Colombia
Colombia,[b] officially the Republic of Colombia,[c] is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments. The Capital District of Bogotá is also the country's largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub. Other major urbes include Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta, Cúcuta, Ibagué, Villavicencio and Bucaramanga. It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi) and has a population of around 52 million. Its rich cultural heritage[15]—including language, religion, cuisine, and art—reflects its history as a colony, fusing cultural elements brought by immigration from Europe[16][17][18][19] and the Middle East,[20][21][22] with those brought by the African diaspora,[23] as well as with those of the various Indigenous civilizations that predate colonization.[24] Spanish is the official language, although Creole, English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally.
This article is about the country. For its larger predecessor, see Gran Colombia. For other uses, see Colombia (disambiguation) and Columbia.
Republic of ColombiaRepública de Colombia (Spanish)
- 87.58% Mestizo-White[a]
- 6.84% Afro-Colombians
- 4.31% Indigenous
- 0.05% Raizal
- 0.01% Palenquero
- 0.01% Romani
- 1.35% not stated
- 87.0% Christianity
- 70.2% Catholicism
- 16.8% other Christian
- 87.0% Christianity
- 11.1% no religion
- 1.9% other
Unitary presidential republic
20 July 1810
7 August 1819
5 August 1886
6 November 1903
4 July 1991
1,141,748 km2 (440,831 sq mi) (25th)
2.1 (as of 2015)[5]
46.15/km2 (119.5/sq mi) (174th)
2024 estimate
2024 estimate
54.2[8]
high
dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
right
Colombia has been home to many indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish first landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by the mid-16th century, they had colonized much of present-day Colombia, and established the New Kingdom of Granada, with Santa Fé de Bogotá as its capital. Independence from the Spanish Empire was achieved in 1819, with what is now Colombia emerging as the United Provinces of New Granada. The new polity experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before becoming a republic—the current Republic of Colombia—in 1886. With the backing of the United States and France, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, resulting in Colombia's present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2005, there has been significant improvement in security, stability, and rule of law, as well as unprecedented economic growth and development.[25][26] Colombia is recognized for its healthcare system, being the best healthcare in Latin America according to the World Health Organization and 22nd in the world.[27][28] Its diversified economy is the third-largest in South America, with macroeconomic stability and favorable long-term growth prospects.[29][30]
Colombia is one of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries; it has the highest level of biodiversity per square mile in the world and the second-highest level overall.[31] Its territory encompasses Amazon rainforest, highlands, grasslands and deserts. It is the only country in South America with coastlines (and islands) along both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Colombia is a key member of major global and regional organizations including the UN, the WTO, the OECD, the OAS, the Pacific Alliance and the Andean Community; it is also a NATO Global Partner[32] and a major non-NATO ally of the United States.[33]
Etymology
The name "Colombia" is derived from the last name of the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus (Latin: Christophorus Columbus, Italian: Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish: Cristóbal Colón). It was conceived as a reference to all of the New World.[34] The name was later adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819, formed from the territories of the old Viceroyalty of New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northwest Brazil).[35]
When Venezuela, Ecuador, and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, the former Department of Cundinamarca adopted the name "Republic of New Granada". New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was again changed, this time to United States of Colombia, before finally adopting its present name – the Republic of Colombia – in 1886.[35]
To refer to this country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia and República de Colombia.[36]