Colombia located in the northwestern part of South America is one of many Spanish speaking countries. Colombia shares a boarder with Ecuador, Peru Brazil, Venezuela, and Panama. Colombia’s capital and largest city, Bogotá;, is located near the center of Colombia. Medellín located northwest of Bogota and Cali to the southwest are also good size cites.
The climates in Colombia do not change very much due to the fact it is located so close to the equator. But the climates do change due to elevation. Elevations below about 300 feet are known as the tierra caliente or the “hot land”. The middle regions are known as tierra templada or, in English, the “moderate land”. The highest elevation located 6,500 feet or higher, is known as tierra fría which translated is “cold land”. The amount or precipitation varies greatly between regions. Averaging more then 100 inches of rain a year, the Magdalen Valley and tropical forest receives the most rain in Colombia. But the region along the Caribbean is the hottest and driest part of the country containing short rainy seasons. Located closest to the equator the Guajira peninsula receives the least amount of rain in Colombia. It is easy to see that the equator has a lot to do with Colombia’s climates.
Colombia was named after the famous explorer Christopher Columbus. In the early 1500’s Spaniards came to Colombia looking for gold. They enslaved the native Indians and ruled Colombia for three hundred years. It wasn’t until 1819 that a man by the name of Simón Bolívar led Colombia to independent from Spain. By 1826 all the Spanish colonies in South America were independent. In the 1970’s and 1980’s guerilla groups were formed to fight the government and attempt to create a communists state. Due to the chaos the drug sales and drug lords became very large and earned enormous amount of money. In 1980’s president Virgilio Barco of Colombia tried to put an end to the drug trafficking but it just brought forth bombings, kidnappings, and assignations. During Colombia’s 1990’s election three of the presidential candidates were assassinated by a powerful group of drug lords. The drug scene is still there in Colombia but the government has had some success in controlling it.
The Colombian government is much like ours in America. It consists of a president, which is voted in by anyone over the age of 18. But the president is only allowed to serve one four year term in office. Wisely, the president is allowed to choose who will be his running mate as vice-president. If a president does not win an election by at least fifty percent of the votes then another election is held between the top two candidates. Once voted into office the president is allowed to appoint the ministers. The government does not only consist of a president though, it also consists of legislatives and courts. The legislative is made up of two houses. They are the Senate which has 102 members and the House of Representatives that consists of 165 members. They like the U.S. have many courts, but their highest court is called the Corte Suprema de Justicia, also known as the Supreme Court. As you can see their current government is set up much like ours is here in America.
Traditionally in Colombia, only the males from rich families were able to receive education. Now day’s education is more widely available. The government is still trying to make it even more available but it is difficult because there are not enough schools or educators for the children. Despite this fact, the literacy rate in Colombia is 87% for those over the age of 15. Children are taught Spanish, the national language by their families, but some people still use some of their native languages. The dialects also vary in the regions and different classes.
The people in Colombia enjoy the same type of activates as we do as Americans. They like music and dancing. Some of the dances they perform are the salsa, cumbía, meringue, tango, and the sultry. Soccer is the most widely played sport in Colombia. Soccer in Colombia is like basketball or football in America. Surprisingly, automobile racing is the countries quickest growing spectator sport today. Basketball, Baseball, tennis, and boxing matches are held in the crowded cities for many to enjoy. The famous Spanish bullfighting tradition still lives in Colombia and draws many spectators. Because of Colombia’s mountainous terrain along the Andes, hiking, mountain climbing, and mountain biking, are greatly enjoyed there. Colombia has an organization dedicated solely to mountain biking and is the home to a world-champion mountain biker.
Standing in 28th place in the world, Colombia has a population of roughly 42,954,279 people. The majority of these people are Roman Catholic which is Colombia’s national religion. The Roman Catholic Church is the heart of every town. The Evangelical Protestant and Jewish have been present in Colombia since the 1900’s. There are many different types and races in Colombia. Some being the Mestizos (of Indian and white decent) which make up about 8% of the population, Whites (of Spanish decent) at 20%, Mulattoes (of white and black decent) about 3%, Afro-Colombians (of African descent) which is about 5%, and the Indians which is about 1%. The whites are generally the better educated and earn the larger incomes.
Most of the meals in Colombia are made with some combination of chicken, pork, fish, potatoes, rice, and beans. A common meal is called ajiaco de pollo. This meal consists of potatoes, vegetables, and chicken all combined together to make a stew. The most popular food in Colombia is called drepas, which is what we know as cornbread. Colombians eat a lot of soups and fresh fruits. As you might expect, people near the coast mainly eat fish while those in the highland eat mainly meat. Some of their bizarre food consists of pigeon soup, cooked guinea pig, and fried ants. Generally in the large cities they will have Chinese, Italian, or American type food. Colombians like Americans have three meals a day. These are breakfast, a small meal normally with coffee, Lunch, their largest meal of the day, and dinner, which consists of another small meal.
The economy in Colombia was doing well and had steady growth from 1970-1998. But in 1999 they entered into a recession. Like most recessions, the recovery was long and painful for Colombia but you can still see signs of it today. Colombia’s exports still flourish. They trade cotton, coal, oil, coffee, bananas, textiles, and cut flowers to countries like the United States, Germany, and other Latin American countries. But unlike America they do not use dollars they use a type of currency called pesos. One American dollar equals 2,300 Colombian pesos.
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