Portal:Colombia

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 urban areas 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...)

A series of protests began in Colombia on 28 April 2021 against increased taxes, corruption, and health care reform proposed by the government of President Iván Duque. The tax initiative was introduced to expand funding to Ingreso Solidario, a universal basic income social program established in April 2020 to provide relief during the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia, while the legislative Bill 010 proposed several changes in the health care system in Colombia.

Although the courts had anticipated the protests would be widespread, having annulled all existing permits out of fear of further spread of COVID-19, the protests began in earnest anyway on 28 April 2021. In large cities such as Bogotá and Cali, thousands to tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, in some cases clashing with authorities, resulting in at least six deaths. Protests continued to grow over the coming days, and amidst promises by the president to rework his tax plan, they culminated into a large protest on 1 May, International Workers' Day. On 2 May, President Duque declared that he would fully withdraw his new tax plan, though no new concrete plans were announced. Despite policy adjustments, protests continued, fueled by intense crackdowns and reports of police brutality. By 21 May, protesters had alleged more than 2,000 instances of police brutality, including 27 cases of sexual violence, and around 200 people had been reported missing. (Full article...)

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Official portrait, 2022

Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego[a] ODB ODSC ODIC (Latin American Spanish: [ɡusˈtaβo fɾanˈsisko ˈpetɾo wˈreɣo]; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician who is the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration, he became the first left-wing president in the recent history of Colombia.

At 17 years old, Petro became a member of the guerrilla group 19th of April Movement (M-19), which later evolved into the M-19 Democratic Alliance, a political party. Petro also served as a councilman in Zipaquirá, but was arrested and tortured by the army for his affiliation with the M-19. After the peace process between the Colombian government and the M-19, he was released and then elected to the Chamber of Representatives in the 1991 Colombian parliamentary election. Some years later, he was elected to the Colombian Senate as a member of the Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) party following the 2006 Colombian parliamentary election, where he secured the second-largest vote. In 2009, he resigned his Senate seat to run in the 2010 Colombian presidential election, finishing fourth. He was elected mayor of Bogotá in 2011, the second most important elected office in Colombia, and held the post until 2015. (Full article...)

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Largest cities

 
 
Largest cities or towns in Colombia
According to the 2018 Census[2]
Rank Name Department Pop. Rank Name Department Pop.
Bogotá
Bogotá
Medellín
Medellín
1 Bogotá Distrito Capital 7,387,400 11 Ibagué Tolima 492,554 Cali
Cali
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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  1. ^ In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Petro and the second or maternal family name is Urrego.