Colombia
Colombia is a country of South America. It is located at the North-West part of that Continent and it has an area of 1.141.748 km² (440,839 sq mi). It is the only South American country with coasts in both Oceans (Pacific and Atlantic). Colombia has an extension of 928.660 km² in those oceans. The full name of the country in Spanish is "República de Colombia"; in English, it would be "Republic of Colombia". The name "Colombia" is said /kəˈlʌm.bɪ.ə/ and it is different from Columbia, the name of many places in United States of America.
The countries that have borders on the continent with Colombia are: Venezuela (east), Brazil (south-east), Peru (south), Ecuador (south-west) and Panama (west). The countries that have borders with Colombia on the sea are: Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Haiti and Dominican Republic.
42.888.592 people live in Colombia and it is the third most populated country of Latin America after Mexico and Brazil. It is also the third Spanish country of the world after Mexico and Spain.
The capital of Colombia is Bogotá. The second major city is Medellín and it is also a big industrial center. The third biggest and important city in the Cauca region of Colombia is Cali. The most important city of the country in the Caribbean costs is Barranquilla. It is also the first national port. Cartagena de Indias is one of the most beautiful and turistic cities. It has a great Spaniard wall of the 17th Century and an old town with buildings aged 500 years. Followed by the these cities comes Bucaramanga a great city near venezula's border and city which helds the center of textile industry of Colombia.
The meaning of the name.
Etimology is the meaning of a word. The word "Colombia" means "the Land of Christopher Columbus". He was an Italian man who discovered America in 1492 in the name of Spain. Francisco de Miranda, a Spaniard, gave the name "Colombia" to the American continent, but after it become the name of some places of the continent like this country. The name "America" was given in honor of Americo Vespucio, the first man who did a complete map of the continent.
In 1819 Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Panama were together in an only country and it was known as "Gran Colombia". That country was divided by three countries in 1830. The official language is Spanish, but there are many dialects spoken by minorities.
Generalities.
Colombia is a tropical country. Many people think that it is a very hot country because it is tropical. Colombia has many regions and some of the regions are cold because there are a lot of mountains (the Andes). Bogotá for example, is 2640 meters up the sea level and for this reason its climate is cold. Barranquilla is at the same level of the sea and it is hot. In Colombia there are many snow mountains. For example, there is a mountain in the north named "Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta."
Because of the many altitudes, Colombia has many different fruits, vegetables and kinds of animals. It has many valleys, beaches, plains, mountains and forests like the Amazon Rain Forest.
Security.
Colombia has been introduced by the International Mass Media as a dangerous country in the last decades because its political conflict with guerrillas, paramilitary armies and mafia. Many persons have lost their lives in the Colombian conflict and it had also a high number of kidnapped persons by common criminals and gun groups. After the election of President Alvaro Uribe in 2001, Colombia became a safer country. The new government reduced delinquency, drug trafficking, guerrillas, paramilitary groups and corruption and the country's economy improved.every country has problems with security, not only colombia.Alvaro uribe made the country of colombia very very safe, now a days colombia is safer than some other places because of the president.
Transport.
Most parts of Colombia are modern and the country has a fair net of roads. All the Colombian cities have their airports and there are many ports in both oceans (Pacific and Atlantic). Because Colombia is a huge territory and there are many mountains, airports are very important in the country. There are some regions like Amazon Forest and Dariend that the most important way of transportation is by the rivers.
Cities.
Colombia also has some of the most beautiful cities in the world.
Science.
Colombia is famous for its advance in medicine. Many foreigners come to the country to get health services. The medicine in Colombia is very good for transplant of organs and plastic surgery. Doctor Manuel Elkin Patarroyo discovered a medicine against malaria. He donated his discovery to be used in Africa and Latin America. He did not want to make business of it, but to help the poor people.
Before the Spaniards.
The land where Colombia now stands has been home to people for more than 20,000 years. The first people had many groups, cultures and languages. There are many tools, caves and things of those peoples. In Colombia the people was similar to the ones of Asia, because the scientists say that the first men came to America from Siberia or South East Asia more than 50,000 years ago. The peoples of Colombia where called Arawak, Caribe, and Chibcha. But they have many other groups. The most famous were the Muiscas. El Dorado legend coms from the Muiscas: the king of the Muiscas used to bath in the Guatavita Lake and he used a lot of gold for it. The Spaniards heard about and the people told them that there was a great golden city somewhere. Since then they started to look for El Dorado. The International Airport of Bogotá is called "El Dorado International Airport" because the legend was born in Colombia. The descendants of the first peoples of Colombia live integrated with others. Some groups live in the forest, but many live in countryside and in the cities.
The Colony.
The Spaniards lead by Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. Columbus saw the coasts of Venezuela, Colombia and Panama and he gave to it his own name. But it was Alonso de Ojeda the first to do an exploration in the area of Gulf of Darien. After that the Spaniards founded the first European cities in the American continent: Santa Marta in 1525 and Cartagena de Indias in 1533. It was from Colombia that the Spaniards conquered the Incas of Peru. They founded also the city of Popayán in 1536 and they conquered the "Confederation of the Muiscas". In Bacatá, the capital of the Muiscas, the Spaniards founded the city of Santa Fe in 1538. In 1550 the Spaniards declared the territory as a colony and its capital was "Santa Fe de Bogotá", but in the first decades it depended from Peru. Soon after, it was declared a Viceroyalty.
The independence.
Antonio Nariño was one of the most important persons to lead a movement for the independence of Colombia. He was a politician, journalist and militar.
On November 11 1810 the city of Cartagena de Indias declared its dependence from Spain.
Politics.
Colombia just had an election in May 2006 and the president Alvaro Uribe was elected again. He will be president until 2010. Alvaro Uribe was the first president in Colombia to win a second election in over 100 years.
Resources.
Colombia is well known for its exquisite coffee, coal, and emeralds. It is also the biggest supplier of Plantains (a kind of banana used for cooking which are known as "platanos" in Colombia) to the United States. There are a few armed conflicts in Colombia. Most rebel groups finance their operations with the trade of illegal drugs (mostly Cocaine).
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