text:
Christian (disambiguation)

Christian most often refers to:

 * Christians, people who follow or adhere to Christianity
 * pertaining to Christianity
 * Christian (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
 * Christian (surname), including a list of people with the surname

Christian or The Christian may also refer to:

Film

 * Christian (1939 film), a Czech comedy film
 * Christian (1989 film), a Danish drama film
 * The Christian (1911 film), an Australian silent film
 * The Christian (1914 film), an American silent film directed by Frederick A. Thomson
 * The Christian (1915 film), a British silent film directed by George Loane Tucker
 * The Christian (1923 film), an American silent film drama directed by Maurice Tourneur

Music

 * "Christian" (song), a 1982 song by China Crisis
 * Christian the Christian, a 2004 album by Lackthereof
 * The Christians (band), a UK band from Liverpool, formed 1985
 * "Christian", a 2023 song by Zior Park

Other uses in arts and entertainment

 * The Christian, an 1897 novel and play by Hall Caine, adapted for Broadway
 * The Christian (magazine), the title of several magazines
 * Christian, the protagonist in John Bunyan's novel The Pilgrim's Progress

People

 * Christian of Clogher (d. 1138), saint and Irish bishop
 * Christian of Oliva, a 13th-century Cistercian monk
 * Christian (bishop of Aarhus), fl. c. 1060 to c. 1102
 * Christian (footballer, born 1995) (Christian Savio Machado)
 * Christian (footballer, born 2000) (Christian Roberto Alves Cardoso)
 * Christian (singer) (Gaetano Cristiano Rossi, born 1949)
 * Christian, ring name of professional wrestler Christian Cage (William Jason Reso, born November 30, 1973)
 * Prince Christian (disambiguation)
 * Christian I (disambiguation)
 * Christian II (disambiguation)
 * Christian III (disambiguation)

Other uses

 * Christian the lion (born 1969)
 * Christian, West Virginia, a place in the U.S.

title: Christian (disambiguation)


text:
Geography of Colombia

The Republic of Colombia is situated largely in the north-west of South America, with some territories falling within the boundaries of Central America. It is bordered to the north-west by Panama; to the east by Brazil and Venezuela; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and it shares maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti.

Colombia has a land size of 1141748 km2 and it is the 25th largest nation in the world and the fourth-largest country in South America (after Brazil, Argentina, and Peru). Colombia's population is not evenly distributed, and most of the people live in the mountainous western portion of the country as well as along the northern coastline; the highest number live in or near the capital city of Bogotá. The southern and eastern portions of the country are sparsely inhabited, consisting of tropical rainforest, and inland tropical plains that contain large estates or large livestock farms, oil and gas production facilities, small farming communities, and indigenous tribes with their territories. Colombia has the 35th largest Exclusive Economic Zone of 808,158 km2.

Main
Colombia usually classifies its geography into five natural regions, from the Andes mountain range, a region shared with Ecuador, Venezuela; the Pacific Ocean coastal region, shared with Panama and Ecuador; the Caribbean Sea coastal region, shared with Venezuela and Panama; the Llanos (plains), shared with Venezuela; to the Amazon Rainforest region shared with Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Colombia is the only South American country that has coastline on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The World Factbook does not differentiate between the Amazon region of Colombia (predominantly jungle) and the Orinoquia region of Colombia (predominantly plains). It suggests dividing the country into four geographic regions: the Andean highlands, consisting of the three Andean ranges and intervening valley lowlands; the Caribbean lowlands coastal region; the Pacific lowlands coastal region, separated from the Caribbean lowlands by swamps at the base of the Isthmus of Panama; and eastern Colombia, the great plain that lies to the east of the Andes Mountains. The chief western mountain range, the Cordillera Occidental, is a moderately high range with peaks reaching up to about 15,000 ft (4,670 m). The Cauca River Valley, an important agricultural region with several large cities on its borders, separates the Cordillera Occidental from the massive Cordillera Central. Several snow-clad volcanoes in the Cordillera Central have summits that rise above 17000 ft. The valley of the slow-flowing and muddy Magdalena River, a major transportation artery, separates the Cordillera Central from the main eastern range, the Cordillera Oriental. The peaks of the Cordillera Oriental are moderately high. This range differs from Colombia's other mountain ranges in that it contains several large basins. In the east, the sparsely populated, flat to gently rolling eastern lowlands called llanos cover almost 60 percent of the country's total land area.

This cross section of the republic does not include two of Colombia's regions: the Caribbean coastal lowlands and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, both in the northern part of the country. The lowlands in the west are mostly swampy; the reed-filled marshes of the area are called ciénagas by the people of Colombia. The Guajira Peninsula in the east is semiarid and is occupied primarily by indigenous peoples. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is a spectacular triangular snowcapped block of rock that towers over the eastern part of this lowland. Here can be found the highest peak of the country, named Pico Cristobal Colon (5775 m).

Andean region

Near the Ecuadorian frontier, the Andes Mountains divide into three distinct, roughly parallel chains, called cordilleras, that extend northeastward almost to the Caribbean Sea. Altitudes reach more than 18700 ft, and mountain peaks are permanently covered with snow. The elevated basins and plateaus of these ranges have a moderate climate that provides pleasant living conditions and in many places enables farmers to harvest twice a year. Torrential rivers on the slopes of the mountains produce a large hydroelectric power potential and add their volume to the navigable rivers in the valleys. In the late 1980s, approximately 78 percent of the country's population lived in the Andean highlands.

The Cordillera Occidental in the west, the Cordillera Central in the center, and the Cordillera Oriental in the east have different characteristics. Geologically, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Central form the western and eastern sides of a massive crystalline arch that extends from the Caribbean lowlands to the southern border of Ecuador. The Cordillera Oriental, however, is composed of folded stratified rocks overlying a crystalline core.

The Cordillera Occidental is relatively low and is the least populated of the three cordilleras. Summits are only about 9840 ft above sea level and do not have permanent snows. Few passes exist, although one that is about 4985 ft above sea level provides the major city of Cali with an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The relatively low elevation of the cordillera permits dense vegetation, which on the western slopes is truly tropical.

The Cordillera Occidental is separated from the Cordillera Central by the deep rift of the Cauca Valley. The Río Cauca rises within 124 mi of the border with Ecuador and flows through some of the best farmland in the country. After the two cordilleras converge, the Cauca Valley becomes a deep gorge reaching to the Caribbean lowlands.

The Cordillera Central is the loftiest of the mountain systems. Its crystalline rocks form a towering wall dotted with snow-covered volcanoes that is 500 mi long. There are no plateaus in this range and no passes under 10825 ft. The highest peak in this range, the Nevado del Huila, reaches 17602 ft above sea level. The second highest peak is a volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, which erupted violently on November 13, 1985. Toward its northern end, this cordillera separates into several branches that descend toward the Caribbean coast.

Between the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Oriental flows the Magdalena River. This 1600 km river rises near a point some 180 km north of the border with Ecuador, where the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Central diverge. Its spacious drainage area is fed by numerous mountain torrents originating high in the snowfields. The Magdalena River is generally navigable from the Caribbean Sea as far as the town of Neiva, deep in the interior, but it is interrupted midway by rapids. The valley floor is very deep; nearly 800 km from the river's mouth the elevation is no more than about 300 m.

In the Cordillera Oriental, at elevations between 2500 and 2700 m, three large fertile basins and a number of small ones provide suitable areas for settlement and intensive economic production. In the basin of Cundinamarca, where the Spanish encountered the regional Chibcha Indians, the European invaders established the town of Santa Fe de Bogotá (present-day Bogotá) at an elevation of 2650 m above sea level.

To the north of Bogotá, in the densely populated basins of Chiquinquirá and Boyacá, are fertile fields, rich mines, and large industrial establishments that produce much of the national wealth. Still farther north, where the Cordillera Oriental makes an abrupt turn to the northwest near the border with Venezuela, the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy, the highest point of this range, rises to 5493 m above sea level. In the department of Santander, the valleys on the western slopes are more spacious, and agriculture is intensive in the area around Bucaramanga. The northernmost region of the range around Cúcuta is so rugged that historically it has been easier for residents here to maintain communications and transportation with Venezuela than with the adjacent parts of Colombia.

The basic plantation of Colombia is grassy and is near the equator which allows many tropical-like plants.

Caribbean region

The Caribbean lowlands consist of all of Colombia north of an imaginary line extending northeastward from the Golfo de Urabá to the Venezuelan frontier at the northern extremity of the Cordillera Oriental. The semiarid Guajira Peninsula and Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub, in the extreme north, bear little resemblance to the rest of the region. In the southern part rises the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain system with peaks reaching heights over 5700 m and slopes generally too steep for cultivation.

The Caribbean lowlands region is in roughly the shape of a triangle, the longest side of which is the coastline. Most of the country's commerce moves through the cities of Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and the other ports located along this important coast. Inland from these cities are swamps, hidden streams, and shallow lakes that support banana and cotton plantations for major commodity crops, countless small farms, and, in higher places, cattle ranches.

The city of Cartagena is a petrochemical, seaport (#1 in the country), and tourist city (#1 in the country). Santa Marta is also a seaport and tourist city but it is smaller scale city in comparison. Barranquilla is located some 25 mi from the Caribbean coastline but it is a more developed city, with a greater number of industries and commercial places, widely known for its skilled workers in producing all forms of metalwork and accomplishing construction. Its inhabitants have the highest education level of the region. The city is famous as the starting point and focus of the region and the country's development: it was the first city in the nation to install and use telephones, public lighting, air mail, planes, and industrial works.

The Caribbean region merges next to and is connected with the Andean highlands through the two great river valleys. After the Andean highlands, it is the second-most important region in terms of economic activity. Approximately 17% of the country's population lived in this region in the late 1980s.

The region also includes the peninsular archipelago of San Andres Island and the Insular Territories of Colombia, which are disputed in part by Nicaragua. However, the Colombian Navy protects such territories with the use of force when necessary to avoid foreign invasion. The islands are fortified with two important bases for defense and custom controls. These were formerly used for research of classified projects with civilian assistance; the local universities often conduct research in the areas of oceanography and marine biology but also in the fields of biochemistry, genetics and immunology. Colombia is known for its advances in medical fields in experimental surgery, breast implant development, or prosthetics, and immunology. These facilities serve as containment and secure experimentation labs to complement those in Barranquilla and other undisclosed locations within the coast territories.

The Insular Region is considered by some as a geopolitical region of Colombia. It comprises the areas outside the continental territories of Colombia and includes the San Andrés y Providencia Department in the Caribbean Sea and the Malpelo and Gorgona islands in the Pacific Ocean. Its subregions include other groups of islands:

 * Archipiélago de San Bernardo (in the Morrosquillo Gulf, Caribbean).
 * Islas del Rosario (Caribbean)
 * Isla Fuerte (Caribbean)
 * Isla Barú (Caribbean)
 * Isla Tortuguilla (Caribbean)
 * Isla Tierra Bomba (Caribbean)

Pacific region
The western third of the country is the most geographically complex. Starting at the shore of the Pacific Ocean in the west and moving eastward at a latitude of 5 degrees north, a diverse sequence of features is encountered. In the extreme west are the very narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal lowlands, which are backed by the Serranía de Baudó, the lowest and narrowest of Colombia's mountain ranges. Next is the broad region of the Río Atrato/Río San Juan lowland.

In 1855, William Kennish, an engineer and veteran of the British Royal Navy, who had immigrated to the United States and was working for a New York City firm, studied the area and proposed an inter-oceanic river aqueduct and tunnel to connect the Rio Atrato, with its mouth at the Atlantic Ocean, with tributaries and through a tunnel and aqueduct through Nerqua Pass, to flow into Bahía Humboldt at the Pacific Ocean.

This was his alternative to the canal that was eventually built further west on the isthmus of what became Panama after it gained independence in the early 20th century. Although the US sent an expedition to explore Kennish's proposal, the concept was not developed at the time. Colombia refused a later US offer to build a canal. After independence, in 1903 Panama made a treaty with the US to support construction of the Panama Canal. Colombia occupies most of the Andes mountain range northern extremity, sharing a bit with Venezuela; the range splits into three branches between the Colombia-Ecuador border.

In the 1980s, only three percent of all Colombians resided in the Pacific lowlands, a region of jungle and swamp with considerable but little-exploited potential in minerals and other resources. Later in the 20th century, it was threatened by mining-related deforestation, as gold mining proceeded by both major companies and artisan miners. Buenaventura is the only port of any size on the coast. To the east, the Pacific lowlands are bounded by the Cordillera Occidental, from which numerous streams run. Most of the streams flow westward to the Pacific, but the largest, the navigable Río Atrato, flows northward to the Golfo de Urabá. Its river settlements have access to the major Atlantic ports and consequently are commercially related primarily to the Caribbean lowlands hinterland. To the west of the Río Atrato rises the Serranía de Baudó, an isolated chain of low mountains that occupies a large part of the region. Its highest elevation is less than 1,800 meters, and its vegetation resembles that of the surrounding tropical forest.

The Atrato Swamp, in Chocó Department adjoining the border with Panama, is a deep muck sixty-five kilometers in width. For years it has challenged engineers seeking to complete the Pan-American Highway. This stretch, near Turbo, where the highway is interrupted, is known as the Tapón del Chocó (Chocon Plug).

A second major transportation project in Chocó Department has been proposed. A second inter-oceanic canal would be constructed by dredging the Río Atrato and tributary streams and digging short access canals. Completion of either of these projects would do much to transform this region, although it could have devastating consequences on the fragile, tropical forest environment.

Orinoquía region
The area east of the Andes includes about 699,300 square kilometers or three-fifths of the country's total area, but Colombians view it almost as an alien land. The entire area, known as the eastern plains, was home to only two percent of the country's population in the late 1980s. The Spanish term for plains (llanos) can be applied only to the open plains in the northern part, particularly the Piedmont areas near the Cordillera Oriental, where extensive cattle raising is practiced.

The region is unbroken by highlands except in Meta Department, where the Serranía de la Macarena, an outlier of the Andes has unique vegetation and wildlife believed to be reminiscent of those that once existed throughout the Andes.

Amazon region
Many of the numerous large rivers of eastern Colombia are navigable. The Río Guaviare and the streams to its north flow eastward and drain into the basin of the Río Orinoco, a river that crosses into Venezuela and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Those south of the Río Guaviare flows into the Amazon Basin. The Río Guaviare divides eastern Colombia into the llanos subregion in the north and the tropical rainforest, or selva, subregion in the south.

Climate

The striking variety in temperature and precipitation results principally from differences in elevation. Temperatures range from very hot at sea level to relatively cold at higher elevations but vary little with the season. At Bogotá, for example, the average annual temperature is 15 °C, and the difference between the average of the coldest and the warmest months is less than 1 °C (1.8 °F). More significant, however, is the daily variation in temperature, from 5 °C at night to 17 °C during the day.

Colombians customarily describe their country in terms of the climatic zones: the area under 900 m in elevation is called the hot zone (tierra caliente), elevations between 900 and 1980 m are the temperate zone (tierra templada), and elevations from 1980 m to about 3500 m constitute the cold zone (tierra fría). The upper limit of the cold zone marks the tree line and the approximate limit of human habitation. The treeless regions adjacent to the cold zone and extending to approximately 4500 m are high, bleak areas (usually referred to as the páramos), above which begins the area of permanent snow (nevado).

About 86% of the country's total area lies in the hot zone. Included in the hot zone and interrupting the temperate area of the Andean highlands are the long and narrow extension of the Magdalena Valley and a small extension in the Cauca Valley. Temperatures, depending on elevation, vary between 24 and 38 °C, and there are alternating dry and wet seasons corresponding to summer and winter, respectively. Breezes on the Caribbean coast, however, reduce both heat and precipitation.

Rainfall in the hot zone is heaviest in the Pacific lowlands and in parts of eastern Colombia, where rain is almost a daily occurrence and rain forests predominate. Precipitation exceeds 7600 mm annually in most of the Pacific lowlands, making this one of the wettest regions in the world. The highest average annual precipitation in the world is estimated to be in Lloro, Colombia, with 13299 mm. In eastern Colombia, it decreases from 6350 mm in portions of the Andean Piedmont to 2540 mm eastward. Extensive areas of the Caribbean interior are permanently flooded, more because of poor drainage than because of the moderately heavy precipitation during the rainy season from May through October.

The temperate zone covers about 8% of the country. This zone includes the lower slopes of the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera Central and most of the intermontane valleys. The important cities of Medellín (1487 m) and Cali (1030 m) are located in this zone, where rainfall is moderate and the mean annual temperature varies between 19 and 24 °C, depending on the elevation. In the higher elevations of this zone, farmers benefit from two wet and two dry seasons each year; January through March and July through September are the dry seasons.

The cold or cool zone constitutes about 6% of the total area, including some of the most densely populated plateaus and terraces of the Colombian Andes; this zone supports about one fourth of the country's total population. The mean temperature ranges between 10 and 19 °C, and the wet seasons occur in April and May and from September to December, as in the high elevations of the temperate zone.

Precipitation is moderate to heavy in most parts of the country; the heavier rainfall occurs in the low-lying hot zone. Considerable variations occur because of local conditions that affect wind currents, however, and areas on the leeward side of the Guajira Peninsula receive generally light rainfall; the annual rainfall of 350 mm recorded at the Uribia station there is the lowest in Colombia. Considerable year-to-year variations have been recorded, and Colombia sometimes experiences droughts.

Colombia's geographic and climatic variations have combined to produce relatively well-defined "ethnocultural" groups among different regions of the country: the Costeño from the Caribbean coast; the Caucano in the Cauca region and the Pacific coast; the Antioqueño in Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca departments; the Tolimense in Tolima and Huila departments; the Cundiboyacense in the interior departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá in the Cordillera Oriental; the Santandereano in Norte de Santander and Santander departments; and the Llanero in the eastern plains. Each group has distinctive characteristics, accents, customs, social patterns, and forms of cultural adaptation to climate and topography that differentiates it from other groups. Even with rapid urbanization and modernization, regionalism and regional identification continued to be important reference points, although they were somewhat less prominent in the 1980s than in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Colombia's proximity to the equator influences its climates. The lowland areas are continuously hot. Altitude affects temperature greatly. Temperatures decrease about 3.5 F-change for every 1000 ft increase in altitude above sea level. Rainfall varies by location in Colombia, tending to increase as one travels southward. This is especially true in the eastern lowlands. For example, rainfall in parts of the Guajira Peninsula seldom exceeds 30 in per year. Colombia's rainy southeast, however, is often drenched by more than 200 in of rain per year. Rainfall in most of the rest of the country runs between these two extremes.

Vegetation
Altitude affects not only temperature, but also vegetation. In fact, altitude is one of the most important influences on vegetation patterns in Colombia. The mountainous parts of the country can be divided into several vegetation zones according to altitude, although the altitude limits of each zone may vary somewhat depending on the latitude.

The "tierra caliente" (hot land), below 1000 m, is the zone of tropical crops such as bananas. The tierra templada (temperate land), extending from an altitude of 1000 to 2000 m, is the zone of coffee and maize. Wheat and potatoes dominate in the "tierra fría" (cold land), at altitudes from 2000 to 3200 m. In the "zona forestada" (forested zone), which is located between 3200 and 4000 m, many of the trees have been cut for firewood. Treeless pastures dominate the páramos, or alpine grasslands, at altitudes of 4000 to 4500 m. Above 4500 m, where temperatures are below freezing, is the "tierra helada", a zone of permanent snow and ice.

Vegetation also responds to rainfall patterns. A scrub woodland of scattered trees and bushes dominates the semiarid northeast. To the south, savannah (tropical grassland) vegetation covers the Colombian portion of the llanos. The rainy areas in the southeast are blanketed by tropical rainforest. In the mountains, the spotty patterns of precipitation in alpine areas complicate vegetation patterns. The rainy side of a mountain may be lush and green, while the other side, in the rain shadow, may be parched.

Relief

The Andean range is located in Colombia from the southwest (Ecuador border) toward the northeast (Venezuela border) and is divided in the Colombian Massif (Macizo Colombiano) in three ranges (East Andes, Central Andes and West Andes) that form two long valleys, Magdalena and Cauca follow by the rivers of the same name.

The eastern half of Colombia, comprising more than half its territory, is plain and composed by savanna and rainforest, crossed by rivers belonging to the Amazon and Orinoco basins. The northern part, called the Llanos, is a savanna region, mostly in the Orinoco basin (therefore called also Orinoquía). The southern part is covered by the Amazon rain forest and belongs mostly to the Amazon basin. It is usually called Amazonía.

At the north and west of the Andes range there are some coastal plains. The Caribbean plains at the north and the Pacific plains at the west.

A recent global remote sensing analysis suggested that there were 553km² of tidal flats in Colombia, making it the 46th ranked country in terms of tidal flat area.

Colombian Pacific Plains are among the most rainy parts in the world, chiefly at the north (Chocó).

The highest mountain in Colombia is not in the Andes but in the Caribbean plain: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with its highest points named Pico Cristobal Colon (5775 m) and Pico Simon Bolivar (same elevation). Other mountains in the Caribbean plain include the Montes de María and the Serranía de San Lucas.

In the Pacific Plains there are other mountain formations, chiefly the Serranía del Darién and the Serranía del Baudó.

In the eastern Region, there is the Serranía de la Macarena and there are formations belonging to the Guyana Shield.

Natural resources
The natural resources of Colombia are varied and extensive with most of its territory and oceans still unexplored. Colombia has one of the largest open pit coal mines in the world in the region of Cerrejon in the Guajira Peninsula. It also has oil rigs and natural gas extraction in the eastern plains. Colombia is the main producer of emeralds and an important participant in gold, silver, iron, salt, platinum, petroleum, nickel, copper, hydropower and uranium extraction.

Environmental issues

The main environmental issues affecting Colombia are deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions and other main cities. The collateral damaged produced by attacks against oil pipeline infrastructure by rebel guerrillas in the Colombian armed conflict has produced long term damage to the environment. The armed groups also deforest large areas to cultivate illegal crops and open unauthorized highways in protected areas.

Extreme points

 * Highest points:

Snowfields and glaciers in Colombia are limited to the highest peaks and ranges in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental and above the 4700 m elevation on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The total area of snowfields and glaciers was estimated to be about 104 square kilometers in the early 1970s.

Historical, geographical, and pictorial records point toward a consistent and progressive depletion of ice-and-snow masses in the Colombian Andes since the end of the "Little Ice Age" in the late 1800s. Many glaciers have disappeared during the 20th century, and others are expected to disappear in the coming decades.

Facts
Land size: total: 1138910 km2

Land boundaries: total: 6,672 km

Coastline: 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km)

Exclusive Economic Zone: total: 808,158 km2

Climate: tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands

Terrain: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains

Elevation extremes: lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,975 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation

Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower

Land use: arable land: 1.43% permanent crops: 1.68% other: 96.89% (2012)

Irrigated land: 10,870 km2 (2011)

Total renewable water resources: 2,132 km3 (2011)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): total: 12.65 km3 (55%/4%/41%) per capita: 308 m3/yr (2010)

Natural hazards: highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts

Environment - international agreements: party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Hydrology
Colombia has four main drainage systems: the Pacific drain, the Caribbean drain, the Orinoco Basin and the Amazon Basin.

The Orinoco and Amazon Rivers mark limits with Colombia to Venezuela and Peru respectively.

{| !width="25%"|Caribbean Drain !width="25%"|Pacific Drain !width="25%"|Orinoco Basin !width="25%"|Amazon Basin !colspan="4" align="left"|
 * - bgcolor="cccccc"

Rivers confined to Colombia
!colspan="4" align="left"|
 * valign="top"|
 * Atrato
 * Cauca
 * Magdalena
 * Nechí
 * Sinú
 * valign="top"|
 * Baudó
 * Patía
 * San Juan
 * valign="top"|
 * Guaviare
 * Inírida
 * Meta
 * Vichada
 * valign="top"|
 * Apaporis
 * Caguán
 * Caguán

Rivers originating in Colombia

 * valign="top"|
 * Catatumbo
 * valign="top"|
 * valign="top"|
 * Arauca
 * valign="top"|
 * Caquetá
 * Guainía
 * Putumayo River
 * Vaupés
 * }
 * }

Lakes

 * Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta
 * La Cocha Lagoon
 * Lake Tota

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Geography of Colombia


text:
Politics of Colombia

The politics of Colombia take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Colombia is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is carried out by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of congress, the Senate and the House of Representatives of Colombia. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Constitutional reforms
Colombia's present constitution, enacted on July 5, 1991, strengthened the administration of justice with the provision for introduction of an adversarial system, which ultimately entirely replaced the existing Napoleonic Code. Other significant reforms under the new constitution include civil divorce, dual nationality, a vice president's election, and departmental governors' election. Additionally, the constitution expanded citizens' fundamental rights, including the right of "tutela," which allows individuals to request immediate court action if they feel their constitutional rights are being violated and if no other legal recourse is available.

The national government has separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

Executive branch
The president is elected for a single four-year term. Between 2005 and 2015, the president could be re-elected for a second term. The 1991 constitution reestablished the position of vice president, who is elected on the same ticket as the president. By law, the vice president will succeed in the event of the president's resignation, illness, or death.

Since 2015, the president is barred from running for reelection, even for a nonconsecutive term.

Legislative branch
Colombia's bicameral Congress consists of a 108-member Senate of Colombia and a 172-member Chamber of Representatives of Colombia. Senators are elected on the basis of a nationwide ballot, while representatives are elected in multi member districts co-located within the 32 national departments. The country's capital is a separate capital district and elects its own representatives. Members may be re-elected indefinitely, and, in contrast to the previous system, there are no alternate congressmen. Congress meets twice a year, and the president has the power to call it into special session when needed.

Judicial branch
The civilian judiciary is a separate and independent branch of government. Guidelines and the general structure for Colombia's administration of justice are set out in Law 270 of March 7, 1996. Colombia's legal system has recently begun incorporating some elements of an oral, accusatory system. The judicial branch's general structure comprises four distinct jurisdictions: ordinary, administrative, constitutional, and special. Colombia's highest judicial organs are the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Constitutional Court, and the Superior Judicial Council. Although all the high courts technically oversee separate jurisdictions, the Constitutional Court has a broad spectrum of judicial oversight, often allowing it to rule on issues overseen by different jurisdictions and even weigh in directly on the rulings of other high courts.

Global
United Nations • FAO

• IAEA

• ICAO

• ITUC

• IFAD

• ILO

• IMF

• IMO

• IOM

• ITU

• UNASUR

• UNCTAD

• UNESCO

• UNHCR

• UNIDO

• UPU

• WHO

• WIPO

• WMO

• WToOWorld Bank • IDA

• IBRD

• IFC

• MIGA

Other • G-24

• G-77

• ICC

• ICCt

• ICRM

• IFRCS

• IHO

• Interpol

• IOC

• ISO

• NAM

• OPCW

• PCA

• WCO

• WFTU

• WTO

• OECD

Regional
• BCIE

• CAN

• CDB

• G-3

• IADB

• LAES

• LAIA

• Mercosur (associate)

• OAS

• OPANAL

• RG

title: Politics of Colombia


text:
Economy of Colombia

The economy of Colombia is the fourth largest in Latin America as measured by gross domestic product and the third-largest economic power in South America. Colombia has experienced a historic economic boom over the last decade. Throughout most of the 20th century, Colombia was Latin America's 4th and 3rd largest economy when measured by nominal GDP, real GDP, GDP (PPP), and real GDP at chained PPPs. Between 2012 and 2014, it became the 3rd largest in Latin America by nominal GDP. As of 2018, the GDP (PPP) per capita has increased to over US$14,000, and real gross domestic product at chained PPPs increased from US$250 billion in 1990 to nearly US$800 billion. Poverty levels were as high as 65% in 1990, but decreased to under 30% by 2014, and 27% by 2018. They decreased by an average of 1.35% per year since 1990.

Petroleum is Colombia's main export, representing over 45% of Colombia's exports. Manufacturing represents nearly 12% of Colombia's exports, and grows at a rate of over 10% a year. Colombia has the fastest growing information technology industry in the world, and has the longest fibre optic network in Latin America. Colombia also has one of the largest shipbuilding industries in the world outside Asia.

Modern industries like shipbuilding, electronics, automobile, tourism, construction, and mining, grew dramatically during the 2000s and 2010s. However, most of Colombia's exports are still commodity-based. Colombia is Latin America's 2nd-largest producer of domestically made electronics and appliances, following Mexico. Colombia had the fastest-growing major economy in the Western world in 2014, behind only China worldwide.

Since the early 2010s, the Colombian government has shown interest in exporting modern Colombian pop culture to the world (which includes video games, music, films, television shows, fashion, cosmetics, and food) as a way of diversifying the economy and entirely changing the image of Colombia. This has inspired a national campaign, similar to the Korean Wave. Colombia is only behind Mexico in cultural exports, and is already a regional leader in cosmetic and beauty exports.

Wealth is poorly distributed and Colombia is among the most unequal societies in the world, with a Gini index of approximately 0.̟6. For example, according to the World Bank, in 2010 the richest 20% of the population owned 60.2% of the wealth and the poorest 20% only 3%, and 15.8% of Colombians lived on less than $2 a day. In 2021, more than 54% of Colombian families are food insecure and more than 560,000 children under the age of five are chronically undernourished.

The informal economy is estimated at 47% in 2020. There is no welfare state in Colombia, which has almost no unemployment or pension insurance system. As a result, only one million elderly people have pensions (and five million are without ) and social assistance is very low. Many people in their 70s and 80s are forced to continue working or beg. The country is said to be the most unequal in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

16th–19th centuries
European explorers reached what is now Colombian territory as early as 1510 in Santa María Antigua del Darién (in present-day Chocó department). For the next couple of decades Colombia, and South America in general, remained largely unexplored. From 1533 to 1600, Europeans began expeditions into the interior of current Colombia. The in of these expeditions was mainly to conquer new lands and exploit village resources. Legends of El Dorado that reached Spaniard explorers continued to fuel exploration and raiding of Indian villages.

In the 17th century, Spanish conquerors explored Colombia and made the first settlements, and this was the beginning of Colombia's modern economic history. Major conquistadors from this period were Pedro de Heredia, Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada, Sebastián de Belalcazar, and Nikolaus Federmann.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the colonial settlements in Colombia served purposes of extraction of precious metals and other natural resources, and later slavery trade. This economic arrangement left the Colony with little room for building solid institutionality for economic development. The main non-extractive institutions emerging in this centuries were the fortified port of Cartagena and the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Cartagena developed military defenses mainly out of necessity from frequently having to deal with pirate attacks. A primitive form of colonial administration was organized in Santa fé de Bogotá with the Viceroyalty of New Granada, especially under the tenure of José Solís Folch de Cardona (1753–1761), who conducted a census and built roads, bridges and aqueducts.

Following the Thousand Days' War (1899–1902), Colombia experienced a coffee boom that catapulted the country into the modern period, bringing the attendant benefits of transportation, particularly railroads, communications infrastructure, and the first major attempts at manufacturing.

20th century
Colombia's consistently sound economic policies and aggressive promotion of free trade agreements in recent years have bolstered its ability to weather external shocks. Real GDP has grown more than 4% per year for the past three years, continuing almost a decade of strong economic performance.

In 1990, the administration of President César Gaviria Trujillo (1990–94) initiated economic liberalism policies or "apertura economica" and this has continued since then, with tariff reductions, financial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and adoption of a more liberal foreign exchange rate. Almost all sectors became open to foreign investment although agricultural products remained protected.

The original idea of his then Minister of Finance, Rudolf Homes, was that the country should import agricultural products in which it was not competitive, like maize, wheat, cotton and soybeans and export the ones in which it had an advantage, like fruits and flowers. In ten years, the sector lost 7,000 km2 to imports, with a critical impact on employment in rural areas. Still, this policy makes food cheaper for the average Colombian than it would be if agricultural trade were more restricted.

Until 1997, Colombia had enjoyed a fairly stable economy. The first five years of liberalization were characterized by high economic growth rates of between 4% and 5%. The Ernesto Samper administration (1994–98) emphasized social welfare policies which targeted Colombia's lower income population. These reforms led to higher government spending which increased the fiscal deficit and public sector debt, the financing of which required higher interest rates. An over-valued peso inherited from the previous administration was maintained.

The economy slowed, and by 1998 GDP growth was only 0.6%. In 1999, the country fell into its first recession since the Great Depression. The economy shrank by 4.5% with unemployment at over 20%. While unemployment remained at 20% in 2000, GDP growth recovered to 3.1%. Unemployment in 2020 has improved compared to two decades ago to 12.20%.

The administration of President Andrés Pastrana Arango, when it took office on 7 August 1998, faced an economy in crisis, with the difficult internal security situation and global economic turbulence additionally inhibiting confidence. As evidence of a serious recession became clear in 1999, the government took a number of steps. It engaged in a series of controlled devaluations of the peso, followed by a decision to let it float. Colombia also entered into an agreement with the International Monetary Fund which provided a $2.7 billion guarantee (extended funds facility), while committing the government to budget discipline and structural reforms.

21st century
By early 2000 there had been the beginning of an economic recovery, with the export sector leading the way, as it enjoyed the benefit of the more competitive exchange rate, as well as strong prices for petroleum, Colombia's leading export product. Prices of coffee, the other principal export product, have been more variable.

Economic growth reached 3.1% during 2000 and inflation 9.0%. Inflation by 2021 has stabilized at 3.30%. Colombia's international reserves remained stable at around $8.35 billion in the year 2000 growing to $58.57 billion by 2021, and Colombia has successfully remained in international capital markets. Colombia's total foreign debt at the end of 1999 was $34.5 billion with $14.7 billion in private sector and $19.8 billion in public sector debt. Major international credit rating organizations had dropped Colombian sovereign debt below investment grade, primarily as a result of large fiscal deficits, which current policies are seeking to close. As of 2021 Colombia has recovered its investment grade rating.

Former president Álvaro Uribe (elected 7 August 2002) introduced several neoliberal economic reforms, including measures designed to reduce the public-sector deficit below 2.5% of GDP in 2004. The government's economic policy and controversial democratic security strategy have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy, particularly within the business sector, and GDP growth in 2003 was among the highest in Latin America, at over 4%. This growth rate was maintained over the next decade, averaging 4.8% from 2004 to 2014.

According to figures from Dane, monetary poverty went from 37.2% in 2010 to 26.9% in 2017, which indicates a higher income for the most vulnerable households. During the Santos government, there was an inflationary period that was also a response to the strong external shock of the fall in oil prices. It was a period of contained instability, although inflation increased, no company declared bankruptcy and there was no instability in the financial system.

The Santos period managed an increase in GDP of 4% in 2010, which peaked in 2011 to 6.6%. Thereafter it remained at 4% in 2012, 4.9% in 2013 and 4.4% in 2014. In 2011, Colombia recovered it's BBB− investment grade, which was raised in 2013 to BBB. As a result of sustained growth, during the eight years of the Santos government, 3.5 million jobs were created, while 5.4 million people were lifted out of poverty.

The focus of Santos' second term was to reach a peace agreement with the FARC whose economic effects, according to assumptions, could imply a GDP growth of up to two additional percentage points. Santos' best legacy is precisely the one related to security since this will have an effect in the medium and long term in terms of investment decisions, job creation, and the beginning of a great revolution in the country's infrastructure: war prevented development in the most affected areas for centuries.

Colombia's President Iván Duque withdrew a controversial tax reform bill following four weeks of huge protests across the country starting 28 April 2021. In 2021, Colombia registered an increase in Gross Domestic Product of more than 10%, as a result of a rebound effect that derived from the 6.8% collapse a year earlier, caused by the economic closures decreed to stop the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic exacerbated poverty. In 2021, official figures showed that 39% of Colombians – out of a population of 51.6 million inhabitants – were in a condition of monetary poverty. Although it shows a slight improvement compared to 2020 (42.5%), it meant a setback of at least a decade.

The greatest increase in the value of the debt also occurred in the Duque government, according to figures from the Bank of the Republic. Between 2020 and 2021 the balance increased by 17 billion dollars, and from 2019 to 2020 it increased by 16 billion. That figure, which corresponds to a deficit of 7.1 percent of GDP, was the debt that the Central National Government or GNC (the State without its companies or regional entities) had in 2021, according to the fiscal closing bulletin.

In the Duque government, specifically between May and June 2020, 66.7 percent of the country's gold reserves were sold, which went from 710.5 to 237.4 million dollars. The decision was made by the Bank of the Republic. The sale received criticism because although it was done at a time of rising prices – after five years in which this did not happen – it was before gold reached a record price.

Overview
The longstanding internal armed conflict in Colombia has had economic impacts.

In the early 21st century, the Colombian economy grew in part because of austere government budgets, focused efforts to reduce public debt levels, an export-oriented growth strategy, an improved security situation in the country, and high commodity prices. Growth slowed to 1.4 percent in 2017, and then increased to 3.3 percent in 2019.

President Uribe, who was in office from 2002 to 2010, examined opportunities including reforming the pension system, reducing high unemployment, achieving congressional passage of a fiscal transfers reform, and exploring for new oil or producing ethanol. Colombia's Gini coefficient, a measure of inequality, was one of the highest in South America. International and domestic financial analysts warned of the growing central government deficit, which hovered at 5% of GDP. Nonetheless, confidence in the economy grew.

Colombia has a track record of prudent macroeconomic management.

The middle class will represent 25% of the population in 2020 according to a survey by the daily newspaper El Tiempo. Official data indicate that 42.5% of the population lives below the poverty line. The social elevator is one of the slowest in the world, as it takes an average of eleven generations for a family to rise out of poverty.

The tax system is one of the causes of Colombia's deep social inequalities. The income tax (IRPP) is not very progressive (almost all taxpayers pay it at a rate of between 19% and 28%, and the rate rises only slightly thereafter) and is levied mainly on salaries, with other categories of income being largely underreported. Redistribution through the Colombian tax system is thus the lowest in Latin America, even though it is on average very limited.

Development of main indicators
The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2019 (with IMF staff stimtates in 2020–2025). Inflation below 5% is in green.

Labor rights
On 8 June 2020, the newly formed Employment Mission (Misión de Empleo) met for the first time to discuss labor reforms that it intended to propose to Congress. Some of these reforms had been desired for years, and others had come into starker view during the coronavirus pandemic.

The legal working hours are 48 hours per week. However, the informal economy accounts for almost half of the workers, who are therefore not covered by labor laws.

Agriculture

Colombia is one of the 5 largest producers in the world of coffee, avocado and palm oil, and one of the 10 largest producers in the world of sugarcane, banana, pineapple and cocoa.

Colombia produced, in 2018, 36.2 million tons of sugarcane (7th largest producer in the world), 5.8 million tons of palm oil (5th largest producer in the world), 3.7 million tons of banana (11th largest producer in the world) and 720 thousand tons of coffee (4th largest producer in the world, behind Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia). Although its neighbor Brazil is the largest producer of coffee in the world (3.5 million tons produced in the same year), the advertising carried out by the country for decades suggests that Colombian coffee is of higher quality, which generates greater added value to the country's product. In the same year, Colombia produced 3.3 million tons of rice, 3.1 million tons of potato, 2.2 million tons of cassava, 1.3 million tons of maize, 900 thousand tons of pineapple, 670 thousand tons of onion, 527 thousand tons of tomato, 419 thousand tons of yam, 338 thousand tons of mango, 326 thousand tons of avocado, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products such as orange, tangerine, lemon, papaya, beans, carrot, coconut, watermelon etc.

The share of agriculture in GDP has fallen consistently since 1945, as industry and services have expanded. However, Colombia's agricultural share of GDP decreased during the 1990s by less than in many of the world's countries at a similar level of development, even though the share of coffee in GDP diminished in a dramatic way. Agriculture has nevertheless remained an important source of employment, providing a fifth of Colombia's jobs in 2006.

The most industrially diverse member of the five-nation Andean Community, Colombia has four major industrial centers—Bogota, Medellin, Cali, and Barranquilla, each located in a distinct geographical region. Colombia's industries include textiles and clothing, particularly lingerie, leather products, processed foods and beverages, paper and paper products, chemicals and petrochemicals, cement, construction, iron and steel products, and metalworking. Its diverse climate and topography permit the cultivation of a wide variety of crops. In addition, all regions yield forest products, ranging from tropical hardwoods in the hot country to pine and eucalyptus in the colder areas.

Cacao beans, sugarcane, coconuts, bananas, plantains, rice, cotton, tobacco, cassava, and most of the nation's beef cattle are produced in the hot regions from sea level to 1,000 meters elevation. The temperate regions—between 1,000 and 2,000 meters—are better suited for coffee; cut flowers; maize and other vegetables; and fruits such as citrus, pears, pineapples, and tomatoes. The cooler elevations—between 2,000 and 3,000 meters—produce wheat, barley, potatoes, cold-climate vegetables, flowers, dairy cattle, and poultry.

Livestock

In the production of beef and chicken meat, Colombia is among the 20 largest producers in the world.

In Colombia, the exploitation and breeding of cattle is carried out on small farms and large farms. Black-eared white, casanareño, coastal with horns, romosinuano, chino santandereano and hartón del Valle, are the Colombian breeds with the highest production.

In 2013, livestock occupied 80% of productive land in Colombia. The livestock sector is one of the most outstanding in areas such as Caribbean Region, where seven departments have livestock as their primary vocation. Also in Antioquia, where there is the largest cattle inventory in the country, the department had that year 11% of the head of cattle in Colombia, and according to the livestock inventory, in 2012 Antioqueños counted around 2,268,000 head of cattle.

Also in 2013, the bovine herd in Colombia reached 20.1 million head of cattle, of which 2.5 million (12.5%) were milking cows. In addition, the country's total milk production was 13.1 million liters.

On the other hand, the increase in imports of pork meat, the high prices of inputs and the slowdown in the national economy, produced a crisis in the raising of pork in Colombia in 2015.

Industry
The World Bank lists the main producing countries each year, based on the total value of production. According to the 2019 list, Colombia has the 46th most valuable industry in the world (US$35.4 billion), behind Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina, but ahead of Peru and Chile.

Domestic appliances
Although Colombia has been producing domestic appliances since the 1930s, it wasn't until the late 1990s that Colombian corporations began exporting to neighboring countries. One of Colombia's largest producers of domestic appliances, HACEB has been producing refrigeration since 1940. Some domestic corporations include: Challenger, Kalley, HACEB, Imusa, and Landers. In 2011, Groupe SEB acquired Imusa as a form to expand to the Latin American market. Colombia also manufactures for foreign companies as well, such as Whirlpool and GE. LG has also been interested in building a plant in Colombia. Colombia is also Latin America's 3rd largest producer of appliances behind Mexico and Brazil and is growing rapidly.

Electronics
Colombia is a major producer of electronics in Latin America, and is South America's 2nd largest high-tech market. Colombia is also the 2nd largest producer and exporter of electronics made by domestic companies in Latin America. Since the early 2000s, major Colombian corporations began exporting aggressively to foreign markets. Some of these companies include: Challenger, PcSmart, Compumax, Colcircuirtos, and Kalley. Colombia is the first country in Latin America to manufacture a domestically made 4K television. In 2014, the Colombian Government launched a national campaign to promote IT and Electronic sectors, as well as investing in Colombia's own companies. Although innovation remains low on the global scale, the government sees heavy potential in the high tech industry and is investing heavily in education and innovation centers all across the nation. Because of this, Colombia could become a major global manufacturer of electronics and play an important role in the global high tech industry in the near future. In 2014, the Colombian government released another national campaign to help Colombian companies have a bigger share of the national market.

Construction
Construction recently has played a vital role in the economy, and is growing rapidly at almost 20% annually. As a result, Colombia is seeing a historic building boom. The Colombian government is investing heavily in transport infrastructure through a plan called "Fourth Generation Network". The target of the Colombian government is to build 7,000 km of roads for the 2016–2020 period and reduce travel times by 30% and transport costs by 20%. A toll road concession program will comprise 40 projects, and is part of a larger strategic goal to invest nearly $50bn in transport infrastructure, including: railway systems; making the Magdalena river navigable again; improving port facilities; as well as an expansion of Bogotá's airport. Long-term plans include building a national high-speed train network, to vastly improve competitiveness.

Mining and energy

Colombia is well-endowed with minerals and energy resources. It has the largest coal reserves in Latin America, and is second to Brazil in hydroelectric potential. Estimates of petroleum reserves in 1995 were 3.1 Goilbbl. It also possesses significant amounts of nickel, gold, silver, platinum, and emeralds.

The country was the 12th largest producer of coal in the world in 2018. In 2019, Colombia was the 20th largest petroleum producer in the world, with 791 thousand barrels / day. In mining, Colombia is the world's largest producer of emerald.

The discovery of 2 Goilbbl of high-quality oil at the Cusiana and Cupiagua fields, about 200 km east of Bogotá, has enabled Colombia to become a net oil exporter since 1986. The Transandino pipeline transports oil from Orito in the Department of Putumayo to the Pacific port of Tumaco in the Department of Nariño. Total crude oil production averages 620 koilbbl/d; about 184 koilbbl/d is exported. The Pastrana government has significantly liberalized its petroleum investment policies, leading to an increase in exploration activity. Refining capacity cannot satisfy domestic demand, so some refined products, especially gasoline, must be imported. Plans for the construction of a new refinery are under development.

While Colombia has vast hydroelectric potential, a prolonged drought in 1992 forced severe electricity rationing throughout the country until mid-1993. The consequences of the drought on electricity-generating capacity caused the government to commission the construction or upgrading of 10 thermoelectric power plants. Half will be coal-fired, and half will be fired by natural gas. The government also has begun awarding bids for the construction of a natural gas pipeline system that will extend from the country's extensive gas fields to its major population centers. Plans call for this project to make natural gas available to millions of Colombian households by the middle of the next decade.

As of 2004, Colombia has become a net energy exporter, exporting electricity to Ecuador and developing connections to Peru, Venezuela and Panama to export to those markets as well. The Trans-Caribbean pipeline connecting western Venezuela to Panama through Colombia is also under construction, thanks to cooperation between presidents Álvaro Uribe of Colombia, Martín Torrijos of Panama and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. Coal is exported to Turkey.

Oil and coal account for 47% of goods exports in 2021.

Human rights abuses in mining zones
The oil pipelines are a frequent target of extortion and bombing campaigns by the National Liberation Army (ELN) and, more recently, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The bombings, which have occurred on average once every 5 days, have caused substantial environmental damage, often in fragile rainforests and jungles, as well as causing significant loss of life. In April 1999 in Cartagena de Indias, Clinton's Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson spoke before investors from the United States, Canada and other countries. He expressed his government's willingness to use military aid to support the investment that they and their allies were going to make in Colombia, especially in strategically important sectors like mining and energy.

In 2001 there were 170 attacks on the Caño Limón–Coveñas pipeline. The pipeline was out of operation for over 200 days of that year; the government estimates that these bombings reduced Colombia's GDP by 0.5%. The government of the United States increased military aid, in 2003, to Colombia to assist in the effort to defend the pipeline. Occidental Petroleum privately contracted mercenaries who flew Skymaster planes, from AirScan International Inc., to patrol the Cano Limon-Covenas pipeline. Many of these operations used helicopters, equipment and weapons provided by the U.S. military and anti-narcotics aid programs.

Mining and natural exploitation has had environmental consequences. The region of Guajira is undergoing an accelerated desertification with the disappearances of forests, land, and water sources, due to the increase in coal production. Social consequences or lack of development in resource rich areas is common. 11 million Colombians survive on less than one dollar a day. Over 65% of these live in mining zones. There are 3.5 million children out of school, and the most critical situation is in the mining zone of Choco, Bolivar, and Sucre.

Economic consequences of privatization and liberal institutions have meant changes in taxation to attract foreign investment. Colombia will lose another $800 million over the next 90 years that Glencore International operates in El Cerrejon Zona Media, if the company continues to produce coal at a rate of 5 million tons/year, because of the reduction of the royalty tax from 10 to 15% to .04%. If the company, as is plausible, doubles or triples its production, the losses will be proportionally greater. The operational losses from the three large mining projects (El Cerrejon, La Loma, operated by Drummond, and Montelíbano, which produces ferronickel) for Colombia to more than 12 billion.

Coal production has grown rapidly, from 22.7 million tons in 1994 to 50.0 million tons in 2003. Over 90% of this amount was exported, making Colombia the world's sixth largest coal exporter, behind Australia, China, Indonesia, South Africa and Russia. From the mid-1980s the center of coal production was the Cerrejón mines in the Guajira department. However, the growth in output at La Loma in neighboring Cesar Department made this area the leader in Colombian coal production since 2004. Production in other departments, including Boyacá, Cundinamarca and Norte de Santander, forms about 13% of the total. The coal industry is largely controlled by international mining companies, including a consortium of BHP, Anglo American and Glencore at Cerrejón, and Conundrum Company at La Loma, which is undergoing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Alabama for union assassinations and alleged paramilitary links.

Foreign investment
Various attempts to open up the economy during the 1993-2023 period have been described by Portafolio as being "half-hearted". In 1990, to attract foreign investors and promote trade, an experiment from the International Monetary Fund known as "La Apertura" was adopted by the government, this policy was to modernize different sectors of the economy to increase the overall efficiency of production so as to bring down prices to internationally competitive levels. Although the analysis of the results are not clear, the fact is that the agricultural sector was severely impacted by this policy.

In 1991 and 1992, the government passed laws to stimulate foreign investment in nearly all sectors of the economy. The only activities closed to foreign direct investment are defense and national security, disposal of hazardous wastes, and real estate—the last of these restrictions is intended to hinder money laundering. Colombia established a special entity—Converter—to assist foreigners in making investments in the country. Foreign investment flows for 1999 were $4.4 billion, down from $4.8 billion in 1998.

Major foreign investment projects underway include the $6 billion development of the Cusiana and Cupiagua oil fields, development of coal fields in the north of the country, and the recently concluded licensing for establishment of cellular telephone service. The United States accounted for 26.5% of the total $19.4 billion stock of non-petroleum foreign direct investment in Colombia at the end of 1998.

On 21 October 1995, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), President Clinton signed an Executive Order barring U.S. entities from any commercial or financial transactions with four Colombian drug kingpins and with individuals and companies associated with the traffic in narcotics, as designated by the Secretary of the Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General. The list of designated individuals and companies is amended periodically and is maintained by the Office of Foreign Asset Control at the Department of the Treasury, tel. (202) 622-0077 (ask for Document #1900). The document also is available at the Department of Treasury web site.

Colombia is the United States' fifth-largest export market in Latin America—behind Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, and Argentina—and the 26th-largest market for U.S. products worldwide. The United States is Colombia's principal trading partner, with two-way trade from November 1999 through November 2000 exceeding $9.5 billion--$3.5 billion U.S. exports and $6.0 billion U.S. imports. Colombia benefits from duty-free entry—for a 10-year period, through 2001—for certain of its exports to the United States under the Andean Trade Preferences Act. Colombia improved protection of intellectual property rights through the adoption of three Andean Pact decisions in 1993 and 1994, but the U.S. remains concerned over deficiencies in licensing, patent regulations, and copyright protection.

Colombia is also the largest export partner of the Dutch constituent country of Aruba (39.4%).

The petroleum and natural gas coal mining, chemical, and manufacturing industries attract the greatest U.S. investment interest. U.S. investment accounted for 37.8% ($4.2 billion) of the total $11.2 billion in foreign direct investment at the end of 1997, excluding petroleum and portfolio investment. Worker rights and benefits in the U.S.-dominated sectors are more favorable than general working conditions. Examples include shorter-than-average working hours, higher wages, and compliance with health and safety standards above the national average.

Tertiary industries
The services sector dominates Colombia's GDP, contributing 58 percent of GDP in 2007, and, given worldwide trends, its dominance will probably continue. The sector is characterized by its heterogeneity, being the largest for employment (61 percent), in both the formal and informal sectors.

Arts and music
Since the early 2010s, the Colombian government has shown interest in exporting modern Colombian pop culture to the world (which includes video games, music, movies, TV shows, fashion, cosmetics, and food) as a way of diversifying the economy and changing the image of Colombia. In the Hispanic world, Colombia is only behind Mexico in cultural exports at US$750 million annually, and is already a regional leader in cosmetic and beauty exports.

Travel and tourism
Tourism in Colombia is an important sector in the country's economy. Colombia has major attractions as a tourist destination, such as Cartagena and its historic surroundings, which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List; the insular department of San Andrés, Providencia y Santa Catalina; Santa Marta, Cartagena and the surrounding area. Fairly recently, Bogotá, the nation's capital, has become Colombia's major tourist destination because of its improved museums and entertainment facilities and its major urban renovations, including the rehabilitation of public areas, the development of parks, and the creation of an extensive network of cycling routes. With its very rich and varied geography, which includes the Amazon and Andean regions, the llanos, the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the deserts of La Guajira, and its unique biodiversity, Colombia also has major potential for ecotourism.

The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP in 2013 was COP11,974.3mn (1.7% of GDP). This is forecast to rise by 7.4% to COP12,863.4mn in 2014. This primarily reflects the economic activity generated by industries such as hotels, travel agents, airlines and other passenger transportation services (excluding commuter services). But it also includes, for example, the activities of the restaurant and leisure industries directly supported by tourists. The direct contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP is expected to grow by 4.1% pa to COP19,208.4mn (1.8% of GDP) by 2024.

The number of tourists in Colombia grows by over 12% every year. Colombia is projected to have over 15 million tourists by 2023.

Eco-tourism
Eco-tourism is very promising in Colombia. Colombia has vast coastlines, mountainous areas, and tropical jungles. There are volcanoes and waterfalls as well. This makes Colombia a biodiverse country with many attractions for foreign visitors.

The Colombian coffee growing axis (Spanish: Eje Cafetero), also known as the Coffee Triangle (Spanish: Triángulo del Café), is a part of the Colombian Paisa region in the rural area of Colombia, which is famous for growing and production of a majority of Colombian coffee, considered by some as the best coffee in the world. There are three departments in the area: Caldas, Quindío and Risaralda. These departments are among the smallest departments in Colombia with a total combined area of 13873 km2, about 1.2% of the Colombian territory. The combined population is 2,291,195 (2005 census).

Transportation and telecommunications
Colombia's geography, with three cordilleras of the Andes running up the country from south to north, and jungle in the Amazon and Darién regions, represents a major obstacle to the development of national road networks with international connections. Thus, the basic nature of the country's transportation infrastructure is not surprising. In the spirit of the 1991 constitution, in 1993 the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation was reorganized and renamed the Ministry of Transportation. In 2000 the new ministry strengthened its role as the planner and regulator within the sector.

Air transportation
Colombia was a pioneer in promoting airlines in an effort to overcome its geographic barriers to transportation. The Colombian Company of Air Navigation, formed in 1919, was the second commercial airline in the world. It was not until the 1940s that Colombia's air transportation began growing significantly in the number of companies, passengers carried, and kilometers covered. In the early 2000s, an average of 72 percent of the passengers transported by air go to national destinations, while 28 percent travel internationally. One notable feature is that after the reforms of the beginning of the 1990s, the number of international passengers tripled by 2003. In 1993 the construction, administration, operation, and maintenance of the main airports transferred to departmental authorities and the private sector, including companies specializing in air transportation. Within this process, in 2006 the International Airport Operator (Opain), a Swiss-Colombian consortium, won the concession to manage and develop Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport. El Dorado is the largest airport in Latin America in terms of cargo traffic (33rd worldwide), with 622,145 metric tons in 2013, second in terms of traffic movements (45th worldwide) and third in terms of passengers (50th among the busiest airports in the world). In addition to El Dorado, Colombia's international airports are Palo Negro in Bucaramanga, Simón Bolívar in Santa Marta, Cortissoz in Barranquilla, Rafael Núñez in Cartagena, José María Córdova in Rionegro near Medellín, Alfonso Bonilla Aragón in Cali, Alfredo Vásquez Cobo in Leticia, Matecaña in Pereira, Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in San Andrés, and Camilo Daza in Cúcuta. In 2006 Colombia was generally reported to have a total of 984 airports, of which 103 had paved runways and 883 were unpaved. The Ministry of Transportation listed 581 airports in 2007, but it may have used a different methodology for counting them.

Poverty and inequality
After a large crisis in 1999, poverty in Colombia has had a decreasing trend. The share of Colombians below the income-based poverty line fell from 50% in 2002 to 28% in 2016. The share of Colombians below the extreme income-based poverty line fell from 18% to 9% in the same period. Multidimensional poverty fell from 30% to 18% between 2010 and 2016.

Colombia has a Gini coefficient of 51.7.

Retail
Hypermarkets and big-box stores are losing market participation in Colombian retail.

Debt
Between 1976 and 2006, Colombia's debt doubled every 10 years: in 1976 it was about $3.6 billion, in 1986 it was $7.2 billion, in 1996 it was over $16 billion and in 2006 it was over $36 billion. Since 2006, the growth of the debt has accelerated: it reached $72 billion in 2011 and reached $124 billion in 2017, which means that in less than 10 years Colombia's foreign debt has tripled. About a quarter of Colombia's annual budget, or $20 billion, goes to pay off the public debt.

Corruption
Corruption in public management in Colombia is widespread and structural in nature. This situation generates losses for the country estimated at 15 billion dollars. Colombia has not escaped the scandals involving millions of dollars in bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, as well as the Cartagena refinery, a case of embezzlement of public funds that came to light in 2016 and involved members of the governments of Álvaro Uribe (2002–2010) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010–2018).

title: Economy of Colombia


text:
Communications in Colombia

Since being liberalized in 1991, the Colombian telecommunications sector has added new services, expanded coverage, improved efficiency, and lowered costs. The sector has had the second largest (after energy) investment in infrastructure (54 percent) since 1997. However, the economic downturn between 1999 and 2002 adversely affected telecommunications. During this period, Colombia's telecommunications industry lost US$2 billion despite a profit of US$1 billion in local service. In June 2003, the government liquidated the state-owned and heavily indebted National Telecommunications Company (Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones—Telecom) and replaced it with Colombia Telecomunicaciones (Colombia Telecom). The measure enabled the industry to expand rapidly, and in 2004 it constituted 2.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Telefónica of Spain acquired 50 percent plus one share of the company in 2006.

As a result of increasing competition, Colombia has a relatively modern telecommunications infrastructure that primarily serves larger towns and cities. Colombia's telecommunication system includes access to 8 different international Submarine cable systems, INTELSAT, 11 domestic satellite Earth stations, and a nationwide microwave radio relay system.

Telephones
The country's teledensity (the density of telephone lines in a community) is relatively high for Latin America (17 percent in 2006). However, there is a steep imbalance between rural and urban areas, with some regions below 10 percent and the big cities exceeding 30 percent. Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali account for about 50 percent of telephone lines in use. By the end of 2005, the number of telephone main lines in use totaled 7,851,649. Colombia Telecom accounted for only about 31 percent of these lines; 27 other operators accounted for the rest.

Colombia's mobile market is one of the fastest-growing businesses in the country. In 1993, the first mobile phone call was made. In mid-2004 mobile telephones overtook fixed lines in service for the first time. By 2005 Colombia had the highest mobile phone density (90 percent) in Latin America, as compared with the region's average density of 70 percent. The number of mobile telephone subscribers totaled an estimated 31 million in 2007, as compared to 21.8 million in 2005 and 6.8 million in 2001.

Radio and television
In late 2004, Radio Televisión Nacional de Colombia (RTVC) replaced the liquidated Inravisión (Instituto Nacional de Radio y Televisión) as the government-run radio and television broadcasting service, which oversees three national television stations and five radio companies (which operate about a dozen principal networks). Colombia has about 60 television stations, including seven low-power stations. In 2000 the population had about 11.9 million television receivers in use. Of the approximately 515 radio stations, 454 are AM; 34, FM; and 27, shortwave.

Undersea Cables
As of 2016, Colombia has access to the following international Submarine cable systems: SAC/LAN, Maya-1, AMX-1, Pan Am, SAm-1, ARCOS-1, CFX-1, and PCCS. These cables land at 4 locations in the Caribbean: Barranquilla, Cartagena, Riohacha, and Tolu. One cable lands on the Pacific Ocean coast at Buenaventura, Valle del Cauca.

Internet
Colombia is still far behind Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina in terms of online usage. It had an estimated total of 900,000 Internet subscribers by the end of 2005, a figure that equated to 4,739,000 Internet users, or 11.5 percent of the 2005 population (10.9 per 100 inhabitants). By late 2009 39% of households had internet access Colombia had 581,877 Internet hosts in 2006. Although as many as 70 percent of Colombians accessed the Internet over their ordinary telephone lines, dial-up access is losing ground to broadband. In 2005 Colombia had 345,000 broadband subscriber lines, or one per 100 inhabitants. In 2006 the number of personal computers per 1,000 people increased to an estimated 87 per 1,000 inhabitants, a rate still below that in other large Latin American economies. The internet country code is .co.

title: Communications in Colombia


text:
Transport in Colombia

Transport in Colombia is regulated by the Ministry of Transport.

Road travel is the main means of transport; 69 percent of cargo is transported by road, as compared with 27 percent by railroad, 3 percent by internal waterways, and 1 percent by air.

Indigenous peoples influence

The indigenous peoples in Colombia used and some continue to use the waterways as the way of transportation using rafts and canoes.

Spanish influence
With the arrival of the Europeans the Spaniards brought the horses, mules and donkey (which developed into the Paso Fino) used by them in ranching duties later in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Horses contributed greatly to the transport of the Spanish conquerors and colonizers. They also introduced the wheel, and brought wooden carts and carriages to facilitate their transport. The Spaniards also developed the first roads, rudimentary and most of these in the Caribbean region. Due to the rough terrain of Colombia communications between regions was difficult and affected the effectiveness of the central government creating isolation in some regions. Maritime navigation developed locally after Spain lifted its restrictions on ports within the Spanish Empire inducing mercantilism. Spanish also transported African slaves and forcedly migrated many indigenous tribes throughout Colombia.

Post-independence
With the independence and the influences of the European Industrial Revolution the main way of transport in Colombia became the navigation mainly through the Magdalena River which connected Honda in inland Colombia, with Barranquilla by the Caribbean Sea to the trade with the United States and Europe. This also brought a large wave of immigrants from European and Middle Eastern countries. The industrialization process and transportation in Colombia were affected by the internal civil wars that surged after the independence from Spain and that continued throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Standardization
During the late 19th century European and American companies introduced railways to carry to the ports the local production of raw materials intended for exports and also imports from Europe. Steam ships began carrying Colombians, immigrants and goods from Europe and the United States over the Magdalena River.

The Ministry of Transport was created in 1905 during the presidency of Rafael Reyes under the name of  Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transporte or Ministry of Public Works and Transport with the main function of taking care of national assets issues, including mines, oil (fuel), patents and trade marks, railways, roads, bridges, national buildings and land without landowners.

In the early 20th century roads and highways maintenance and construction regulations were established. Rivers were cleaned, dragged and channeled and the navigational industry was organized. The Public works districts were created, as well as the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Colombia (National Railways of Colombia). Among other major projects developed were the aqueduct of Bogotá, La Regadera Dam and the Vitelma Water Treatment Plant. The Ministry also created the National Institute of Transit (from the Spanish Instituto Nacional de Tránsito), (INTRA) under the Transport and tariffs Directorate and was in charge of designing the first National roads plan with the support of many foreign multinational construction companies.

Aviation was born in Barranquilla with the creation of SCADTA in 1919 a joint venture between Colombians and Germans that delivered mail to the main cities of Colombia which later merged with SACO to form Avianca.

Railways

Colombia has 3,034 km of rail lines, 150 km of which are gauge and 3,154 km of which are  gauge. However, only 2,611 km of lines are still in use. Rail transport in Colombia remains underdeveloped. The national railroad system, once the country's main mode of transport for freight, has been neglected in favor of road development and now accounts for only about a quarter of freight transport. Passenger-rail use was suspended in 1992 resumed at the end of the 1990s, and as of 2017 it is considered abandoned (at least for long distances). Fewer than 165,000 passenger journeys were made in 1999, as compared with more than 5 million in 1972, and the figure was only 160,130 in 2005. The two still-functioning passenger trains are: one between Puerto Berrío and García Cadena, and another one between Bogotá and Zipaquirá. Short sections of railroad, mainly the Bogotá-Atlantic rim, are used to haul goods, mostly coal, to the Caribbean and Pacific ports. In 2005 a total of 27.5 million metric tons of cargo were transported by rail. Although the nation's rail network links seven of the country's 10 major cities, very little of it has been used regularly because of security concerns, lack of maintenance, and the power of the road transport union. During 2004–6, approximately 2,000 kilometers of the country's rail lines underwent refurbishment. This upgrade involved two main projects: the 1,484-kilometer line linking Bogotá to the Caribbean Coast and the 499-kilometer Pacific coastal network that links the industrial city of Cali and the surrounding coffee-growing region to the port of Buenaventura.

Roads

The three main north–south highways are the Caribbean, Eastern, and Central Trunk Highways (troncales). Estimates of the length of Colombia's road system in 2004 ranged from 115,000 kilometers to 145,000 kilometers, of which fewer than 15 percent were paved. However, according to 2005 data reported by the Colombian government, the road network totaled 163,000 kilometers, 68 percent of which were paved and in good condition. The increase may reflect some newly built roads. President Uribe has vowed to pave more than 2,500 kilometers of roads during his administration, and about 5,000 kilometers of new secondary roads were being built in the 2003–6 period. Despite serious terrain obstacles, almost three-quarters of all cross-border dry cargo is now transported by road, 105,251 metric tons in 2005.

Highways are managed by the Colombian Ministry of Transport through the National Roads Institute. The security of the highways in Colombia is managed by the Highway Police unit of the Colombian National Police. Colombia is crossed by the Panamerican Highway.

Ports, waterways, and merchant marine

Seaports handle around 80 percent of international cargo. In 2005 a total of 105,251 metric tons of cargo were transported by water. Colombia's most important ocean terminals are Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta on the Caribbean Coast and Buenaventura and Tumaco on the Pacific Coast. Exports mostly pass through the Caribbean ports of Cartagena and Santa Marta, while 65 percent of imports arrive at the port of Buenaventura. Other important ports and harbors are Bahía de Portete, Leticia, Puerto Bolívar, San Andrés, Santa Marta, and Turbo. Since privatization was implemented in 1993, the efficiency of port handling has increased greatly. Privatization, however, has had negative impacts as well. In Buenaventura, for example, privatization of the harbor has increased unemployment and social issues. There are plans to construct a deep-water port at Bahía Solano.

The main inland waterways total about 18,200 kilometers, 11,000 kilometers of which are navigable by riverboats. A well-developed and important form of transport for both cargo and passengers, inland waterways transport approximately 3.8 million metric tons of freight and more than 5.5 million passengers annually. Main inland waterways are the Magdalena–Cauca River system, which is navigable for 1,500 kilometers; the Atrato, which is navigable for 687 kilometers; the Orinoco system of more than five navigable rivers, which total more than 4,000 kilometers of potential navigation (mainly through Venezuela); and the Amazonas system, which has four main rivers totaling 3,000 navigable kilometers (mainly through Brazil). The government is planning an ambitious program to more fully utilize the main rivers for transport. In addition, the navy's riverine brigade has been patrolling waterways more aggressively in order to establish safer river transport in the more remote areas in the south and east of the country.

The merchant marine totals 17 ships (1,000 gross registered tons or more), including four bulk, 13 cargo, one container, one liquefied gas, and three petroleum tanker ships. Colombia also has seven ships registered in other countries (Antigua and Barbuda, two; Panama, five).

Civil Aviation
The Special Administrative Unit of Civil Aeronautics is responsible of regulating and controlling the use of air space by civil aviation. The customs/immigration issues are controlled by the Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad (DAS).

Colombia has well-developed air routes and an estimated total of 984 airports, 100 of which have paved runways, plus two heliports. Of the 74 main airports, 20 can accommodate jet aircraft. Two airports are more than 3,047 meters in length, nine are 2,438–3,047 meters, 39 are 1,524–2,437 meters, 38 are 914–1,523 meters, 12 are shorter than 914 meters, and 880 have unpaved runways. The government has been selling its stake in local airports in order to allow their privatization. The country has 40 regional airports, and the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Leticia, Pereira, Armenia, San Andrés, and Santa Marta have international airports. Bogotá's El Dorado International Airport handles 550 million metric tons of cargo and 22 million passengers a year, making it the largest airport in Latin America in terms of cargo and the third largest in passenger numbers.

Urban transport
Urban transport systems have been developed in Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín. Traffic congestion in Bogotá had been greatly exacerbated by a lack of rail transport; however, this problem was alleviated, to a degree, by the formation of one of the world's most expansive and highest-capacity bus rapid transit (BRT) systems—known as the TransMilenio (opened 2000)—and the restriction of vehicles through a daily, rotating ban on private cars (depending on plate numbers). Bogotá's BRT consists of bus and minibus services managed by both private- and public-sector enterprises.

Since 1995, Medellín has had a modern urban railway, the Metro de Medellín, utilizing two train lines with 27 stations. The Metro also connects with the cities of Itagüí, Envigado, and Bello. An elevated gondola-cablecar system, the Metrocable, opened in 2004 to improve Metro accessibility for some of the city's more isolated, dense barrios. The gondola design was specifically chosen due to the mountainous geography of the city, with most of the neighborhoods served being reasonably higher in elevation from the city center. A BRT line called Transmetro began operating in 2011, with a second line added in 2013.

Other Colombian cities have also installed BRT systems, such as Cali, with a six-line system (opened 2008), Barranquilla with two lines (opened 2010), Bucaramanga with one line (opened 2010), Cartagena with one line (opened 2015) and Pereira, with three lines (opened 2006). A future light rail line in Barranquilla is planned.

Pipelines
Colombia has 4,350 kilometers of gas pipelines, 6,134 kilometers of oil pipelines, and 3,140 kilometers of refined-products pipelines. The country has five major oil pipelines, four of which connect with the Caribbean export terminal at Puerto Coveñas. Until at least September 2005, the United States funded efforts to help protect a major pipeline, the 769-kilometer-long Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, which carries about 20 percent of Colombia's oil production to Puerto Coveñas from the guerrilla-infested Arauca region in the eastern Andean foothills and Amazonian jungle. The number of attacks against pipelines began declining substantially in 2002. In 2004 there were only 17 attacks against the Caño Limón–Puerto Coveñas pipeline, down from 170 in 2001. However, a bombing in February 2005 shut the pipeline for several weeks, and attacks against the electrical gird system that provides energy to the Caño Limón oilfield have continued. New oil pipeline projects with Brazil and Venezuela are underway. In addition, the already strong cross-border trade links between Colombia and Venezuela were solidified in July 2004 with an agreement to build a US$320 million natural gas pipeline between the two countries, to be completed in 2008.

title: Transport in Colombia


text:
Military Forces of Colombia

The Military Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Militares de Colombia) are the unified armed forces of the Republic of Colombia. They consist of the Colombian Army, the Colombian Navy and the Colombian Aerospace Force. The National Police of Colombia, although technically not part of the military, is controlled and administered by the Ministry of National Defence, and national conscription also includes service in the National Police, thus making it a de facto gendarmerie and a branch of the military. The President of Colombia is the military's commander in chief, and helps formulate defense policy through the Ministry of National Defence, which is in charge of day-to-day operations.

The Military Forces of Colombia have their roots in the Army of the Commoners (Ejército de los Comuneros), which was formed on 7 August 1819 – before the establishment of the present day Colombia – to meet the demands of the Revolutionary War against the Spanish Empire. After their triumph in the war, the Army of the Commoners disbanded, and the Congress of Angostura created the Gran Colombian Army to replace it, thus establishing the first military service branch of the country.

The Colombian military was operationally involved in World War II and was the only Latin American country to send troops to the Korean War. Ever since the advent of the Colombian Conflict, the Colombian military has been involved in combat, pacification, counter-insurgency, and drug interdiction operations all over the country's national territory. Recently it has participated in counter-piracy efforts in the Horn of Africa under Operation Ocean Shield and Operation Atlanta.

The military of Colombia is the third largest in the Western Hemisphere in terms of active personnel and has the fourth largest expenditure in the Americas, behind the United States Armed Forces, the Canadian Armed Forces and the Brazilian Armed Forces respectively.

Services
The Colombian Constitution includes two overlapping definitions of what could be defined as 'armed forces' in English:
 * The Public Force (La Fuerza Pública): Includes the Military Forces proper and the National Police (Title VII, chapter VII, Art. 216)
 * The Military Forces (Las Fuerzas Militares): Includes only the 3 major military service branches: Army, Navy and Aerospace Force (Title VII, chapter VII, Art. 217)

This is a subtle yet important distinction, both in terms of emphasizing the civil nature of the National Police, but also adapting the national police to function as a paramilitary force which can perform military duties as a result of the Colombian Conflict. This has led to some of the most important police units adopting military training and conducting special operations alongside the Colombian Army, Aerospace Force, and Navy. Therefore, the functions of the Colombian Police in practical terms are similar to those of a gendarmerie, like the Spanish Civil Guard and the Carabineros de Chile, which maintain military ranks for all police personnel.

Personnel
The Colombian armed forces consist of: Military Forces: And,
 * Colombian Army
 * Colombian Navy – and attached services Marines and Colombian Coast Guard
 * Colombian Aerospace Force
 * National Police of Colombia

Public Force strength as of April 2014.

Military strength

Dependencies

 * Military Medical Corps ('Sanidad Militar') – Medical and Nurse Corps
 * Indumil (Industrias Militares – INDUMIL) – Military Industry Depot
 * Military Sports Federation (Federación Deportiva Militar – FEDECODEMIL)
 * Military Printing (Imprenta Militar)
 * Military Museum (Museo Militar) – History of the Armed Forces of Colombia
 * Superior War College (Escuela Superior de Guerra (Colombia) ESDEGUE)

Funding
In 2000, Colombia assigned 3.9% of its GDP to defense. By 2008 this figure had risen to 4.8%, ranking it 14th in the world. The armed forces number about 250,000 uniformed personnel: 145,000 military and 105,000 police. These figures do not include assistance personnel such as cooks, medics, mechanics, and so on. This makes the Colombian military one of the largest and most well-equipped in Latin America. Many Colombian military personnel have received military training assistance directly in Colombia and also in the United States. The United States has provided equipment and financing to the Colombian military and police through the military assistance program, foreign military sales, and the international narcotics control program, all currently united under the auspices of Plan Colombia.

World factbook statistics

 * Military manpower – military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation – 24 months (2004)
 * Military manpower – availability:
 * males age 18–49: 10,212,456
 * females age 18–49: 10,561,562 (2005 estimate)
 * Military manpower – fit for military service:
 * males age 18–49: 6,986,228
 * females age 18–49: 8,794,465 (2005 estimate)
 * Military manpower – reaching military age annually:
 * males age 18–49: 389,735
 * females age 18–49: 383,146 (2005 estimate)

References and notes

 * Includes 435 sub-officers Suboficiales and 3,125 agents Agentes
 * Includes 123,125 executive personnel Nivel Ejecutivo and 23,562 Auxiliary conscript Auxiliares

Other Links

 * Colombian Military expenditure

title: Military Forces of Colombia