CocoViche's ColGeneral ™

Colombia is a republic located in northwestern South America. Bordered by Ecuador and Peru on the south, Brazil and Venezuela on the east, and Panama on the northwest, it has extensive coastlines on both the Pacific (about 1,300 km/800 mi) and the Caribbean (1,600 km/1,000 mi). With an area of 1,138,914 sq km (439,737 sq mi), Colombia is the fourth-largest country in Latin America; approximately 15% of the nation's total population lives in the capital city of Bogota. In the early 1970s, industry surpassed agriculture as the major contributor to the gross domestic product, although agriculture, particularly coffee, continues to be Colombia's basic source of wealth. By the 1990s, in addition, development of the huge Cusiana oil fields swelled export earnings.

A country of contrasts, Colombia has both snowcapped peaks and tropical regions. Its topography is dominated by three Andean ranges that cross the country from southwest to northeast. The Western Cordillera has five peaks over 4,000 m (13,000 ft) high, but the Central Cordillera is higher, with six snowcapped peaks over 4,900 m (16,100 ft). The Eastern Cordillera, longest of the three, branches off into Venezuela, and its highest elevations are above 5,000 m (16,400 ft). Pico Cristobal Colon, the highest point (5,775 m/18,947 ft), lies to the north. Two major rivers, the Cauca and Magdalena, run through the valleys on either side of the Central Cordillera. The mountains divide Colombia into three major regions--the highland core, the coastal lowlands, and the eastern plains. In the highlands, the Magdalena Valley includes important basins of settlements, most notably Cundinamarca, where Bogota is located. Set in the Central Cordillera to the west of the Magdalena are two of Colombia's most important cities, Medellin (the second largest) and Manizales. Farther to the south in the Cauca Valley, Colombia's richest farmland, is Cali. The Pacific lowlands are a sparsely populated, swampy strip served by the port of Buenaventura. Of greater importance are the Caribbean lowlands, where the bulk of the nation's commerce moves through the ports of Santa Marta, Barranquilla, and Cartagena. In the east the lightly populated llanos ("plains") constitute nearly 60% of the country's area and give way to unexplored tropical jungle in the southeast.

As with most countries near the equator, elevation is the decisive climatic factor. Areas under 915 m (3,000 ft) constitute the hot zone (tierra caliente), and from 915 to 2,000 m (3,000 to 6,500 ft) is the temperate zone (tierra templada). Regions extending to 3,000 m (9,850 ft) are the cold zone (tierra fria); the bleak and treeless zone called the paramos continues to 4,500 m
(14,765 ft), above which is the zone of eternal snow (nevado). The hot zone is marked by heavy annual rainfall (over 7,600 mm/300 in) along the Pacific; the temperate zone--in which 40% of the population live--has moderate rainfall and a mean annual temperature of 18 degrees-24 degrees C (65 degrees-75 degrees F). Temperature range in the cold zone is 10 degrees-18 degrees C (50 degrees-65 degrees F), and there is heavier rainfall there during the two wet seasons (April to June and September to December).

Petroleum reserves, augmented by new finds in 1993, are second only to Venezuela's in South America. Coal deposits are the largest in Latin America. Almost 95% of the world's emeralds come from Colombia, which is also Latin America's leading gold producer. Colombia is also rich in platinum. Other significant reserves include natural gas, coal, gold, silver, iron ore, salt, and some uranium.

The indigenous flora and fauna of Colombia are as varied as the topography. Mangroves and coconut palms grow along the Caribbean coast, and the forest regions, which cover about one-half of the country, include such commercially useful trees as mahogany, lignum vitae, oak, walnut, cedar, pine, and several varieties of balsam. Tropical plants also yield rubber, chicle, cinchona, vanilla, sarsaparilla, ginger, gum copal, ipecac, tonka beans, and castor beans.

Among the wildlife are the larger South American mammals, such as jaguars, pumas, tapirs, peccaries, anteaters, sloths, armadillos, and several species of monkey and red deer. Alligators, once numerous along the principal rivers, have been intensively hunted and are becoming scarce. Many varieties of snakes inhabit the tropical regions. Birdlife includes condors, vultures, toucans, parrots, cockatoos, cranes, storks, and hummingbirds.

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Also See:  Colombia | TheLand | Demography | Climate | Resources | Plants and Animals | The People | Demography | Political Divisions and Principle Cities | Cultural Life | Economic Activity | Government | History

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