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GENERAL
Official name: Republic of Colombia
Capital: Bogota, population 6 million (1997 estimate)
Founded: July 20, 1810
Official language: Spanish
Monetary unit: Colombian peso;
valuation (July 4, 2000): 1 U.S. dollar = 1,996 Colombian pesos
Area: 440,000 square miles (1,144,000 square kilometers),
twice the size of France
Land use (1993)
-- arable land: 4 percent
-- crops: 1 percent
-- pastures: 39 percent
-- forests: 48 percent
-- other: 8 percent
Natural resources: oil, natural gas, iron, nickel, coal, copper, gold, silver, platinum, emeralds.
Government Type: Multiparty republic with three branches, executive, legislative, judicial. Chief of state and head of government: President
Legislature: Bicameral Congress -- Senate (102 members) and House of Representatives(161)
Judiciary: Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Council of State
Political parties: Liberal Party currently controls Congress by a roughly 2-1 majority over the Conservatives. There are several smaller parties, most of which ally with one of the two major parties.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18
Administrative divisions: 32 departments, plus Bogota capital district
PEOPLE
Population (2000 estimate): 40 million (third most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico)
Density: 91 people per square mile (5 per square Kilometer); density in eastern half of county is only 2 per square mile (less than 1 per square kilometer)
Other major cities: Cali 1.7 million; Medellin 1.6 million; Barranquilla 1.2 million; Cartagena 746,000
Urban-rural ratio: 73 percent urban; 27 percent rural
Ethnic groups: mestizo 58 percent; white 20 percent; mulatto 14 percent; black 4 percent; mixed black-Indian 3 percent; Amerindian 1 percent
Religions: Roman Catholic 92 percent; other 8 percent
Birth rate per 1,000 people (1996): 25.9 (world average 25)
Death rate per 1,000 people (1996): 5.9 (world average 9.3)
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (1998): U.S.$111.2 billion(U.S.$2,780 per capita)
Annual growth rate (1998): 3.5 percent
Labor force (1997): 16.8 million
-- services: 46 percent
-- industrial: 24 percent -- agriculture: 30 percent
-- unemployment rate: 20.3 percent (2000 estimate)
Industries: textiles, food processing, petroleum, beverages, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, gold, coal, copper, iron, nickel, emeralds, lumber, paper products, cut flowers.
Chief crops: coffee, rice, bananas, soybeans, sorghum, potatoes, corn, cotton, sugar, tobacco.
EDUCATION AND HEALTH
Literacy (1995): 91.3 percent of people over age 15 can read and write
Compulsory education: 5 years, for ages between 6 to 12
Infant mortality (1999): 24.3 deaths per 1,000 live births (world average 80)
Life expectancy (1999):
-- 66.5 years for males
-- 74.5 years for females
COMMUNICATIONS
Newspapers: 37
Newspaper circulation (1999): 55 per 1,000 people
TV stations: 1 state-owned, 2 independent
Radio stations: 31 state-owned, 558 independents
TRANSPORTATION
Railroads (1995): 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers)
Roads (1997): 71,700 miles (115,600 kilometers); 12 percent paved
Navigable waterways: 8,900 miles (14,300 kilometers)
Passenger cars (1995): 1.2 million
Trucks (1995): 550,000
Airports: 89 with paved runways (1998); 1,031 with unpaved runways
MILITARY
Active duty personnel (1997): 146,300 (army 82.7 percent, navy 12.3 percent, air force 5 percent)
Military expenditures (1998): U.S.$4 billion
Military expenditures per capita (1998): U.S.$103
Sources: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2000 World Almanac, Information Please Almanac,U.S. State Department, CIA World Factbook, World Desk Reference, Reuters news service, CNN.
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