Colombia

Colombia Background

Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to be several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and illicit industries such as the drug trade and the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

Colombia Information

• Population: 42,310,775 (July 2004 est.)
• Nationality: noun: Colombian(s) adjective: Colombian
• Location:: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama
• Religions:: Roman Catholic 90%
• Ethnic Groups:: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1%
• Land Boundaries:: total: 6,004 km border countries: Brazil 1,643 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,496 km (est.), Venezuela 2,050 km
• Area: total: 1,138,910 sq km land: 1,038,700 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, Serrana Bank, and Serranilla Bank water: 100,210 sq km
• Coast Line: 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km)
• Climate: tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
• Terrain: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains
• Maritime Claims: territorial sea: 12 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
• Land Use: arable land: 2.42% other: 95.91% (2001) permanent crops: 1.67%
• Environmental Issues: deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions
• Natural Resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower
• Highways: total: 110,000 km paved: 26,000 km unpaved: 84,000 km (2000)
• Railways: total: 3,304 km standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 3,154 km 0.914-m gauge (2003)
• Ports & Harbours: Bahia de Portete, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Leticia, Puerto Bolivar, San Andres, Santa Marta, Tumaco, Turbo
• Airports: 980 (2003 est.)