Republic of Colombia República de Colombia (Spanish) :
Republic of Colombia República de Colombia (Spanish) Official language - Spanish
Ethnic groups
58% Mestizo (Indigenous American and European ancestry)
21% Afro Colombian
20% White
Population - 45,500,000
Religion – 95% Christianity
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Geography and Economy
Officially the Republic of Colombia is a constitutional republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela, and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean.
With a population of over 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. Colombia has the fourth largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico, the United States, and Spain.
Colombia is a standing middle power with the fourth largest economy in Latin America. However, inequality and unequal distribution of wealth are still widespread.
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Capitol Bogota Medellin Pereira
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Colombian Coffee
Coffee was introduced to Colombia in the early 1800s.
Colombia produces about 12% of the coffee in the world, second only to Brazil
Colombian Coffees are grown in two main regions, the central region around Medellin, Armenia and Manizales, known as MAM to aficionados, and the eastern, more mountainous region near Bogotá and Bucaramanga. MAM varieties are known for their heavy body, rich flavor and fine, balanced acidity while the mountain grown eastern beans produce an even richer, heavier, less acidic coffee. The finest coffee comes from this region.
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War on Drugs
(1930–1938) were marked by social reforms thatfailed to solve the country's problems, and in 1946, a period of Insurrection and banditry broke out, referred to as La Violencia, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives by 1958.
Marxist guerrilla groups organized in the 1960s and 1970s, most notably the May 19th Movement (M-19), the National liberation army (ELN), and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), plunged the country into violence and instability.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Colombia became one of the international centers for illegal drug production and trafficking, and at times the drug cartels (the Medillin and Cali cartels were the most notorious) virtually controlled the country.
In 2000, The Plan Colombia most often used to refer to U.S. legislation aimed at curbing drug smuggling and combating a left-wing insurgency by supporting different activities in Colombia.
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People
The country has a diverse population that reflects its colorful history and the peoples that have populated here from ancient times to the present.
Many of the indigenous peoples were absorbed into the mestizo population, but the remaining 700,000 currently represent over eighty-five distinct cultures.
The European immigrants were primarily Spanish colonists, but a number of other Europeans (i.e. Portuguese, Dutch, German, Italian, French, Swiss and English) and also many North Americans migrated to the Caribbean region in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Black Africans were brought as slaves, mostly to the coastal lowlands, beginning early in the 16th century, and continuing into the 19th century. Other immigrant populations include Asians and Middle Easterners, particularly Lebanese, Jordanians, Syrians, Chinese, Japanese and Koreans.
58% of the population is mestizo, or of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, while 20% are white of European ancestry and/or Middle Eastern ancestry. Another 14% is mulatto, or of mixed black African and European ancestry, while 4% is of black African ancestry and 3% are zambos, of mixed black African and Amerindian ancestry.