flow. On November 13, 1985, a small eruption produced an enormous lahar that buried and destroyed the town of Armero in Tolima, causing an estimated 25,000 deaths. This event later became known as the Armero tragedy—the deadliest lahar in recorded history. Similar but less deadly incidents occurred in 1595 and 1845, consisting of a small explosive eruption followed by a large lahar. (Full article...)
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Official portrait, 2022

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego ODB ODSC ODIC (Spanish pronunciation: [ɡusˈtaβo fɾanˈsisko ˈpetɾo wˈreɣo]; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician and economist who has been serving as the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. A member of the M19 armed guerrilla movement, upon inauguration, he became the first left-wing president in the recent history of Colombia.

At 17 years of age, Petro became a member of the guerrilla group 19th of April Movement, which later evolved into the M-19 Democratic Alliance, a political party in which he was elected to be a member of the Chamber of Representatives in the 1991 Colombian parliamentary election. He served as a senator as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) party following the 2006 Colombian parliamentary election with the second-largest vote. In 2009, he resigned his position to run in the 2010 Colombian presidential election, finishing fourth in the race. (Full article...)

Did you know (auto-generated)

  • ... that Colombian singer Juanita Lascarro became a soprano at the Oper Frankfurt, where she appeared as both Calypso and Penelope in a new production of Dallapiccola's Ulisse?
  • ... that none of the actors in Poppy Garden, a film depicting a father and son's struggle for survival during the Colombian conflict, had previously acted in a film?
  • ... that Encanto character Bruno Madrigal was originally named Oscar, but his name was changed due to the number of real-life Oscar Madrigals in Colombia?
  • ... that in local Afro-Colombian and Catholic tradition, residents of Guapi sing and dance while sailing the Virgin Mary down their coconut-candlelit river to church every Christmas Eve?
  • ... that Puerto Rican singer Young Miko composed "Classy 101" in Los Angeles and had never met Colombian singer Feid before he recorded the song with her?
  • ... that as part of illegal wildlife trading, Oophaga solanensis frogs are bought for US$3 in their native Colombia and sold for up to US$1,000 overseas?

General images

The following are images from various Colombia-related articles on Wikipedia.

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Largest cities

 
 
Largest cities or towns in Colombia
According to the 2018 Census[2]
Rank Name Department Municipal pop. Rank Name Department Pop.
Bogotá
Bogotá
Medellín
Medellín
1 Bogotá Distrito Capital 7,387,400 11 Ibagué Tolima 492,554 Cali
Cali
Barranquilla
Barranquilla
2 Medellín Antioquia 2,382,399 12 Villavicencio Meta 492,052
3 Cali Valle del Cauca 2,172,527 13 Santa Marta Magdalena 455,299
4 Barranquilla Atlántico 1,205,284 14 Valledupar Cesar 431,794
5 Cartagena Bolívar 876,885 15 Manizales Caldas 405,234
6 Cúcuta Norte de Santander 685,445 16 Montería Córdoba 388,499
7 Soacha Cundinamarca 655,025 17 Pereira Risaralda 385,838
8 Soledad Atlántico 602,644 18 Neiva Huila 335,994
9 Bucaramanga Santander 570,752 19 Pasto Nariño 308,095
10 Bello Antioquia 495,483 20 Armenia Quindío 287,245
  1. ^ "ARC" stands for "Armada Nacional de la República de Colombia."
  2. ^ "Largest cities" (PDF). Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE). Retrieved 10 February 2020.

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