PROFILE
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Colombia
GEOGRAPHY
Area:
1.14 million sq. km. (440,000 sq. mi.); about three times the size of
Montana; fourth-largest country in South America.
Cities:
Capital--Bogota
(pop. 2005 projected: 7.1 million). Other major cities include Medellin,
Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena.
Climate:
Tropical on coast and eastern plains, cooler in highlands.
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GOVERNMENT
Type:
Republic.
Independence:
July 20, 1810.
Constitution:
July 1991.
Major political parties:
Conservative Party of Colombia, Liberal, National Unity, Radical Change,
Alternative Democratic Pole, and numerous small political movements.
Suffrage:
Universal, age 18 and over.
ECONOMY
GDP
(2005): $123.7 billion; base year 1994: $105.9 billion.
Annual growth rate
(2005): 5.1%.
Per capita GDP
(2005): $2,688.81
Government expenditures
(2005): 22.7% of GDP.
Natural resources:
Coal, petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nickel, gold, silver, copper,
platinum, emeralds.
Manufacturing
(14.4% of GDP): Types--textiles
and garments, chemicals, metal products, cement, cardboard containers,
plastic resins and manufactures, beverages, wood products,
pharmaceuticals, machinery, electrical equipment.
Agriculture
(13.1% of GDP): Products--coffee,
bananas, cut flowers, cotton, sugarcane, livestock, rice, corn, tobacco,
potatoes, soybeans, sorghum. Cultivated
land--8.2% of total area.
Other sectors (by percentage of GDP):
Financial services--17.1%;
commerce--11.2%;
transportation and communications services--7.9%;
mining and quarrying--4.5%;
construction and public works--5.4%;
government, personal and other services--18.6;
electricity, gas, and water--2.9%.
Trade:
Exports
(2005)--$21.1 billion: petroleum, coal, coffee, flowers, textiles and
garments, ferronickel, bananas, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, gold, sugar,
cardboard containers, printed material, cement, plastic resins and
manufactures, emeralds.
Major markets--U.S.,
Venezuela, Germany, Netherlands, Japan.
Imports (2005)--$21.2 billion:
machinery/equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment,
mineral products, consumer products, metals/metal products,
plastic/rubber, paper products, aircraft, oil and gas industry
equipment, supplies. Major suppliers--U.S.,
Germany, Japan, Panama, Venezuela.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after
Brazil and Mexico. Thirty cities have a population of 100,000 or more.
The nine eastern lowlands departments, constituting about 54% of
Colombia's area, have less than 3% of the population and a density of
less than one person per square kilometer (two persons per sq. mi.).
Ethnic diversity in Colombia is a result of the intermingling of
indigenous peoples, Europeans and Africans. Today, only about 1% of the
people can be identified as fully indigenous on the basis of language
and customs.
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