Country Profiles: Colombia

Colombia is located in South America. Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). In January 2011, Colombia assumed a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2011-12 term. With an area of 1,138,910 sq km, it is slightly less than the U.S. state of Texas.

Colombia shares a border with Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. It is mostly flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, and eastern lowland plains.

People who live in Colombia are called Colombians, which is also an adjective used to describe something from this country. As of July 2012, there are 45,239,079 people in Colombia. The ethnic groups that reside in Colombia are mostly mestizo (58%), with white (20%), mulatto (14%), black (4%), mixed black-Amerindian (3%), and Amerindian (1%). Spanish is the language. Catholics make up approximately 90% of the population.

The country's official name is Republic of Colombia. The capital is Bogota, and the country is made up of 32 departments. Though Colombia gained independence from Spain on July 20, 1810, a constitution was not drafted until July 5, 1991. The constitution can be found here through Constitution Finder. The current president is Juan Manuel Santos Calderon. Information about the leaders of Colombia's government can be found here. The currency is the Colombian pesos (COP), which stands at 1,848.1 COP per USD as of 2011.

All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Colombia, CIA World Factbook

Background Notes: Colombia, U.S. Department of State

2011 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Colombia, U.S. Department of State.

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