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| Colombia |
 Click to enlarge |
Home Reference Maps Appendixes
| Background: |
Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to be several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and illicit industries such as the drug trade and the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders. |
| Location: |
Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama |
| Geographic
coordinates: |
4 00 N, 72 00 W |
| Map
references: |
South America |
| Area: |
total: 1,138,910 sq km land: 1,038,700 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, Serrana Bank, and Serranilla Bank water: 100,210 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly less than three times the size of Montana |
| Land
boundaries: |
total: 6,004 km border countries: Brazil 1,643 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,496 km (est.), Venezuela 2,050 km |
| Coastline: |
3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km) |
| Maritime
claims: |
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation territorial sea: 12 NM exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
| Climate: |
tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands |
| Terrain: |
flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains |
| Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,775 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation |
| Natural
resources: |
petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower |
| Land
use: |
arable land: 1.9% other: 96.14% (1998 est.) permanent crops: 1.96% |
| Irrigated
land: |
8,500 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
hazards: |
highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts |
| Environment
- current issues: |
deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions |
| Environment
- international agreements: |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping |
| Geography
- note: |
only South American country with coastlines on both North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea |
| Population: |
41,662,073 (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 31.3% (male 6,601,581; female 6,447,679) 15-64 years: 63.7% (male 12,931,093; female 13,626,333) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 913,798; female 1,141,589) (2003 est.) |
| Median
age: |
total: 25.6 years male: 24.8 years female: 26.4 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
1.56% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
21.59 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
5.63 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.32 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.02 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 22.47 deaths/1,000 live births female: 18.34 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 26.46 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 71.14 years male: 67.29 years female: 75.12 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
2.61 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Colombian(s) adjective: Colombian |
| Ethnic
groups: |
mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1% |
| Religions: |
Roman Catholic 90% |
| Languages: |
Spanish |
| Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 92.5% male: 92.4% female: 92.6% (2003 est.) |
| Economy
- overview: |
Colombia's economy suffers from weak domestic and foreign demand, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflict. Other economic problems facing the new president URIBE range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment. Two of Colombia's leading exports, oil and coffee, face an uncertain future; new exploration is needed to offset declining oil production, while coffee harvests and prices are depressed. Colombian business leaders are calling for greater progress in solving the conflict with insurgent groups. On the positive side, several international financial institutions have praised the economic reforms introduced by President URIBE and have pledged enough funding to cover Colombia's debt servicing costs in 2003. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $268 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
2% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $6,500 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 13% industry: 30% services: 57% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
55% (2001) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%: 1% highest 10%: 44% (1999) |
| Distribution
of family income - Gini index: |
57.1 (1996) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
6.2% (2002) |
| Labor
force: |
18.3 million (1999 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
services 46%, agriculture 30%, industry 24% (1990) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
17.4% (2002 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $24 billion expenditures: $25.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.) |
| Industries: |
textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
4% (2001 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
42.99 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 26% hydro: 72.7% other: 1.3% (2001) nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
39.81 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
210 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
40 million kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
614,400 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
252,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- proved reserves: |
1.8 billion bbl (January 2002 est.) |
| Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
132 billion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp |
| Exports: |
$12.9 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers |
| Exports
- partners: |
US 43%, Andean Community of Nations 22%, EU 14%, (2001 est.) |
| Imports: |
$12.5 billion f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity |
| Imports
- partners: |
US 35%, EU 16%, Andean Community of Nations 15%, Japan 5% (2001 est.) |
| Debt
- external: |
$38.4 billion (2002 est.) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$NA |
| Currency: |
Colombian peso (COP) |
| Currency
code: |
COP |
| Exchange
rates: |
Colombian pesos per US dollar - 2,504.24 (2002), 2,299.63 (2001), 2,087.9 (2000), 1,756.23 (1999), 1,426.04 (1998) |
| Fiscal
year: |
calendar year |
| |
