MAIN INFORMATIONS
Capital(and largest city):Bogotá
Official language: Spanish
Government Republic
- President Álvaro Uribe Vélez
Independence from Spain
- Declared July 20, 1810
- Recognised August 7, 1819
Area
- Total 1,141,748 km² (26th)
440,839 sq mi
- Water (%) 8.8
Population
- July 2005 estimate 45,600,000 (28th)
- 2005 census 42,090,502
- Density 40 /km² (161st)
104 /sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $337.286 billion (29th)
- Per capita $7,565 (81st)
HDI (2004) 0.790 (medium) (70th)
Currency Peso (COP)
HISTORY
Since the beginning of the periods of Conquest and Colonization, there were several rebel movements under Spanish rule, most of them either being crushed or remaining too weak to change the overall situation. The last one, which sought outright independence from Spain, sprang up around 1810, following the independence of St. Domingue in 1804 (today known as Haiti), who provided a non-negligible degree of support to the eventual leaders of this rebellion: Simón Bolívar and Francisco de Paula Santander.
Simón Bolívar had become the first president of Colombia/ Fransisco de Paula Santander was vice president, and when Simón Bolívar stepped down, Santander became the second president of Colombia. The rebellion finally succeeded in 1819, when the territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Great Colombia, as a Confederation with Ecuador and Venezuela. Modern-day Panama, which subsequently remained a Colombian department until 1903, when it became independent, was also included in this union.
Francisco de Paula Santander, Simón Bolivar and other heroes of the Independence of Colombia in the Congress of Cúcuta.Internal political and territorial divisions led to the secession of Venezuela and Quito (today's Ecuador) in 1830. At this time, the so-called "Department of Cundinamarca" adopted then the name "Nueva Granada", which it kept until 1856 when it became the "Confederación Granadina" (Grenadine Confederation). In 1863, the "United States of Colombia" was created, lasting until 1886, when the country finally became known as the Republic of Colombia.
Internal divisions remained, occasionally igniting very bloody civil wars and, eventually, contributing to setting the stage for the U.S.-sponsored secession of Panama in 1903. Soon after, the country achieved a relative degree of political stability, which was interrupted by a bloody conflict that took place between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, known as La Violencia ("The Violence"). Its cause was mainly due to mounting tensions between partisan groups, reignited by the murder of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948, an event later known as the Bogotazo, and it claimed the lives of at least 180,000 Colombians.
To replace the previous 1886 document, a new constitution was ratified in 1991, after being drafted by the Constituent Assembly of Colombia. The constitution included key provisions on political, ethnic, human and gender rights, which have been gradually put in practice, though uneven developments, surrounding controversies, and setbacks have persisted.
In recent decades the country has been plagued by the effects of the influential drug trade and by guerrilla insurgents such as the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), or FARC, and illegal counter-insurgency paramilitary groups such as the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia), or AUC, which along with other minor factions have been engaged in a bloody internal armed conflict.
The powerful drug cartels have helped the Colombian balance of trade by creating a steady and substantial influx of foreign currency, mainly U.S. dollars. On the other hand, the drug lords have destabilized the government. The different insurgent irregular groups often resort to kidnapping and drug smuggling to fund their causes, tend to operate in large areas of the remote rural countryside and can sometimes disrupt communications and travel between different regions.
Since the early 1980s, attempts at reaching a negotiated settlement between the government and the different rebel groups have been made, either failing or achieving only the partial demobilization of some of the parties involved. One of the last such attempts was made during the administration of President Andrés Pastrana Arango, which negotiated with the FARC between 1998 and 2002.
In the late 1990s, President Andrés Pastrana implemented an initiative named Plan Colombia, with the dual goal of ending the armed conflict and promoting a strong anti-narcotic strategy. The most controversial element of the Plan, which also included a smaller number of funds for institutional and alternative development, was considered to be its anti-narcotic strategy, consisting on an increase in aerial fumigations to eradicate coca.
This activity came under fire from several sectors, which claimed that fumigation also damages legal crops and has adverse health effects upon population exposed to the herbicides. Critics of the initiative also claim that the plan represents a military approach to problems that have additional roots in the social inequalities of the country.
During the presidency of Álvaro Uribe, who was elected on the promise to apply military pressure on the FARC and other criminal groups, some security indicators have improved, showing a decrease in reported kidnappings (from 3700 in the year 2000 to 800 in 2005) and a decrease of more than 48% in homicides between July 2002 and May 2005. It is argued that these improvements have favored economic growth and tourism.
Analysts and critics inside Colombia agree that there has been a degree of practical improvement in several of the mentioned fields, but the exact reasons for the figures themselves have sometimes been disputed, as well as their specific accuracy. Some opposition sectors have criticized the government's security strategy, claiming that it is not enough to solve Colombia's complex problems and that it has contributed to creating a favorable environment for the continuation of some human rights abuses.
Colombia was also the first nation in the Americas and the second in the world to develop its own airline. The national airline of Colombia is Avianca. After Avianca, AeroRepública was introduced.
POLITICS
Executive Branch:
Colombia is a republic where the executive branch dominates government structure. Up until recently, the president was elected together with the vice-president by popular vote for a single four-year term; he functioned as both head of government and head of state.
However, on October 19, 2005, the Colombian Congress amended the constitution, which now allows Colombian presidents to serve up to two consecutive four-year terms. However, department governors, mayors of cities and towns and other executive branch officials are only elected for a three-year term, and cannot be immediately re-elected.
On May 28, 2006, president Álvaro Uribe Vélez was re-elected by a vote of 62%, with 22% going to Carlos Gaviria Díaz of the Democratic Pole, and 12% to Horacio Serpa Uribe of the Liberal Party.
Legislative branch:
Colombia's bicameral parliament is the Congress of Colombia, or Congreso, which consists of the 166-seat House of Representatives of Colombia and the 102-seat Senate of Colombia. Members of both houses are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. Colombia is also a member of the South American Community of Nations. With congressmen, Colombia also elects Department deputies, and city councils.
Judicial branch:
In the 1990s, the Colombian judicial system underwent significant reforms and is undergoing a process of migration from an inquisitorial system to an adversarial system.
Parts of the coffee growing region of Colombia and Bogotá have already adopted the adversarial system, with the rest of the country following suit starting on January 1, 2006. The judicial system is headed by the Constitutional Court and members are appointed by Congress out of nominations made by the President and other high ranking tribunals.
Control Institutions:
Procuraduría General de la Nación (General Procurement of the Nation), Defensoría del Pueblo, (Defensory of the People) Auditoría General de la República (General Auditing of the Republic) and the Contraloría General de la República (General Control of the Republic).
Electoral Insititutions:
Consejo Nacional Electoral (National Electoral Council) and Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (National Registry of the Civil State)
ECONOMY
After experiencing decades of steady growth (average GDP growth exceeded 4% in the 1970-1998 period), Colombia experienced a recession in 1999 (the first full year of negative growth since 1929), and the recovery from that recession was long and painful. Colombia's economy suffers from weak domestic and foreign demand, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflicts.
The IMF Economic Indicators published on September 2006, forecast the Colombian GDP to reach US$149.869 billion in 2007. Inflation has been below 6% for 2004 and 2005, and is expected to remain below 5% during 2006. Colombia's main exports include manufactured goods (41.32% of exports), petroleum (28.28%), coal (13.17%), and coffee (6.25%). Colombia is one of the largest producers of pop-up books in the world. Colombia is also the largest exporter of plantains to the United States.
Within Latin America, Colombia is known as a provider of fine lingerie, with the industry being centered in Medellín. All imports, exports, and the general trade balance are in record levels, and the inflow of export dollars has resulted in substantial revaluation of the Colombian Peso.
The problems facing the country range from pension system problems to drug dealing to high unemployment. Several international financial institutions have praised the economic reforms introduced by current President Alvaro Uribe, which include measures designed to bring the public-sector deficit below 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The government's economic policy and its controversial democratic security strategy have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy, and GDP growth in 2003 was among the highest in Latin America.
Tourism
Santa Marta aquarium.During the most famous festivals (such as the Cali Fair, the Barranquilla Carnival, the Iberoamerican Theater Festival and the Flower Festival) is when the most tourists come to Colombia. Many people also come into Colombia during Christmas time and the celebrations surrounding the Independence of Colombia.
Even though Colombia has been plagued with travel warnings because of FARC and other guerillas groups, it has continued to attract more tourists in recent years.
The apparent cause appears to be the current hardline approach of President Álvaro Uribe to push rebels groups farther away from the major cities and other tourist sites that may attract international visitors. Since President Uribe took office in 2002, he has notably increased Colombia's stability and security by significantly boosting its military strength and police presence throughout the country.
This apparently has achieved fruitful results for the country's economy, particularly international tourism. In 2006, tourism officials are expecting approximately 1.5 million international visitors to visit Colombia, an astonishing increase of about 50% from the previous year.
Even Lonely Planet, a world travel publisher, has picked Colombia as one of their top 10 world destinations for 2006. The World Tourism Organization reported in 2004 that Colombia achieved the third highest percentage increase of tourist arrivals in South America between 2000 and 2004 (9.2%). Only Peru and Suriname had higher increases during the same period.
