Colombia

Colombia
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This article is about the country. For other uses and spellings, see Colombia (disambiguation) and Columbia (disambiguation).
Republic of Colombia República de Colombia (Spanish) |
| |
Flag | Coat of arms |
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Motto: "Libertad y Orden"  (Spanish)
"Liberty and Order" |
Anthem: ¡Oh, GloriaInmarcesible!  (Spanish)
O unfading glory! |
|
Capital
(and largest city) | Bogotá, D.C.
4°39′N 74°3′W / 4.65°N 74.05°W / 4.65; -74.05 |
Official language(s) | Spanish1
(English is also official in San Andrés and Providence islands) |
Recognised regional languages | The 88 languages and dialects of ethnic groups are also official in the whole country.[1] |
Ethnic groups  | 58% Mestizo
26% White15% Afro Colombian
1% Amerindian[2] |
Demonym | Colombian |
Government | Unitary presidential republic |
 -  | President | Juan Manuel Santos |
 -  | Vice President | Angelino Garzón |
Independence | From Spain  |
 -  | Declared | July 20, 1810  |
 -  | Recognized | August 7, 1819  |
 -  | Current constitution | 1991  |
Area |
 -  | Total | 1,141,748 km2 (26th)
440,831 sq mi |
 -  | Water (%) | 8.8 (17th) |
Population |
 -  | August 2012 estimate | 45,925,397[3] (27th) |
 -  | 2005 census | 46'406.352[3]  |
 -  | Density | 40,74/km2 (172th)
15.72/sq mi |
GDP (PPP) | 2010 estimate |
 -  | Total | $435.367 billion[4] (28th) |
 -  | Per capita | $9,566[4] (83rd) |
GDP (nominal) | 2010 estimate |
 -  | Total | $285.511 billion[4] (35th) |
 -  | Percapita | $6,273[4]  |
Gini (2006) | 58.5[5] (high)  |
HDI (2010) | 0.689 [6] (high) (79th) |
Currency | Peso (COP) |
Time zone | (UTC-52) |
Date formats | dd-mm-yyyy (CE) |
Drives on the | Right |
ISO 3166 code | CO |
Internet TLD | .co |
Calling code | +57 |
1 | Although the Colombian Constitution specifies Spanish as the official language in all its territory, the nativelanguages (approximately 88 dialects) are also official in the whole country. |
2 | The official Colombian time, (horalegal.sic.gov.co) is controlled and coordinated by the state agency Superintendency of Industry and Commerce.[7] |
Colombia (i/kəˈlʌmbiə/), officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðe koˈlombja] ( listen)), is a constitutionalrepublic in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela[8] and Brazil;[9] to the south by Ecuador and Peru;[10] to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with Venezuela, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[11][12] With a population ofover 46 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil. Colombia has the third largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico and Spain.
The territory of what is now "Colombia" was originally inhabited by indigenous people including the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization creating the Viceroyalty of Peru, and to create a better management of tax in 1717 was created the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogotá.[13] Independence from Spain was won in 1819 by Simón Bolívar, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" hadcollapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886.[2] Panama seceded in 1903 under pressure to fulfill financial responsibilities...