Colombia

Colombia (pron.: /kəˈlʌmbiə/ kə-lum-biə, or /kəˈlɒmbiə/ kə-lom-biə), officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia [reˈpuβlika ðe koˈlombja]), is a unitary constitutionalrepublic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the eastby Venezuela[7]and Brazil;[8] to the south by Ecuador and Peru;[9] and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia is the 26th largest country by area and the fourth largest in South America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru.With over 46 million people, Colombia is the 27th largestcountry in the world by population and has the second largest population of any Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico. Colombia isa middle power, and is now the fourth largest economy in Latin America, and the third largest in South America.[4]Colombia produces coffee, flowers, emeralds, coal, and oil. These products comprisethe primary sector of the economy. The world's third biggest bank HSBC has created a perspective on the economic outlook in 2050 where Colombia is seen playing a decisive role in the global economy,especially in the Americas as the number 25 in the world economies measured by GDP.
The territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, Quimbaya,and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada(comprising modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador,north-western Brazil and Panama), with its capital at Bogotá.[10]Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is nowColombia 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...