Colombia
Published on Nov 23, 2015
About Colombia
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Colombia
Photo by Luz Adriana Villa A.
History of Colombia
Colombia’s pre-Columbian history began more than 20,000 years ago, according to the earliest evidence of human occupation. The Chibcha, sub-Andean (Arawak), and Caribbean (Carib) peoples, most of whom lived in a patchwork of separate but organized, agriculturally based communities, inhabited the area now called Colombia. By the early colonial period in the 1500s, the Chibcha had become the most advanced of the indigenous peoples. In 1499 a Spanish expedition first visited Colombia and founded the first important mainland settlement.
Photo by alexthompson
GEOGRAPHY
Colombia lies in the northwestern part of South America, bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north and the North Pacific Ocean to the west. The fourth-largest country in South America, Colombia measures 1,138,910 square kilometers, including insular possessions and bodies of water, or slightly less than twice the size of Texas. Unresolved territorial disputes persist with Nicaragua and Venezuela. he only South American country bordering both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Colombia has a total of 3,208 kilometers of coastline—1,448 kilometers on the Pacific Ocean to the west and 1,760 kilometers on the Caribbean Sea to the north.
Photo by szeke
Topography & Climate
The mainland territory is divided into four major geographic regions. First, the coastal region consists of the Caribbean Lowlands and the Pacific Lowlands. The second region, encompassing the Central and Andean Highlands, consists of three rugged parallel mountain ranges (the Eastern Cordillera, the Central Cordillera, and the Western Cordillera), which constitute 33 percent of the country’s land area, it also includes Colombia’s highest point at Pico Colón (5,776 meters). The third region consists of the intervening high plateaus and fertile valley lowlands that are traversed mainly by three rivers: the Atrato, Sinú, and Magdalena. Finally, eastern Colombia includes the great plains (llanos) in thenorthern part and the tropical rainforest (selva) in the southern half.
Photo by szeke
Colombia has 20,000 kilometers of rivers. Its principal rivers are the Magdalena, 1,540 kilometers; the Putumayo, 1,500 kilometers; and the Cauca, 1,014 kilometers. Mainly as a result of differences in elevation, Colombia has a striking variety in temperatures, with little seasonal variation. The habitable areas of the country are divided into three climatic zones: hot (tierra caliente; below 900 meters in elevation), temperate (tierra temblada; 900–2,000 meters), and cold (tierra fría; 2,000 meters to about 3,500 meters). The hottest month is March, and the coldest months are July and August. Colombia’s arable land is located mostly in patches on the Andean mountainsides. In 2005 an estimated 2.01 percent of the total land area was arable (approximately 21,000 23,000 square kilometers).
Photo by Aztlek
ECONOMY
In 2006 Colombia had the fifth-largest economy in Latin America, a status that is expected to continue through 2010. Since the liberalization of the economy under the new constitution of 1991, the government has sought to facilitate the gradual transition from a highly
regulated economy to a free-market economy through measures such as tariff reductions, financial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and adoption of a more liberal foreign-exchange rate. Overall GDP increased in real terms by an average of 2.5
percent a year from 1990 to 2002. The GDP totaled an estimated US$133.7 billion in 2006. During 1990–2002, the inflation rate averaged 18.1 percent per year, but it gradually fell to an estimated 4.3 percent in 2006.
Photo by szeke
Since 2003 the Colombian Institute of Rural Development
has managed the agricultural and fishing industries. Agriculture’s share of gross domestic product (GDP) has declined significantly since 1987, when it was almost 21 percent of GDP. In 2006 agriculture accounted for an estimated 12 percent of GDP and employed 22.7 percent of the labor force. Approximately 15 percent Colombia’s total exports come from agriculture,including livestock and fishing. Despite its immense hydrocarbon potential, only 20 percent of Colombia’s potential reserves are currently in production. Industry accounted for 35.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2006, including about 15 percent for manufacturing. Colombia is self-sufficient in energy. Electricity-generating capacity has remained at nearly 13.5 gigawatts since the mid-1990s. Of that total, an average of 66 percent was hydroelectric and 34 percent thermal.
Photo by Nino.Modugno
