COLOMBIA

Republic of Colombia

República de Colombia

CAPITAL: Bogotá

FLAG: The national flag consists of three horizontal stripes; the yellow upper stripe is twice as wide as each of the other two, which are blue and red.

ANTHEM: Himno Nacional, beginning "O gloria inmarcesible, júbilo inmortal" ("O unwithering glory, immortal joy").

MONETARY UNIT: The Colombian peso (c$) of 100 centavos is a paper currency. There are coins of 10, 20, and 50 centavos and of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 pesos, and notes of 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 pesos. Commemorative gold coins of various denominations also have been minted. c$1 = us$0.00043 (or us$1 = c$2,324.08) as of 2005.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: The metric system is the official standard, but Spanish units such as the botella, vara, fonegada, arroba, and quintal also are used.

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; Epiphany, 6 January; St. Joseph's Day, 19 March; Labor Day, 1 May; Day of St. Peter and St. Paul, 29 June; Independence Day, 20 July; Battle of Boyacá, 7 August; Assumption, 15 August; Columbus Day, 12 October; All Saints' Day, 1 November; Independence of Cartagena, 11 November; Immaculate Conception, 8 December; Christmas, 25 December. Movable religious holidays include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Ascension, Sacred Heart, and Corpus Christi. In addition there are six official commemorative days.

TIME: 7 am = noon GMT.

LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT

Colombia is the only South American country with both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. The fourth-largest country in South America, it has a total area of 1,138,910 sq km (439,736 sq mi), including insular possessions, and extends 1,700 km (1,060 mi) nnw–sse and 1,210 km (750 mi) nne–ssw. Comparatively, the area occupied by Colombia is slightly less than three times the size of the state of Montana. Bordered on the n by the Caribbean Sea, on the ne by Venezuela, on the se by Brazil, on the sw by Peru and Ecuador, on the w by the Pacific Ocean, and on the nw by Panama, the Colombian mainland is located entirely within the tropics. Its total boundary length is 6,004 km (3,731 mi). Its coastlines extend 3,208 km (1,993 mi).

Also held by the Republic of Colombia (though claimed by Nicaragua) are the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia in the Caribbean Sea, about 190 km (120 mi) off the coast of Nicaragua, and the islands of Malpelo, Gorgona, and Gorgonilla in the Pacific Ocean. (In 2001 Nicaragua filed a claim in the International Court of Justice regarding these islands.) Colombia also holds the uninhabited Caribbean islands of Quita Sueño Bank, Roncador Cay, and Serrana Bank, to which the United States renounced all rights under the Treaty of Quita Sueño, ratified by the US Senate in July 1981; Nicaragua also disputes this claim. Colombia has a dispute with Venezuela over maritime rights in the Gulf of Venezuela. Negotiations have been going on unsuccessfully since 1970, and in August 1987, a Colombian naval vessel entered the disputed region in an apparent attempt to make Venezuela more responsive.

Colombia's capital city, Bogotá, is located in the center of the country.

TOPOGRAPHY

The Andes Mountains divide just north of Colombia's southern border with Ecuador into three separate chains, or cordilleras, known as the Cordillera Occidental (western), the Cordillera Central, and the Cordillera Oriental (eastern). The western and central cordilleras run roughly parallel with the Pacific coast, extending northward as far as the Caribbean coastal lowlands. They are alike in geological structure, both being composed of massive crystalline rocks. The Cordillera Central is the highest range of the Colombian Andes, with several volcanic cones whose snow-covered peaks rise to about 5,500 m (18,000 ft), notably Huila (5,750 m/18,865 ft). The third chain, the Cordillera Oriental, runs northeastward, bifurcating into an eastern branch, the Sierra de los Andes, which slopes down to Venezuela, and a second branch, the Sierra de Perijá, which continues northward to terminate on the border between Venezuela and Colombia just south of the Guajira Peninsula. This range is composed of folded stratified rocks over a crystalline core.

On the margin of the Caribbean stands the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated block of mountains composed of a triangular massif of granite, whose highest elevation is Pico Cristóbal Colón (5,775 m/18,947 ft), the tallest peak in Colombia. In the town of Arboletes in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, there are a number of active mud volcanoes, one of the largest of which fills a volcanic crater and attracts many locals and tourists who swim and bathe in the mud lake. West of the Cordillera Occidental but not geologically a part of the Andean chain is the low Serranía de Baudó, which skirts the Pacific and extends into the Isthmus of Panama.

Separating the three principal Andean ranges are Colombia's two major rivers, the Cauca (1,014 km/630 mi), which flows northward between the western and central cordilleras, and the Magdalena (1,553 km/965 mi), which divides the central and eastern cordilleras. After emerging from the mountains, the two rivers become one and descend through marshy lowlands to the Caribbean. The area south and east of the Andean ranges is largely composed of river plains divided among the effluents of the Orinoco and Amazon rivers. Open plains immediately adjoin the mountains, but as the distance from the cordillera increases, the plains give way to largely uninhabited and unexplored jungle. The Pacific coastal area is also characterized by jungle vegetation. Principal rivers on the Pacific coast include the Baudó, San Juan, and Patía.

CLIMATE

Colombia's climatic variations are determined by altitude, and seasons are periods of lesser or greater rainfall, with little or no temperature change. The country may be divided vertically into four regions. The hot country, ortierra caliente, is the tropical zone, reaching from sea level to roughly 1,100 m (3,500 ft), where the mean annual temperature is 24°c to 27°c (75–81°f); at sea level, temperatures have a mean maximum of 38°c (100°f) and a minimum of 18°c (64°f). Between 1,100 m (3,500 ft) and 2,000 m (6,500 ft) is the temperate zone, ortierra templada, where the average year-round temperature is about 18°c (64°f). Between 2,000 m (6,500 ft) and 3,000 m (10,000 ft) is the cold country, ortierra fría, with temperatures averaging a little over 13°c (55°f). Above the 3,000-m (10,000-ft) level the temperature varies from 13°c to -17°c (55°f to 1°f), according to altitude. The annual mean temperature at the capital, Bogotá (altitude 2,598 m/8,525 ft), is 14°c (57°f).

Rainfall is heaviest on the west coast and in the Andean area; rainy and dry seasons, or "winter" and "summer," generally alternate in three-month cycles, as in Bogotá, where precipitation occurs most heavily and consistently during the periods of April to June and October to December. Northern areas have only one long rainy season, from May through October. The annual average rainfall is 107 cm (42 in).

FLORA AND FAUNA

More than 45,000 species of plants have been identified in Colombia, but it is predicted that when the region is thoroughly explored that number may be doubled. At the highest (3,000–4,600 m/10,000–15,000 ft) and coldest level of mountain meadows, called páramos, the soil supports grasses, small herbaceous plants, and dense masses of low bushes. In the intermontane basins some vegetables, European-introduced grains, and corn are found, along with the bushes, trees, and meadow grasses indigenous to the region. The temperate areas support extensive and luxuriant forests, ferns, mosses, trees of the laurel family, Spanish cedars, vegetables, and grain crops. The tropical zone may be divided into four main groups according to the amount of rainfall received: desert like areas supporting arid plants, deciduous forests, rain forests, and grass plains. Palm trees of various species abound in the tropics and there are many edible fruits and vegetables.

Animal life is abundant, especially in the tropical area. Among carnivorous species are puma, a variety of smaller cats, raccoons, and mustelids. Herbivores include the tapir, peccary, deer, and large tropical rodents. Sloths, anteaters, opossums, and several types of monkeys are also found, as well as some 1,665 species and subspecies of South American and migratory birds. As of 2002, there were at least 359 species of mammals, 708 species of birds, and over 51,200 species of plants throughout the country.

ENVIRONMENT

Colombia's main environmental problems are soil erosion, deforestation, and the preservation of its wildlife. Soil erosion has resulted from the loss of vegetation and heavy rainfall, and the soil has also been damaged by overuse of pesticides. Deforestation has resulted from the commercial exploitation of the country's forests, which cover approximately 47.8% of the country. Between 1981 and 1985, 820,000 hectares (2,260,000 acres) were lost each year, and 8,000 hectares (20,000 acres) were reforested. Between 1983 and 1993, Colombia lost another 5.8% of its forest and woodland. from 1990–2000, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 0.4% per year. Air pollution from vehicle emissions is also a problem, especially in Bogotá. Safe drinking water is available to 99% of urban dwellers and 70% of the rural population.

The Colombian government has initiated several programs to protect the environment. By 1959, the Amazon forests, the Andean area, and the Pacific coast were protected. In 1973, the government created the National Resources and Environment Code. The main environmental agency is the Institute for Development of Renewable Natural Resources and the Environment (INDERENA), established in 1969. Among other activities, it has undertaken extensive projects in the training of personnel in conservation, fishing, and forestry. The Colombian Sanitary Code, in force since January 1982, establishes pollution control standards. The National Environmental Education Plan for 1991–94 introduces environmental issues in the elementary schools. In 2003, about 10.2% of the total land area was nationally protected. Los Katios National Park is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are three Ramsar wetland sites.

According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 39 types of mammals, 86 species of birds, 15 types of reptiles, 208 species of amphibians, 23 species of fish, and 222 species of plants. Endangered species in Colombia include the tundra peregrine falcon, Cauca guan, gorgeted wood-quail, red siskin, pinche, five species of turtle (green sea, hawksbill, olive ridley, leatherback, and arrau), two species of alligator (spectacled caiman and black caiman), and two of crocodile (American and Orinoco). The Colombian grebe and the Caribbean monk seal have become extinct.

POPULATION

The population of Colombia in 2005 was estimated by the United Nations (UN) at 46,039,000, which placed it at number 28 in population among the 193 nations of the world. In 2005, approximately 5% of the population was over 65 years of age, with another 32% of the population under 15 years of age. There were 98 males for every 100 females in the country. According to the UN, the annual population rate of change for 2005–2010 was expected to be 1.7%; the government sought to reduce adolescent fertility, which it viewed as too high. The projected population for the year 2025 was 58,294,000. The population density was 41 per sq km (105 per sq mi), with about 95% of the population residing in the mountainous western half of the country.

A rapid transfer of population to urban centers has taken place since the 1950s, and during the 1990s, over a million people were internally displaced. The UN estimated that 75% of the population lived in urban areas in 2005, and that urban areas were growing at an annual rate of 1.96%. The capital city, Bogotá, had a population of 7,290,000 in that year. The populations of other major metropolitan areas were as follows: Medellín, 3,236,000; Cali, 2,583,000; and Barranquilla, 1,918,000. Other metropolitan areas include Cartagena, Bucaramanga, and Cúcuta.

MIGRATION

Despite government inducements, such as the granting of agricultural land in the eastern plains, immigration has been insignificant, partly because of guerrilla activity and violence. Emigration is small but significant, since many of those who leave the country are scientists, technicians, and doctors. Between 1951 and 1985, some 218,724 Colombians settled in the United States. In 1990 there were more persons in the United States of Colombian birth—304,000—than of any other South American nationality.

As of May 1997, more than 900,000 people had been internally displaced by the violence between the leftist guerrillas and government forces. Though estimates varied, studies agree that displacement is pan-national and on the rise. Twenty-seven provinces within Colombia have been affected by the internal displacement in as far as most of the displaced people have moved to the cities of Colombia. According to SISDESC (System of Information on the Families Displaced by Violence in Colombia), in 1997, every two hours two families were displaced by violence in the country. Between 1985 and 2004, Colombia's internally displaced population numbered 3,100,000.

While the level of external displacement does not match the level of internal displacement, there is a steady outflow of people fleeing the country. The three neighboring countries most affected by cross-border movements are Panama, Ecuador, and Venezuela. In 1999, about 3,000 Colombians from the north of Santander Department fled to Venezuela in response to the armed conflict in the region. In 2004, there were 141 refugees in Colombia, 85 asylum seekers, and 2,000,000 internally displaced persons. As of 2005, the net migration rate of Colombia was estimated as 0.31 migrants per 1,000 population. The government views the migrant levels as satisfactory.

ETHNIC GROUPS

The predominant racial strain in Colombia is the mestizo (mixed white and Amerindian), constituting about 58% of the total population. An estimated 20% of the inhabitants are of unmixed white ancestry; 14% are mulatto (black-white); 4% are black; 3% are zambo (black-Amerindian); and 1% are pure Amerindian. Blacks and mulattoes are concentrated in the coastal regions and tropical valleys. Pure Amerindians are rapidly disappearing; the remaining few live mainly in inaccessible and barren regions. The principal Amerindian culture of Colombia during the pre-Columbian period was that of the Chibcha, whose descendants are today chiefly concentrated in the departments of Cundinamarca, Boyacá, Santander, and Norte de Santander. The Motilones, one of the few surviving Amerindian groups untouched by civilization in South America, inhabit the region west of Lake Maracaibo and the Venezuelan border; they are famous for their lethal weapon, the black palm bow and arrow. Small, diverse Amerindian groups also inhabit the eastern extremities of the Colombian plains region, the south, and the western coastal jungles.

LANGUAGES

The official language, Spanish, is spoken by all but a few Amerindian tribes. Spanish as spoken and written by educated Colombians is generally considered the closest to Castilian in Latin America.

RELIGIONS

Roman Catholicism was the country's official religion until the adoption of the 1991 constitution. The current law states that there is no official or state religion but adds that the state is "not atheist or agnostic, nor indifferent to Colombians' religious sentiment." Some have interpreted this as meaning that the Roman Catholic Church retains a privileged position; however, a 1994 constitutional court decision declared unconstitutional any official government reference to religious characterizations of the country.

According to a national poll commissioned by the nation's leading newspaper, El Tiempo, 81% of the people are Roman Catholic and about 14% belong to other Christian denominations. Officials from the Roman Catholic Church, however, estimate that 90% of the population is Roman Catholic. Protestant groups such as the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints make up less than 1% of the population. Other religious faiths or movements include Judaism, Islam, animism, various syncretic beliefs, agnosticism, and atheism. A number of Afro-Colombians, particularly those residing in the department of Choco, practice a syncretic religion which combines elements of Catholicism with African animism. About 1.9% of the population claimed no religious beliefs.

According to a 1997 public law agreement, non-Catholic religious organizations must receive special permission from the state in order to provide chaplains to public institutions such as hospitals or prisons or to perform marriages recognized by the state. Total membership, social popularity, and the content of an organization's statutes and required behavioral norms are considered before permission is granted. As of 2004, only 13 non-Catholic churches had received the necessary status to perform legal marriages.

A 2004 report indicated that religious leaders and followers were regular targets of killings, kidnappings, and extortion by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). However, many of the incidents in question seemed to be motivated primarily by political and economic issues.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation lacks integration, owing to the mountainous terrain. For this reason, air transportation has become the most important means of travel for most passengers. Despite the development of roads and railways, river travel has remained the chief mode of transportation for cargo since the trip up the Magdalena River in 1536 by the Spanish conqueror Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Inland waterways navigable by riverboats totaled 9,187 km (5,742 mi) in 2004. The Magdalena, the fourth-largest river in South America, is navigable for 950 km (590 mi) and carries almost all of Colombia's river traffic.

The railroads, which were nationalized in 1954 and deregulated in 1989, had a combined 3,304 km (2,053 mi) of standard and narrow gauge track in 2004. Of that total, narrow gauge accounted for 3,154 km (1,962 mi).

Also in 2002 there were about 110,000 km (68,354 mi) of roads, of which only about 26,000 km (16,156 mi) were paved. Many roads are plagued by landslides and washouts. The 2,800-km (1,700-mi) Caribbean Trunk Highway, completed in 1974, links the Atlantic ports of Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta with the Pan-American Highway (south of Panama) and the Venezuelan highway system. In 2003 there were 850,000 passenger cars and 534,500 commercial motor vehicles.

Owing to inadequate land transport, air service is essential and well developed. A flight from Bogotá to Medellín takes only half an hour, while a truck requires 24 hours over a winding mountain road. In 2004 there were an estimated 980 airports. As of 2005, only 100 had paved runways, and there were also 2 heliports. Colombia's airline, Avianca, is the second-oldest commercial airline in the world and one of the largest in Latin America. Avianca handles about two-thirds of the domestic and international movement of passengers. Most of the country's air transportation is handled by the six principal airports at Bogotá, Barranquilla (E. Cortissoz), Medellín, Cali, Cartagena (Rafael Núñez), and San Andreas. In 2003, these airports serviced about 9.143 million passengers.

Colombia's merchant marine is dominated by the Grand Colombian Merchant Fleet (Flota), a stock corporation owned by the Colombian Coffee Federation. In 2005, merchant marine companies had an aggregate of 15 vessels with 1,000 GRT or over, totaling 35,427 GRT. The nation's chief ports on the Caribbean are Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Santa Marta. Buenaventura is the only important Pacific port.

HISTORY

Archaeological studies indicate that Colombia was inhabited by various Amerindian groups as early as 11,000 bc. Prominent among the pre-Columbian cultures were the highland Chibchas, a sedentary agricultural people located in the eastern chain of the Andes.

The first Spanish settlement, Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, dates from 1525. In 1536, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and a company of 900 men traveled up the Magdalena River in search of the legendary land of El Dorado. They entered the heart of Chibcha territory in 1538, conquered the inhabitants, and established Bogotá. As a colony, Colombia, then called New Granada, was ruled from Lima, Peru, until it was made a viceroyalty. The viceroyalty of New Granada, consolidated in 1740, incorporated modern Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador. The area became Spain's chief source of gold and was exploited for emeralds and tobacco.

In the late 1700s, a separatist movement developed, stemming from arbitrary taxation and the political and commercial restrictions placed on American-born colonists. Among the Bogotá revolutionaries was Antonio Nariño, who had been jailed for printing a translation of the French Assembly's Declaration of the Rights of Man. Independence, declared on 20 July 1810, was not assured until 7 August 1819, when the Battle of Boyacá was won by Simón Bolívar's troops. After this decisive victory, Bolívar was tumultuously acclaimed "Liberator" and given money and men to overthrow the viceroyalty completely.

After 1819, Bolívar's Republic of Gran Colombia included Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Venezuela and Ecuador seceded, but Panama remained part of Colombia. In 1831 the country became the State of New Granada. Political and financial order was attained under Francisco de Paula Santander, Bolívar's vice president, who took office in 1832. During Santander's four-year term and in the subsequent decade there was intense disagreement over the relative amount of power to be granted to the central and state governments and over the amount of power and freedom to be given to the Roman Catholic Church. Characterized by Bolívar as Colombia's "man of laws," Santander directed the course of the nation toward democracy and sound, orderly government.

By 1845, the supporters of strong central government had organized and become known as the Conservatives, while the federalists had assumed the Liberal label. The respective doctrines of the two parties throughout their history have differed on two basic points: the importance of the central governing body and the relationship that should exist between church and state. Conservatism has characteristically stood for highly centralized government and the perpetuation of traditional class and clerical privileges, and it long opposed the extension of voting rights. The Liberals have stressed states' rights, universal suffrage, and the complete separation of church and state. The periods during which the Liberals were in power (1849–57, 1861–80) were characterized by frequent insurrections and civil wars and by a policy of government decentralization and strong anticlericalism.

As effective ruler of the nation for nearly 15 years (1880–94), the Conservative Rafael Núñez, a poet and intellectual, restored centralized government and the power of the church. During his tenure as president, the republican constitution of 1886 was adopted, under which the State of New Granada formally became the Republic of Colombia. A civil war known as the War of a Thousand Days (1899–1902) resulted in more than 100,000 deaths, and the national feeling of demoralization and humiliation was intensified by the loss of Panama in 1903. After refusing to ratify without amendments a treaty leasing a zone across the Isthmus of Panama to the United States, Colombia lost the territory by virtue of a US-supported revolt that created the Republic of Panama. Colombia did not recognize Panama's independence until 1914, in exchange for rights in the Canal Zone and an indemnity from the United States.

Conservative presidents held power between 1909 and 1930, and Liberals from 1930 to 1942. During World War II, which Colombia entered on the side of the Allies, social and political divisions within the country intensified.

The postwar period was marked by growing social unrest in the capital and in the countryside. Politics became much more violent, especially after the assassination of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, the leftist Liberal mayor of Bogotá. This sparked protests that developed into riots, the "Bogotazo," in Bogotá, the end of which only lead Liberals and Conservatives into sporadic guerrilla fighting. This extended and bloody period is commonly known as La Violencia, it claimed 150,000 to 200,000 lives. The political system in the 1950s had become irrelevant in the midst of the violence. Three years of Conservative government were followed by a populist military government under Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, who managed a slightly successful recovery of arms from guerrillas. Rojas ruled as an absolute dictator, but could not quell the violence still raging in the field. Overthrown largely by a coalition of Conservatives and Liberals who used newsprint as their weapon, Rojas gave up power in May 1957 to a military junta, which promised and provided free elections.

When the fall of Rojas was imminent, Liberal and Conservative leaders met to discuss Colombia's future. The period of La Violencia had convinced Colombia's elite that there was a need to bring the rivalry between Liberals and Conservatives under control. Determined to end the violence and initiate a democratic system, the parties entered into a pact establishing a coalition government between the two parties for 16 years. This arrangement, called the Sitges Agreement, created the National Front and was ratified by a plebiscite in December 1957. Under the terms of this agreement, a free election would be held in 1958. The parties would then alternate in power for four-year terms until 1974. Thus, Liberals and Conservatives would take turns in the presidency. Parties were also guaranteed equal numbers of posts in the cabinet and in the national and departmental legislatures.

In 1958, the first election under the National Front, was won by Liberal Alberto Lleras Camargo. As provided in the agreement, he was succeeded in 1962 by a Conservative, National Front candidate Guillermo León Valencia.

During this time another civil war period began. A group of leftist liberals who had established small independent agrarian republics during La Violencia and who were cut out of the power-sharing Sitges Agreement, were attacked by the government in 1964. Two years later the survivors formed the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) with the stated goal of overthrowing the government. A year earlier in 1965, another group with roots in La Violencia, the ELN (Ejercito de la Liberacion Nacional), formed the second major revolutionary group after receiving training in revolutionary war tactics in Cuba.

In May 1966, Colombia held another peaceful election, won by Carlos Lleras Restrepo, a Liberal economist. Although lacking the necessary two-thirds majority required under the Colombian constitution to pass legislation, Lleras came to power with the firm support of the press and other important public sectors. His regime occupied itself with increasing public revenues, improving public administration, securing external financial assistance to supplement domestic savings, and preparing new overall development plans. In April 1970, Conservative Party leader Misael Pastrana Borrero, a former cabinet minister, was elected president, narrowly defeating former President Rojas. The election results were disputed but later upheld. A third major revolutionary group, the urban guerrilla M-19 (Movimiento 19) formed a few years later, taking their name from the 19 April 1970 elections dispute.

In August 1974, with the inauguration of the Liberal Alfonso López Michelsen as president, Colombia returned to a two-party system for presidential and congressional elections. As provided by a constitutional amendment of 1968, President López shared cabinet posts and other positions with the Conservative Party. In 1978, another Liberal candidate, Julio César Turbay Ayala, won the presidency, but because his margin of victory was slim (49.5% against the Conservatives' 46.6%), he continued the tradition of giving a number of cabinet posts to the opposition. In June 1982, just before leaving office, Turbay lifted the state of siege that had been in force intermittently since 1948.

Because of a split in the Liberal Party, the Conservatives won the 1982 elections, and a former senator and ambassador to Spain, Belisario Betancur Cuartas, was sworn in as president in August. He continued the tradition of including opposition party members in his cabinet, however, Betancur's most immediate problem was political violence. Since the late 1970s kidnappings and political murders by both left- and right-wing organizations had become common. In 1983, it was estimated that some 6,000 leftist guerrillas were active in Colombia in at least four guerrilla groups. The Betancur government pursued a policy of negotiation with the guerrillas. He offered amnesty and political recognition in exchange for the cessation of activity and for joining in the electoral process. Betancur's last year in office was marred when M-19 seized the Palace of Justice. Troops stormed the building; it was completely destroyed by fire and over 90 people were killed.

The 1986 election went resoundingly to the Liberals under the longtime politician Virgilio Barco Vargas, who campaigned on a platform of extensive economic and social reform that focused on poverty and unemployment. Barco won with a significant majority and the Conservative Party broke from the tradition started by the National Front by refusing cabinet and other government posts to the Liberals. President Barco did not match the rhetoric of his campaign with policies of any substance, and the economy continued to stagnate. Barco made no progress with drug traffickers, who arranged for the murder of his attorney-general. However, he was able to initiate a plan aimed at bringing guerrilla groups into the political system.

Also, in the 1980s a new military force came into being in Colombia, the paramilitary organizations. These were started by narcotics traffickers, wealthy civilians, businesses, political parties, and the military. This myriad of founders hired their paramilitaries for an equally variable number of violent ends: to assassinate, terrorize, protect from kidnappers, cleanse the country of socially unwanted peoples (such as drug addicts, thieves, prostitutes, beggars, street children, and others), and to fight against the rebels (such as the FARC, the ELN, and the M-19). By 1989 all paramilitary organizations were outlawed, but continued to operate with impunity. The complicated balance of military power in Colombia was then exercised through the government, the rebels, the narcotics traffickers, and the paramilitary organizations. It was estimated that during the 1980s Colombian drug traffickers controlled 80% of the world's cocaine trade.

The election of 1990 brought another Liberal, César Gaviria Trujillo, to the presidency. In that election, three candidates were assassinated. Gaviria continued Barco's outreach to the various leftist guerrilla groups, and in 1991 the notorious M-19 group demobilized and became a political party. The other groups chose to remain active. Gaviria responded to their intransigence in November 1992 by announcing new counterinsurgency measures and a hard-line policy against both guerrillas and drug traffickers. A constitutional assembly was also held to create a new constitution, which was promulgated on 5 July 1991. It included a number of reforms aimed at increasing the democratization of Colombia's elite-controlled political system.

The powerful Medellín cartel stepped up its terrorist attacks, including car bombings and political assassinations, but the new constitution strengthened government control and the leaders of the cartel surrendered to the Gaviria government in 1991. However, head boss Pablo Escobar escaped from government custody the following year, and was eventually hunted down and killed in 1993. Most top leaders of the Cali cartel, which had taken over much of the Medellín market, were arrested in 1995 and subsequently imprisoned. Even with the arrests, Colombia's lucrative drug trade continued to flourish.

In the 1994 elections, Colombians continued their preference for Liberal candidates, with Ernesto Samper Pizano winning a runoff election against Conservative TV newscaster Andrés Pastrana. In the general election, only 18,499 votes separated the two candidates. The campaign was again marked by widespread political violence. Samper's government was weakened by charges that he and other senior government officials had accepted money from drug traffickers during the 1994 election campaign. (Congress formally exonerated the president of these charges in 1996.)

As of 1996, there was a guerrilla presence in over half the country's villages and towns, and it was estimated that about one million Colombians had fled their homes between 1987 and 1997 as a result of rural violence. With forces estimated at 10,000, there was no apparent prospect that guerrilla groups would succeed in taking over the country, but they continued to thrive, relying heavily on funds from the drug cartels following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In 1998, the Conservative Party came back to power when Andrés Pastrana won the presidential election with 50.5% of the vote, defeating Liberal Horacio Serpa. Pastrana was committed to negotiations, but the absence of peace kept interrupting any progress. In November 1998, Pastrana ceded a large area in south-central Colombia to FARC's control as a goodwill gesture, but the rebels continued to mount attacks, until finally Pastrana ordered the military to attack rebel positions and reassert control over the rebel zone. The FARC felt betrayed and withdrew into the jungle. Similarly, Pastrana sought more collaboration from the United States to fight the war, but his efforts proved fruitless. What would have been an aid package turned into the adoption of Plan Colombia in 2000, a multibillion dollar initiative funded by the US government aimed at combating drug production. This generated criticism for its heavy focus on military action rather than economic incentives that could lead peasants to abandon coca leaf production.

In the 2002 presidential election, former Liberal Party leader turned independent Álvaro Uribe won with 53.1% of the vote. Campaigning on a tough platform against guerrilla leaders and drug traffickers, Uribe promised a relentless fight against organized crime if elected. In the first term Uribe's government increased the military and police presence throughout the country, increased social spending and health care, nationalized or reorganized many state-owned companies, and increased the number of indicted and extradited narcotics traffickers.

The two major developments in Uribe's first term were the demobilization of the paramilitary groups and the constitutional amendment to allow a president to run for a second term in office. The demobilization of the paramilitaries was controversial internationally because the leaders were penalized very lightly for their involvement in the drug trade, for the violent acts which they perpetrated, and because there appeared to be few guarantees that they would completely disarm or completely demobilize. Plan Colombia was pushed forward but the drug trade was not subdued. During his first term in office, Uribe enjoyed popular support and was able to build a coalition of Liberal and Conservative legislators to push through his tough plans against the guerrillas, as well as to amend the constitution to allow for a second term in office. As of December 2005, initial peace talks were ongoing with the ELN.

GOVERNMENT

Colombia is a unitary republic, organized democratically under the constitution of August 1886, substantially amended in 1910, 1936, 1945, 1957, 1959, 1968, and 1979, and superseded by the constitution of 1991, which included provisions guaranteeing health care, social security, and human rights protection.

The Congress consists of a 161-member Chamber of Representatives and a 102-member Senate. Members of both houses are elected directly for four-year terms. Colombian congressional representation is determined by the size of the population. Some seats are reserved for blacks, Indians, and other minorities. The chief executive is granted the initiative in fiscal policies and the power to declare a state of emergency during times of economic and social stress. Under such a declaration, the president may rule by decree for a period of not longer than 90 days in any one year. There is universal suffrage for those 18 years of age and over.

Historically, Colombia had an officer called the designado (designate), elected by Congress every two years, who served as a sort of vice president and was responsible for exercising the executive function in the president's absence. The 1991 constitution introduced a formal vice presidency. The Constitution was amended in 2005 to increase the number of terms a president is allowed to serve, from one to two consecutive four-year terms.

POLITICAL PARTIES

For many years, the Colombian constitution allowed only two political parties, the Liberal and the Conservative, to participate in the national government. These two parties consistently dominated Colombian politics. Recent changes allow for more parties, and several have emerged, but the Conservative and Liberal parties control the majority of elected offices.

The Liberal Party (Partido Liberal—PL) continues to support religious toleration and a positive response to the social and economic demands of the masses. The Liberals theoretically support separation of church and state, though in practice a strong church is accepted. Federalism, while important in theory, has been abandoned in practice by Liberal leaders. In general, Liberals have been more successful in elections since the end of the National Front than the Conservatives and have controlled the majority of seats in both houses.

The policy of the Conservative Party (Partido Conservador Social—PCS) has been characterized by close cooperation with the Roman Catholic Church, a lack of tolerance for non–Roman Catholic religious beliefs, maintenance of class privileges, and highly centralized government with local authority strictly subservient to national rule. Before universal suffrage, the Conservatives sought to allow only heads of families to vote. Under the leadership of Andrés Pastrana, the son of former Conservative president Misael Pastrana, the PCS regained the presidency in 1998.

Despite the spread of suffrage and the rise of industrialization and a middle class, both parties continue to be dominated by a wealthy oligarchy. Both are controlled at the national level by a convention and a directorate, and congressional discipline is strong. Since the National Front agreement of 1958, the two parties have become increasingly similar ideologically.

Congressional and presidential elections from 1958 through 1982 primarily constituted votes of confidence in the National Front. Perhaps as a means of protest, 60% of eligible voters abstained from the presidential election in 1978, and 80% of the electorate abstained from the municipal and local elections of March 1980. In 1982 and 1986, however, Colombian voters turned out in record numbers, with 55% of the electorate participating in the presidential ballot in 1982 and 57% in 1988.

The Colombian Communist Party (Partido Communista de Colombia—PCC), a traditional, Marxist-oriented party, combined with the nation's largest guerrilla group, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—FARC), to form the Patriotic Union (UP); the group has not become a major force in electoral politics.

There is considerable independent party activity in Colombia, and it has been increasing. Traditionally, the third force in Colombian politics was provided by former dictator Rojas Pinilla, whose National Popular Alliance (Alianza Nacional Popular—ANAPO), now defunct, was a strong party movement. The election dispute of 19 April 1970 gave rise to the extremist rebel group M-19, which stood for the April 19th Movement. After over two decades of military action against the government, M-19 demobilized in 1991. M-19 is part of a coalition of leftist parties and other dissident groups, called Democratic Alliance M-19, which no longer had a presence in Congress as of 2006. Several militant leftist groups remain outside the political system, including the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional—ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Although officially a member of the Patriotic Union political party, the FARC also refuses to demobilize. The People's Liberation Army (EPL) began to demobilize in 1993, but a dissident faction refused orders to lay down arms, and returned to the field.

The traditional parties have lost so much power that President Uribe was elected as an independent. It was the first time since 1957 that the president was not elected under the Liberal or Conservative party tickets.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Colombia is divided into 32 departments (states) and the Bogotá federal district, and subdivided into 1,011 municipalities. Departments control their own finances, as well as administration, within the limits set by the constitution. Governors of departments, once appointed by the president, are now elected. Each departmental assembly meets yearly for a session of two months. Assembly members are elected by universal suffrage, one for each 40,000 inhabitants.

The departments have the power to establish municipal districts and to review the acts of the municipal governments to determine their constitutionality. Each municipality has a popularly elected municipal council. Another reform from the 1991 constitution is the direct election of mayors; previously mayors were chosen by the president and were directly under the control of their respective governors. Mayors are elected for a two-year term by direct vote.

JUDICIAL SYSTEM

The judicial system is comprised of a Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of Justice, Council of State, the Higher Judiciary Council, and superior and municipal courts. The Supreme Court in Bogotá is composed of 24 magistrates selected for lifetime terms by justices already in office. The Supreme Court reviews state and municipal laws, frames bills to be submitted to Congress, and proposes reforms. It acts as an advisory board to the government and can veto decrees. It has original jurisdiction in impeachment trials and constitutional interpretation and appellate jurisdiction in ordinary judicial matters. The court is divided into four chambers—civil cassation, criminal cassation, labor cassation, and constitutional procedure.

The 1991 constitution extensively revised the judicial system. It established an independent prosecution system and a national people's defender office to investigate human rights cases. Traditional courts on Indian reservations were validated. A Constitutional Court reviews the constitutionality of proposed legislation.

There is a superior court of three or more judges in each of the judicial districts and a number of municipal courts. A judge of minors in the capital of each department has jurisdiction throughout the department. There are also special labor courts. In criminal cases, the judge chooses a five-member jury; jury duty is obligatory. There is no capital punishment and the maximum penalty for crimes is 20 years in prison. Although the right of habeas corpus is guaranteed by the constitution, suspects in security cases have been detained incommunicado for 10 days or longer.

The judiciary is independent, both in theory and in practice, from the executive and legislative branches. In 1991, the government set up five regional jurisdictions to handle narcotics, terrorism, and police corruption cases in which anonymous judges and prosecutors handle the major trials of narcotics and terrorists. However a 1996 law dictated that the regional justice system would cease to exist by 30 June 1999.

The jurisdiction of the regional justice system included drugrelated crimes, crimes against the state and constitutional order, arms manufacturing and trafficking, terrorism, and membership in illegal armed groups, but in practice, a wide array of cases were processed by the regional justice system. The inadequate description of the crimes which fell within its competence and the imprecise jurisdiction of the regional justice system elongated processing and led to situations in which either influential individuals avoided this jurisdiction or less fortunate individuals were unable to do so, and often served the applicable sentence for the crime charged before the case even went to trial.

ARMED FORCES

Colombia's armed forces in 2005 had 207,000 active personnel, with 60,700 reservists. The Amy had 178,000 active members. Equipment included 12 light tanks (all in storage) 135 reconnaissance vehicles, over 192 armored personnel carriers and 639 artillery pieces. The Air Force had 7,000 active personnel. Equipment included 22 combat capable aircraft under the service's Air Combat Command and another 30 under the Tactical Air Support Command. The Navy had 22,000 personnel, including 14,000 Marines and 100 naval aviation personnel. Major naval units included four tactical submarines, four corvettes and 179 patrol/coastal vessels. The naval air arm had seven transport and two utility fixed wing aircraft and one antisubmarine warfare and two utlity helicopters. The country's paramilitary forces consisted of an 8,000 member rural militia and a 121,000-member national police force.

Colombia's defense forces are frequently occupied in opposing rural violence, often stemming from militant guerrilla groups and drug lords' armies. Opposition forces include the Coordinadora Nacional Guerrillera Simón Bolívar (CNGSB) which is in collaboration with guerrilla groups numbering around 18,000. The rightwing paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) has approximately 10,600 members. The defense budget in 2005 totaled us$3.5 billion.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Colombia is a charter member of the UN, having joined on 5 November 1945, and participates in ECLAC and many specialized agencies, such as FAO, ILO, IMF, IAEA, UNESCO, UNHCR, the World Bank, and WHO. Colombia became a member of the WTO on 30 April 1995. The nation is a member of the Andean Community of Nations and a nonregional member of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). It also participates in the Caribbean Development Bank, G-3, G-24, G-77, the Latin American Economic System (LAES), the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), OAS, and the Río Group. Colombia is an observer in CARICOM and an associate member of Mercosur.

The nation is part of the Nonaligned Movement, the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. It is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The country is a signatory of the 1947 Río Treaty, an inter-American security agreement. In environmental cooperation, Colombia is part of the Antarctic Treaty, the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, International Tropical Timber Agreements, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, MARPOL, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on Climate Change and Desertification.

ECONOMY

With the expansion of the manufacturing sector, Colombia has become more dependent upon industry (34.3% of GDP in 2005) than agriculture (12.5% of GDP). Historically, coffee was by far the most important crop: its share of total exports ranged from about 40–65% of the annual total between 1964 and 1986, depending on crop yields and international commodity prices. In 1997, this share had dropped to only 21%, and by 2000, to 8%. A fall in coffee prices in 2001 reduced coffee's share further, to 6.2%. Nontraditional exports, however, increased 5% in 2001. Colombia's policy has been to reduce its dependence on coffee exports because of widely fluctuating world market conditions, and to encourage other agricultural exports, especially sugar, bananas, rice, potatoes, and cotton. The government has also attempted to attract investment in manufacturing and mining projects. Colombia became a net exporter of petroleum in 1986, and coal has become a major export as well. New oil output from the Cusiana field and other fields helped Colombia reach a record production level in 1999—830,000 barrels per day. By 2002, production had been reduced to 591,250 barrels per day. The share of oil exports to total exports dropped from 34.8% in 2000 to 24.9% in 2001. There is concern that without substantial new crude oil discoveries, Colombia will revert to being a net importer of crude oil again within a few years. Exploration of vast areas of likely territory is inhibited by the occupation of about 40% of the country by groups (mainly the FARC and the ENL) that are not only trying to overthrow the government, but which have made the oil industry infrastructure the prime target of their guerrilla attacks. The Trade Development Bureau's PROEXPO Fund (since renamed the Foreign Trade Bank) was established in 1967 to increase the volume of nontraditional exports and to provide a flexible exchange rate and special tax incentives. Foreign direct investment (FDI), which reached a yearly rate of us$5.56 billion in 1997, fell to a little over us$2 billion a year in 2001 and 2002, as the guerrilla attacks continued unabated (an estimated 3,500 persons were killed in attacks in 2002, with another 2000 kidnapped), reaching into urban areas and targeting prominent politicians. In February 2002, the government broke off negotiations that had been going on for three years with no progress towards a resolution.

During the 1970s, Colombia's economy struggled with an inflationary spiral that rose from a rate of 15.4% in 1972 to 25% during the following decade. Inflation remained close to 20% annually through the 1980s and much of the 1990s. After 1983, however, the economy improved significantly, and growth rates rose above the world and hemispheric averages—an average of 4% between 1988 and 1998. In 1990, President Cesar Gaviria instituted an economic restructuring plan known as apertura (opening). The program emphasized trade expansion through tariff reduction, free trade agreements, and privatization of state-owned enterprises, including banks, power plants, airports, seaports, roads and telecommunications networks. After the initial burst, the pace of privatization was slowed.

In 1995, domestic political considerations constricted Colombia's economic liberalization. In 1996 and 1997 the administration of US president Bill Clinton decertified Colombia as a country fully cooperative with US narcotics policy. The move was taken in response to continued narco-guerrilla activity in the countryside and to allegations that President Samper had solicited and received campaign contributions from drug cartels. The decertification made it difficult for US companies to further invest in the country, and halted the growth of trade; though the United States remained the biggest foreign investor in the country. The decertification was lifted in 1998, but by then the economy was being impacted by intensified guerrilla activity, fiscal shortfalls, and external shocks—the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the Russian financial crisis in 1998, and the Brazilian financial crisis in 1999. In 1998, GDP growth fell to 0.6% and then in 1999, Colombia experienced its first contraction (-4.2%) since 1983. Growth returned in 2000, but only at the anemic level of 2.7%. Domestic instability and the external economic slowdown combined to reduce growth to 1.4% in 2001 and 1.6% in 2002. In December 1999, the government entered into a three-year arrangement with the IMF under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and there was a marked decline in the inflation rate across this period: inflation fell from 18.7% in 1998 to 5.7% in 2002. Unemployment in 2002 was estimated at 17.7%, with subemployment at 35%.

In 1999, due to economic instability in 1998, Colombia signed its first agreement with the IMF for a us$3 billion approved standby line of credit. The government also unveiled plans to renew the privatization many state-owned enterprises to revitalize the economy. Nevertheless, guerrilla warfare put off potential investors.

In late 2002, the government offered reform legislation in five areas: taxes, pensions, labor, public administration, and banking. In January 2003, the government entered into a us$2.5-billion standby arrangement with the IMF to support these reforms.

From 2000, the annual average GDP growth was 2.9%; in 2004, it was 4.1%, the highest level since 1995 (as reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit). Figures show that GDP growth continued at this pace in 2005, as well. This growth could be tied to the increases in private investment and household consumption during Alvaro Uribe's term, in which he sought to boost investor confidence ion the country. The increase in growth rates was also aided by good international economic conditions.

As of May 2004, Colombia had begun to negotiate a free-trade agreement with the United States (as did Peru and Ecuador). The talks were expected to culminate in a deal in 2006–07 that would increase liberalization by reducing tariffs and restrictions on trade and capital flows, and strengthening property rights protection (including intellectual property rights).

INCOME

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) reports that in 2005 Colombia's gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at us$303.1 billion. The CIA defines GDP as the value of all final goods and services produced within a nation in a given year and computed on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than value as measured on the basis of the rate of exchange based on current dollars. The per capita GDP was estimated at us$7,100. The annual growth rate of GDP was estimated at 4.3%. The average inflation rate in 2005 was 5%. It was estimated that agriculture accounted for 12.5% of GDP, industry 34.3%, and services 53.3%.

According to the World Bank, in 2003 remittances from citizens working abroad totaled us$3.076 billion or about us$69 per capita and accounted for approximately 3.8% of GDP. Foreign aid receipts amounted to us$802 million or about us$18 per capita and accounted for approximately 1.1% of the gross national income (GNI).

The World Bank reports that in 2003 household consumption in Colombia totaled us$50.79 billion or about us$1,139 per capita based on a GDP of us$80.0 billion, measured in current dollars rather than PPP. Household consumption includes expenditures of individuals, households, and nongovernmental organizations on goods and services, excluding purchases of dwellings. It was estimated that for the period 1990 to 2003 household consumption grew at an average annual rate of 1.8%. It was estimated that in 2001 about 59% of the population had incomes below the poverty line.

LABOR

In 2005, Colombia's labor force was estimated at 20.52 million. As of 2000, the service industry employed an estimated 58.5% of the workforce, with 22.7% in agriculture and 18.7% in industry. The unemployment rate in 2005 was estimated at 11.8%.

The right to organize unions is provided by the constitution, although violence and discrimination against union members are major obstacles to engaging in union activities. Less than 5% of the workforce was unionized in 2005, with the vast majority of these workers in the public sector. The right to strike is guaranteed by the constitution with the exception of essential workers, such as those in the armed forces or the police.

The basic source of Colombian labor legislation is the Substantive Labor Code. The standard workday is eight hours with a 48-hour workweek. A minimum eight-hour rest period is also required per week. The minimum wage is reviewed each January to set the standard for wage negotiations. As of 2005, the minimum wage was us$167 per month. This amount does not provide a decent standard of living for a family.

The law prohibits children under the age of 12 from working. Those in the age 12 to 13 category are severely limited as to the kind of work they can perform. Minors between the ages of 14 and 17 are limited in the number of occupations they can enter. In spite of these regulations, child labor remains a significant problem especially in the informal sector and in agriculture. Only 38% of children that worked also attended school.

AGRICULTURE

Agriculture, despite an endemic problem of poor productivity, remains the most important segment of the Colombian economy. In 2005, agriculture accounted for 12.5% of the GDP.

Only about 3.7% of Colombia's land area is cultivated, most of it in elevated regions of the temperate zone. The small area of cultivation is due in part to the rugged Andean terrain and in part to lack of irrigation. In 2000–02, 21.5% of cropland was irrigated, up from 13.1% during 1989–91. The flat, fertile valleys are generally devoted to livestock, limiting cultivation to the slopes, an uneconomical practice that is gradually being changed. Hand cultivation, especially by machete and hoe, predominates, but mechanization is making headway on the larger farms. Fertilizer is expensive and not sufficiently used. The small size of farms is another constraint on agricultural growth: in the mid-1980s, farms of less than 20 hectares (50 acres) accounted for 80% of all agricultural land.

Coffee, by far the most important crop, is grown mainly on the Andean slopes at altitudes of 1,300–1,800 m (4,200–6,000 ft). Colombia, the world's second-largest coffee grower, contributes 13–16% of the total world production each year. In 2004, coffee-growing farms, many under 6 hectares (15 acres), accounted for about 800,000 hectares (2 million acres), about 40% of the land under permanent crops. In 1992, despite a severe drought, the amount of coffee exported increased by over 30% as a result of a successful strategy for expanding the external markets. In 1993, coffee production increased to 1,080,000 tons, but dwindled to only 678,000 tons in 1994. Production in 2004 was 663,660 tons. In 2004, coffee accounted for 28% of agricultural exports.

Sugar, also important, is grown chiefly in the Cauca Valley, with its center at Cali. Many varieties of bananas are grown; bananas for export are produced in the Uraba and Santa Maria regions. Colombia is the world's third-largest banana exporter (after Ecuador and Costa Rica) and supplies about one-sixth of the world export market. Corn, yucca, plantains, and, in high altitudes, potatoes have been traditional food staples since before the Spanish conquest. Beans, rice, and wheat, introduced in the 19th century, are also important in the diet. Other export crops include freshcut flowers, cotton, and tobacco. Cocoa is produced in limited amounts for domestic consumption. Colombia produces much of its domestic food requirements, but it has to import wheat, barley, fats, oils, and cocoa.

Since 1940, the government has taken an increasing part in the control, organization, and encouragement of agriculture. Through the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform (Instituto Colombiano de la Reforma Agraria—INCORA), farmers are given financial support, technical aid, and social assistance for better housing, education, and health facilities. INCORA acquires land for equitable distribution to farmers and helps to develop potentially valuable but uncultivated land and to increase agricultural productivity. The production-oriented Rural Development Program, begun in 1976, gave technical assistance and credit to about 30,000 small landholders. Farmers have also benefited from the us$150-million rural electrification program, introduced in 1981, and from a program to extend irrigation and drainage systems, initiated in the early 1980s.

Agricultural production (in thousands of tons) for major crops in 2004 was: sugarcane, 37,100; plantains, 2,950; potatoes, 2,959; rice, 2,663; cassava, 2,218; bananas, 1,450; corn, 1,458; sorghum, 285; cotton, 52; palm kernels, 144; cocoa, 49; and dry beans, 135. Marijuana, coca leaf, and opium are also grown for the production of illicit drugs. In 2003, there were an estimated 144,000 hectares (356,000 acres) producing coca leaf, generating 680 tons of cocaine base, 80% of the world estimate.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

Occupying about 42 million hectares (104 million acres) of pasture, livestock farming (especially cattle breeding) has long been an important Colombian industry. Of this total area, about 19 million hectares (46.9 million acres) are actually used for livestock production. The Ministry of Agriculture maintains experimental stations in Antioquia and Bolívar departments to improve breeds, but the quality of livestock is still low. Cattle are driven to market by truck. This practice often entails crossing high mountains, with much wastage; accordingly, there has been a movement to construct slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants near the ranges. Dairy farming, not important in the past, expanded in the 1970s, especially near the big cities. Colombian sheep produce about one-third of the wool used by the country's textile industry. The government maintains an experimental station for sheep in Cundinamarca and for goats in Norte de Santander. In 2004 there were 25 million cattle, 2.2 million sheep, and 2.3 million pigs. The production of beef and veal was 690,000 tons in 2004.

FISHING

Colombia has an abundance of fish in its Caribbean and Pacific coastal waters and in its innumerable rivers. Lake Tota in Boyacá and Lake La Cocha in Nariño abound in trout, as do the artificial reservoirs of Neusa and Sisga in Cundinamarca. About half of the annual catch consists of freshwater fish. Tarpon are caught in the delta waters of the Magdalena, and sailfish, broadbills, and tuna in the Caribbean. The 2003 fish catch was 157,794 tons. The development of crustacean aquaculture has expanded since the mid-1980s, especially for Penaeid shrimps. Aquaculture production totaled 60,895 tons in 2003 and consisted primarily of tilapia and rainbow trout.

FORESTRY

Colombia's forested area is some 50 million hectares (123.6 million acres), or nearly 50% of the total area. Although much timberland is inaccessible or of limited value, the nation is self-sufficient in lumber. Roundwood production was 9.9 million cu m (350 million cu ft) in 2003; exports of roundwood were valued at us$3 million that year. The soft tropical woods that predominate are also suitable for plywood production, for paper pulp, and for furniture manufacture; total export of forest products amounted to us$142.8 million in 2003.

MINING

Historically, Colombia has been the world's leading exporter of emeralds, although the fuel sector now dominates the country's mineral production. It also produced a significant amount of gold (ranking second in the region), was Latin America's only producer of platinum, ws the third-largest producer of cement, and was a leading producer of nickel. In terms of value, the main minerals produced in Colombia (after petroleum) were coal, emeralds, gold, and platinum, respectively, in 2003. Colombia also produced sizable amounts of common clay, kaolin, dolomite, gypsum, limestone, hydrated lime and quicklime, magnesite, nitrogen (content of ammonia), rock and marine salt, sand, gravel, marble, feldspar, phosphate rock, and sodium compounds (sodium carbonate), as well as small quantities of sulfur (native, from ore), asbestos, bauxite, bentonite, calcite, diatomite, fluorite, mercury, mica, talc, soapstone, prophyllite, dolomite, and zinc.

Production figures for principal nonfuel minerals in 2003 were: gold, 46,515 kg, up from 20,823 kg in 2002; emeralds, 8.963 million carats, up from 5.390 million carats in 2002; nickel, 70,844 metric tons, compared with 58,196 in 2002; iron ore and concentrate, 625,002 metric tons, down from 688,106 metric tons in 2002; silver, 9,511 kg, up from 6,986 kg in 2002; and feldspar, estimated at 55,000 tons. Production of nickel content of ferronickel increased to 47,868 metric tons in 2003, up from 43,987 metric tons in 2002.

According to estimates by the Colombian government, 90% of emerald production is destined for exports. Emerald deposits are located in the sedimentary basin of the Cordillera Oriental, in Boyacá in the Cinturón Esmeraldífero Oriental and Cinturón Esmeraldífero Occidental; more than 60 production licenses were active. Most gold production came from small- and medium-sized alluvial operations, which employed artisanal methods of extraction. All platinum was mined by small mining cooperatives or individual prospectors, at Río San Juan, Choco. Silver was produced in Segovia and Río Nechi, Antioquia.

The country's substantial copper, iron, nickel, and lead reserves were of major importance to the future development of the economy. The El Roble copper mine produced output for Japan. A copper deposit with reserves estimated at 625 million tons was discovered at Pantanos, Antioquia, in 1973. Cerro Matoso S.A., a subsidiary of BHP Billiton PLC, was the country's sole producer of nickel and ferronickel, near Monetlíbano, Córdoba. Reserves of the lateritic nickel mine were estimated to be 39.9 million tons with a nickel content of 2.3%. A second production plant, completed in 2001, ahead of schedule, doubled Cerro Matoso's ferronickel production capacity to 55,000 tons per year of nickel.

Under Article 332 of the 1990 constitution, the state retained the rights to all surface and subsurface nonrenewable and natural resources; the government granted concessions for exploration and production. In 1989, a new mining code sought to encourage mineral exploration and development by expediting the processing of claims, improving the security of mineral occupancy and tenure, and providing financial aid to small- and medium-scale miners. The mining code of 2001 sought to encourage exploration and production of mineral resources and limit the role of the government to one of a regulatory and administrative entity, with more production transferring to the private sector. The law also clarified the provisions for establishing mining contracts.

ENERGY AND POWER

Colombia's mountainous terrain and network of rivers offer one of the highest potentials in the world for the generation of hydroelectric power. These resources remain largely undeveloped, despite intensive government efforts. In addition, the nation's energy sector, particularly oil, has had to deal with an ongoing civil war involving a pair of leftist insurgent groups: the Fuerzas Armadas Revolutionaries de Colombia (FARC) and the Ejercito de Liberacion National (ELN); and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary group. Further complicating the security situation has been the problem of narcotics trafficking.

Electric generating capacity was estimated for 2002 to stand at 13.1 GW, of which hydropower accounted for 63.3% and thermal 36.7%. The output of electricity has been estimated for 2002 at 44.9 billion kWh (77% hydroelectricity; 21% thermal), up from 2000, in which output stood at 42.9 billion kWh. Colombia's heavy reliance upon hydroelectric power makes to country vulnerable to drought, such what happened in 1992, when a severe drought led to power blackouts and rationing. Although the government has attempted to encourage the construction of natural gas and coal-fired plants to diversify the nation's electric power supply, since the early 1990s, hydropower has continued to increase its share as a source of power generation. Estimated consumption of electricity rose in 2002, from 2000, to 41.1 billion kWh. In the latter year, consumption of electricity totaled 40.3 billion kWh. Colombia in 2003 had an estimated 7.3 billion short tons in recoverable coal reserves. For the same year, coal production totaled 52.5 million short tons.

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Colombia has estimated proven petroleum reserves of 1.54 billion barrels and an estimated oil refining capacity of 285,850 barrels per day, as of 1 January 2005. Production of oil rose rapidly from 7.4 million tons in 1982 to 30.1 million tons in 1995. In 1999 it hit an all-time high of 826,000 barrels per day, before declining to 616,000 barrels per day in 2001. In 2004, oil output was estimated at 530,000 barrels per day, of which crude oil accounted of 508,000 barrels per day. Domestic oil consumption was estimated for 2004 at 261,000 barrels per day. The Colombian government since 1999 implemented new measures to encourage increased exploration and production, and to attract foreign investment. While these moves have spurred an increase in the upstream sector, a major contributing factor in the revival of interest, has been an improvement in the nation's security situation. In 2004, the number of kidnappings fell by 60% and attacks against Colombia's oil infrastructure fell significantly in 2003. For example, attacks against the Cano-Limón oil pipeline dropped from 170 in 2001 to 34 in 2003.

The production and consumption of natural gas have grown since the mid-1970s. According to the Oil and Gas Journal, as of 1 January 2005 Colombia had estimated proven natural gas reserves of 4.0 trillion cu ft, down from 4.5 trillion cu ft in 2004. In 2003, production and consumption of natural gas were each estimated at 215 billion cu ft. As with the oil sector, the nation's gas sector has been targeted by saboteurs and guerrillas. However attacks against the natural gas infrastructure and the costs associated with lost production and repairs have been cut, due to increased security measures.

INDUSTRY

The National Association of Manufacturers (Asociación Nacional de Industriales—ANDI) represents firms engaged in some 40 different branches of manufacturing. ANDI was founded in 1944 to assist both large and small businesses. Since 1940, the Industrial Development Institute (Instituto de Fomento Industrial—IFI), a government-operated finance corporation, has been investing in enterprises that otherwise might not be undertaken because of high risk or lack of capital. It provides direct financing for construction, acquisition of essential machinery and equipment installation services, and working capital. Most of the industrial activity is concentrated in and around Bogotá, Medellín, Barranquilla, and Cali. Industries in Medellín produce textiles, clothing, chemicals, plastic, and printed materials.

Manufacturing accounted for 15% of GDP in 1950, 24% at its peak in 1977, and 14% in 1998. Colombia is almost self-sufficient in consumer products, which represent about half of total industrial production. The 1970s witnessed a shift in industrial development policies from import substitution to expansion of exports. While the pace of industrial growth declined slightly in the mid-1970s, it increased by 2.5% between 1977 and 1987. This growth continued into the early 1990s, but slowed by mid-decade. Industry declined by 2.3% in 1998. Manufacturing growth began to pick up after the 1997–99 recession, registering a 9.7% growth rate in 2000.

Export-oriented industries include coal and oil derivatives, chemicals, porcelain, and glass. In 1995, mining and hydrocarbons grew by 17%, the highest growth sector in the Colombian economy. That the rest of the industrial economy has been sluggish in recent years is due to a cluster of factors, including the lack of infrastructure, labor difficulties, and most significantly, the civil unrest in the countryside caused by bands of paramilitaries loyal to drug traffickers and political extremists. The decline in industry also reflects an ebb in the country's construction boom. The construction sector grew by nearly 10% a year through the early part of the 1990s, but fell to just 5.3% in 1995. Due to the effects of the recession, construction saw negative growth rates of 14.4% and 19.9% in 1998 and 1999, respectively. The construction sector began to stabilize in 2000, contracting by only 1.5%.

Colombia has five oil refineries. Hydrocarbon production decreased by 15.5% in 2000, but due to the rise in international oil prices, revenues were maintained. Though industrial growth was fairly widespread from 2000–2005, the construction industry appeared to have benefited the most.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The government of President Turbay Ayala (1978–82) emphasized research in farming in order to help raise agricultural production. The Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences (founded in 1933) and the National Academy of Medicine (founded in 1890), are both located in Bogotá. As of 1996, there were 24 specialized agricultural, medical, scientific, and technical learned societies, and 13 scientific research institutes in Colombia, and the country had 43 universities offering degrees in basic and applied sciences. In 1987–97, science and engineering students accounted for 28% of college and university enrollments.

In 2002, Colombia had 81 researchers and 46 technicians per million people engaged in research and development (R&D). For 2001 (the latest year for which data is available), Colombia's R&D expenditures totaled us$450.758 million, accounting for 0.17% of GDP. Of that amount, business accounted for 46.9%, followed by higher education at 38.3%, the government at 13.2%, and nonprofit institutions at 1.7%. High technology exports in 2002 totaled us$319 million, or 7% of manufactured exports.

DOMESTIC TRADE

There are four primary marketing areas: the Caribbean coast region, the Antioquia region, the Cauca Valley region, and the Bogotá region. Firms desiring distribution of their products to all important national markets generally appoint agents in the leading city of each of the four regions (Barranquilla, Medellín, Cali, and Bogotá, respectively). Most small purchases are made for cash, but many stores offer installment credit facilities. A 16% value-added tax applies to most goods and services. As of 2002, there were about 80 franchise companies operating stores through the country. These are primarily foreign-based fast-food establishments.

Small, individually owned retail establishments predominate, although chain stores are increasing. Variety stores and department stores on the pattern of those in the United States are becoming popular, and food supermarkets are increasing in larger cities. Local farmers' markets, however, are still more generally patronized even in the cities, and in rural areas they are often the only trading centers. Direct marketing is gaining in popularity.

Business hours vary largely with climatic conditions; however, the usual workday is from 7:30 or 8 am to noon and from 1 to 4:30 or 5 pm. Most businesses close on Saturday afternoons, Sundays, and on state or religious holidays. Banking hours are generally from 9 am to 3:30 pm. Retail establishments are generally open from 9 am to 7 or 8 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 9 pm on Saturdays. Restaurants and other food stores may be open on Sundays and some holidays. Major credit cards are now generally accepted in most cities and ATM machines are prevalent.

The principal advertising media are newspapers, magazines, radio, and television; in motion picture theaters, it is also customary to display advertisements on the screen between features. There are a number of advertising and public relations firms.

FOREIGN TRADE

Beginning in 1990, Colombia opened up its economy to greater international trade and investment. The program of liberalization resulted in mass privatizations and lifting of restrictions on foreign investment; and substantially reduced import tariffs while eliminating most import licensing requirements. The government also signed the Andean Free Trade Agreement (ANCOM) with Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia; the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) with Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras; a Bilateral Free Trade Agreement with Chile; and an agreement with Mexico and Venezuela called the Group of Three (G-3).

Colombia also has several free-trade zones, the largest of which is Barranquilla, on the Caribbean. Other free-trade zones providing benefits for importers and exporters, as well as for manufacturers located within the zone boundaries, are the Buenaventura Harbor, Cúcuta, Palmaseca (near Cali's international airport), and the Caribbean port of Santa Marta. The illicit trade in marijuana and cocaine, especially to the United States, is known to be substantial, but there are no reliable estimates of its volume or its value. The Colombian government estimated in 1999 that drug traffickers smuggled us$5 billion annually in contraband into the country.

Colombia exports 10–20% of the world's coffee, which is the country's second-largest commodity export. Fuels contribute largely to the export market, including crude and refined petroleum; and coal, lignite, and peat. Agricultural exports like fruit, nuts, vegetables, sugar, and honey account for a smaller percentage of Colombia's exports.

In 2004, Colombia exported 42.1% of its products to the United States, 9.7% to Venezuela, and 6% to Ecuador, totalling over us$23 billion. On the other hand, 29.1% of its imports came from the United States, 6.5% from Venezuela, 6.4% from China, 6.2% from Mexico, and 5.8% from Brazil.

BALANCE OF PAYMENTS

When President Carlos Lleras Restrepo took office in August 1966, the economy of Colombia was unstable; inflation was spiraling, and there was a lack of centralized economic planning. Lleras embarked on an austerity program that included trade and exchange controls, tight credit policies, tax reforms, a balanced budget, and the determination of priorities in the field of public investment. The cutback in imports had repercussions in the industrial sector, but controls were then loosened and business activity stepped up rapidly.

Colombia succeeded in building up a national account surplus during the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Emphasis on export expansion, import substitution, and continuation of foreign assistance led to further progress. The second half of the 1990s, though, brought a consistently negative balance of payments of about 5% of GDP. The Pastrana government implemented austerity measures through an IMF us$2.7-billion loan in the hopes of cutting the fiscal deficit to 3.6% by 2000 and 1.5% by 2003. In 2000, Colombia had a trade surplus of us$1.5 billion, in contrast with a us$3.8 billion deficit in 1988. Recent rises in exports have focused on nontraditional exports such as bananas, flowers, gold, emeralds, chemical products, machinery, textiles and apparel, and plastic products. In 2000, due to lower international commodity prices for coffee and coal, those exports decreased.

The CIA estimated that in 2005, the current account balance was in deficit at -us$917 million.

BANKING AND SECURITIES

The Bank of Bogotá, founded in 1879, was the first Colombian credit establishment. The Bank of the Republic was established in 1923 as the semiofficial central bank. This bank is the sole note-issuing authority. The notes must be covered by a reserve in gold or foreign exchange of 25% of their value. The Bank of the Republic also operates the mint for the government. It rediscounts and makes loans to official and semiofficial institutions. In 1963, the Monetary Board was set up to assume from the bank the responsibility for setting required reserve rates for managing general monetary policy; this board, which formulates monetary, credit, and exchange policy, is thus the most influential financial agency in Colombia. The government supervises the banking system by means of a special governmental body, called the Superintendency of Banks.

In 2000, the Colombian financial system included 29 commercial banks (four of them state-owned), the Colombian Export Promotion Bank (BANCOLDEX), 107 foreign bank offices, six savings and loans corporations (CAVs), 10 development banks, 32 commercial finance companies, 37 trust companies, 33 insurance companies, and a state-owned mortgage bank. The Bank of the Republic and the commercial banks supply mainly short-term loans, and investment corporations make long-term loans.

In 1982, in the wake of a scandal that led to the liquidation of a commercial bank and a finance company, the government moved to reform the banking sector by placing limits on the equity any individual (or his family) could hold in a financial institution and on the credit any lending institution could extend to any individual or entity. Several more crises in the ensuing years shook public confidence in the financial system, but tight government control over the sector has brought it back to a state of partial recovery.

Beginning in 1989, the government began to privatize the banks. Several bank liquidations took place in 1999, including Pacifico, Andino, and Selfin. Two government owned banks merged (Estado and Uconal), while the largest government bank, Caja Agraria, was liquidated and replaced by the new Banco Agrario. The goal was to reduce the number of banking institutions to about 17. The Central Bank devalued the peso by 9% in 1998 and by 10% in 1999 in an effort to stimulate economic growth. The International Monetary Fund reports that in 2001, currency and demand deposits—an aggregate commonly known as M1—were equal to us$8.0 billion. In that same year, M2—an aggregate equal to M1 plus savings deposits, small time deposits, and money market mutual funds—was us$22.6 billion. The money market rate, the rate at which financial institutions lend to one another in the short term, was 10.4%. The discount rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends to financial institutions in the short term, was 16.4%.

The Bogotá Stock Exchange, organized in 1928, is the largest official stock exchange in the country. The Medellín Exchange was established in 1961, and the Occidente Stock Exchange in Cali was established in 1983 and began operations in 1993. The Bogotá exchange accounts for about 57%, the Medellín 28%, and the Cali exchange 15%. In 2004, a total of 114 companies were listed by the combined Bogotá, Medelin and Cali stock exchanges (Colombia Stock Exchange), which had a market capitalization of us$25.223 billion. The IGBC rose 86.2% from the previous year in 2004 to 4,345.8.

INSURANCE

The government regulates the insurance industry through the Insurance Section of the Superintendency of Banks. A social insurance system, the Institute for Social Insurance (Instituto para Seguros Sociales-ISS) established by law in 1946, was organized by the Ministry of Labor to provide life and disability insurance, a pension plan, and a health program for employees in the modern private subsector. In 1999, there were 27 insurance companies in operation, two of which were governmental. In Colombia, third-party automobile liability, workers' compensation, personal accident, professional liability, earthquake, and aviation third-party insurance are compulsory.

During 1995, regulations were issued that require insurance companies to adjust investments to market or equity values and to account for such changes through the income statements. Prior to 1995, any such unrealized adjustments were adjusted directly to policy holders' surplus funds. A relatively modest number of insurers, a competitive environment, and a few dominant companies in terms of market share characterize the Colombian market. A number of foreign insurers operate in Colombia, but foreign insurance companies may not establish local branch offices in lieu of opening major offices. Foreign investment in domestic insurance companies is now up to 100%, although a few restrictions may apply. In 2003, direct premiums written totaled us$1.998 billion, with nonlife premiums accounting for us$1.449 billion. Colombia's top life insurer that year was Previsora, with us$144.5 million in gross nonlife premiums written. The country's top life insurer that same year was Suramericana, with us$224.7 million in gross life premiums written.

PUBLIC FINANCE

Much of Colombia's foreign debt has been accumulated by financing infrastructural rather than industrial projects, the latter being more common among Latin American nations during the 1970s and 1980s. Considerable sums were spent in the 1990s to stimulate the development of industry, and higher than normal military expenditures were necessitated by the continuing and disruptive guerrilla activity. The inflationary conditions that prevailed from 1961 into 2000 also stimulated government expenditures. For political reasons, the national government was unable to raise tax revenues sufficient to cover sharply expanding investment outlays. Loans from external financial agencies (including the IMF, IDB, and IBRD) were substantial, but insufficient to permit a buildup in the level of public investment operations. The recession of the early 1980s brought another round of deficits as spending increased far more rapidly than revenues. By the 1990s, reforms in the public sector had greatly improved the efficiency of public expenditures.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) estimated that in 2005 Colombia's central government took in revenues of approximately us$46.8 billion and had expenditures of us$48.7 billion. Revenues minus expenditures totaled approximately - us$1.9 billion. Public debt in 2005 amounted to 44.2% of GDP. Total external debt was us$37.06 billion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that in 2003, the most recent year for which it had data, budgetary central government revenues in pesos were c$42,446 billion. The value of revenues in US dollars was us$15 million, based on a principal exchange rate for 2003 of us$1 = c$2,877.65 as reported by the IMF.

TAXATION

In addition to income taxes, Colombia levies a value-added tax (VAT), as well as municipal and property taxes. Many stamp taxes are imposed on legal documents. Personal income tax rates are based on income and there is a flat tax on corporate income. Indirect taxes include a tax on exported goods and services, surcharges on imports, a gasoline tax, and local taxes on vehicles and property.

Colombia's corporate income tax, as of 2005, stood at 35%. However, a 10% surcharge also applies. Branches of foreign companies resident in Colombia are taxed at the same rate as domestic companies, but there is a remittance tax of 7% for foreign companies. A 0.3% tax is charged on debit transactions in the financial system. In 2002, a one-time 1.2% tax on companies and individuals with assets over c$170 million (about us$65,000) was assessed to fund increased military spending.

Individual income is taxed according to a progressive schedule with 35% as the highest marginal rate. The main indirect tax in Colombia is its value-added tax (VAT), with a standard rate of 16%. The VAT applies to most transactions, although items such as utilities, insurance, financial and property leasing, and healthcare are exempt. The VAT also varies, with higher rates of 20–40% applied to certain items, such as vehicles, alcoholic beverages (including wine) and pleasure boats. The VAT for automobiles ranges from 22% for nonluxury vehicles and 40% for luxury automobiles. A lower VAT rate of 10% is applied to nuts and almonds, while games of chance (excluding lotteries) have a 5% VAT.

CUSTOMS AND DUTIES

Colombian import tariffs have been significantly reduced and simplified. There are four tariff levels: 5% for raw materials, and intermediate and capital goods not produced in Colombia; 10% and 15% for goods in the first category but with domestic production in Colombia; 20% for finished consumer goods; and 35% and 40% for automobiles and some agricultural products. The average tariff lies between 11% and 13.5%. The four-tariff system also acts as the common external tariff for the Andean Community, which became effective for Colombia in 1995.

Nontariff barriers to trade include restrictions on poultry parts, powdered milk, wheat, and other agricultural products. Tariff rates for some of these selected basic commodities ranged up to 119% in 1999. Import and export licenses are required for most items.

Colombia maintains free trade agreements with Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Mexico. There are also international agreements for preferential duty rates with the Caribbean Common Market and the Central American Common Market, and Colombia has requested consideration for NAFTA accession and entry into the future Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Several free trade zones are in operation.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT

After the serious crisis in Colombia's capital markets in the 1980s, the Gaviria administration implemented an aggressive economic liberalization program known as apertura, or opening, in the early 1990s, including increased promotion of foreign investment. Under Law 9 of 1991, together with administrative resolutions from the Council on Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) and Resolution 21 of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank, foreign companies were put on an equal legal footing with local ones and most sectors were opened to foreign investment, barring only investments touching on security and the disposal of hazardous wastes.

In order to continue boosting the economy, the government has negotiated free trade agreements with several countries. A free trade pact among Colombia, Venezuela, and Central America (except Costa Rica) came into operation on 1 July 1993. In addition, an agreement was signed between Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico (G-3) on establishing a free trade zone in 1994. In 1993, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia achieved a customs union, with free trade between the four countries under the auspices of the Andean Pact. Effective 1 January 1994, pact members implemented a common external tariff (CET) based on a four-tier tariff range. In June 1999, the clause in the Colombian constitution permitting expropriation without indemnification was repealed opening the way for ratification by Colombia of bilateral investment agreements (BITS) with Peru, the United Kingdom, Spain, Cuba, and France. Colombia ended its monopoly over telecommunications in 1998, limiting foreign ownership to 70%. In 2003, the US Trade Representative (USTR) was raising objections that restrictions on foreign entry into Colombia's telecommunications sector violated its obligations under the World Trade Organization.

The petroleum industry is one industry that has enjoyed significant foreign investment; international investment grew from us$458 million in 1993 to us$890 million in 1997. In 1996, CONPES eliminated the requirement of government authorization for investment in public services, mining, and hydrocarbons. Despite this allowance, investment in the hydrocarbons sector requires an association contract with the state-owned oil company ECOPETROL. Due to the apertura program, the sectors that have seen the largest growth in international investment have been infrastructural. Investment in the utilities sector (electricity, gas, and water) leapt from us$145 million in 1996 to us$2.3 billion in 1998. The transportation and communications sectors, which have been mostly privatized in recent years, grew from us$5.7 million in 1993 to us$360 million in 1997. The increased foreign investment coincided with increased borrowing in foreign financial markets (enabled by the opening of the financial sector in 1991) and a large inflow of capital from increased petroleum exports. The excess liquidity led to a credit boom and a sharp increase in interest rates, which rose further as the Central Bank tried to support the peso's exchange rate. Aggravated by political uncertainty, the economy was in another financial crisis by 1998.

Annual direct foreign investment (DFI) inflow reached a peak of us$5.56 billion in 1997 and then fell to us$2.83 billion in 1998 and to us$1.47 billion in 1999. For 2000 to 2002, average annual FDI inflow was about us$2.2 billion. FDI inflow from the United States in 2002 was us$317 million.

Security concerns remained a major deterrent to foreign investment in 2003 as the government continued its 40-year fight against two major leftist guerrilla groups that had come to control about half of the country. In 2003, hostage taking and hostage execution involving increasingly prominent individuals and a bombing in a Bogotá nightclub indicated the penetration of guerrilla activity into major urban centers. In June 2003, as part of a us$98 million military aid package, the United States sent about 60 Special Forces members to train local soldiers to guard the Occidental Petroleum pipeline; the Cano Limón pipeline, which had been bombed 40 times in 2002 and 170 times in prior years.

In terms of portfolio investment, the total market valuation of companies listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange peaked in 1997 at us$19.5 billion (189 listed companies) and had fallen to us$9.56 billion in 2000 (126 listed companies). In 2001, total market valuation had risen to us$13.2 billion with 123 listed companies, but turnover was at a record low of 3.2%.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

In 1974, President Alfonso López outlined to Congress a long-range development plan with a major objective of achieving maximum growth while raising the living standards of the poorer half of the population. Efforts were to be concentrated in four main areas: exports, agriculture, regional development, and industry. An economic program published in 1980 during the administration of President Julio César Turbay, listed investment in energy, economic decentralization, regional autonomy, improvements in communications and transportation, mining development, and social improvement as its principal aims. A national development plan for the years 1981–84 provided for acceleration of public works. In 1982, during the Belisario Betancur presidency, economic emergencies were declared so that decrees to revise banking and fiscal policies could be issued without the need of congressional approval. The Virgilio Barco administration formulated an economic program similar to that proposed in 1974 by López, whose objectives were to attack unemployment and poverty while encouraging growth.

In 1990, President Cesar Gaviria instituted a national system of economic liberalization known as apertura, or opening. The system called for greatly increased international investment, a lowering of trade barriers, and massive state sell-offs. These began in earnest in the early 1990s as the government sold off seaports, airports, power plants, telecommunications networks, banks—even roads. In addition to these measures, the government aggressively pursued the creation of regional trading blocs and became a major voice in support of a hemispheric free trade area. Colombia became a member of Latin American Integration Association (LAIA), a bilateral free-trade pact with Chile and the G-3.

Liberalizations secured Colombia as a reliable regional market. The country saw positive growth every year for over two decades and was one of the only Latin American countries not to default on its international loans during the 1980s. Impeding further development are domestic political scandals, poor infrastructure, and narco-terrorism. In 1998, growth slowed, and even turned negative in 1999.

A us$2.7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan in 1999 was needed in order to save the shrinking economy, which improved from the inflow and austerity measures during the next year. In 2000, the US government gave us$1.3 billion in aid to Colombia's government and army, chiefly to help the war against drugs, but guerrilla armies continued to operate in at least two-fifths of the country.

President Uribe, elected in 2002, pledged to restore order to the country and to increase security measures. He planned to raise defense spending from 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 5.8% by the end of his term in 2006, and the government in 2003 was training 10,000 new police and 16,000 part-time "peasant soldiers" to secure close to 200 towns previously lacking police. US troops were also enlisted to guard Colombia's main oil pipeline. Uribe employed crop-dusting aircraft supplied by the United States, which in 2002 resulted in a 30% fall in coca cultivation. The government in 2003 also pledged to raise social spending, and depended on lending from international bodies such as the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, and Andean Development Corporation to augment the lack of sufficient revenue. In exchange for the assistance, the government was planning to implement structural reforms, such as pension and labor reforms to cut costs, and other spending cuts to reduce the deficit. In January 2003, Colombia negotiated a two-year, us$2.1-billion Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF.

Though Colombia has been embroiled in armed conflict, the economy has managed to take a turn for the better, possibly due to export promotion and government budgets designed to decrease public debt. Business confidence in Colombia has increased due to Uribe's economic and democratic strengthening. Also, Colombian coffee has been earning greater market shares in developed countries, raising the price of the prized export. Furthermore, from 2002 to 2005, unemployment dropped slightly—from 15.7% in 2002 to 15.2% in July 2005, as reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit. The CIA had slightly more optimistic predictions for Colombia's 2005 unemployment, at 11.8%. However, unemployment, along with pension reform and the need to increase oil production, continued to be challenges to be faced by President Uribe. Yet, as of 2005, Uribe was praised by various international financial institutions for the benefits that had come of the administration's economic policies. In addition to unemployment, the inflation rate was also on the decline—a rate that previously had persisted at a near 20% throughout the 1990s (with the exception of the recessionary years of 1998–99, when inflation was less than 10%). In 2002, inflation dropped further due to weak domestic demand. Throughout the increase in economic growth in 2003–05, inflation still remained consistently low—near 5%—due to the strengthening currency.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Social security coverage extends to all employees with the exception of some agricultural workers. Coverage is voluntary for the self-employed. Both employers and employees contribute to the program, while the government guarantees a minimum pension. All private-sector employees are covered by unemployment, and there is voluntary coverage for public workers. A worker's compensation program is funded fully by employers and provides benefits in proportion to the degree of incapacity. Employers also fund the family allowance benefits available to low income families.

The law provides women with extensive civil rights and prohibits any form of discrimination against women. However, there is still discrimination against women, especially in rural areas. They earn less than men for doing similar work, and occupy few of the top positions in government. Sexual harassment is pervasive. Rape and other acts of violence against women are widespread, and traditionally the law has not provided strict penalties for offenders. Trafficking in women for sexual exploitation continues to be a major problem.

Urban Colombia, and especially Bogotá, has acquired a reputation for street crime: pickpockets and thieves are a common problem. Drug trafficking flourishes on a large scale, despite government efforts to suppress cocaine smuggling and to eradicate the coca and marijuana crops. Kidnapping, both for political reasons and for profit, is widespread.

Human rights excesses by security forces continue with reports of extrajudicial killings and disappearances. Human rights abuses are committed by many groups, including guerrillas, narcotics traffickers, paramilitary groups and the military. Prison conditions are harsh, but international monitoring of conditions is allowed by the government. The constitution provides for special rights and protection for Colombia's many indigenous minorities, but these are not always respected in practice.

HEALTH

Health standards have improved greatly since the 1950s, but malaria is still prevalent in areas up to 1,100 m (3,500 ft) in altitude. In the mid-1990s, malaria was at epidemic numbers with nearly 130,000 cases reported. Many Colombians suffered from intestinal parasites. Malnutrition, formerly a very serious problem, with nutritional goiter, anemia, scurvy, and pellagra frequent, had become less severe by the early 1980s, when the per capita calorie supply was estimated at 102% of requirements. As of 2000, an estimated 15% of children under five years old were considered to be malnourished. In 2000, 91% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 85% had adequate sanitation. In 1990, the government began an initiative to improve the national health system at every level. Health care provisions (doctors and beds) do not compare favorably with other countries of the region. As of 1999, total health care expenditure was estimated at 9.4% of GDP.

In 1993, Colombia departed from its older health care system to one of payment by capitation and structured competition among integrated health care service delivery systems; 5 million people in the poorest groups, previously excluded from the medical system, were given access to health services. Approximately 87% of the population had access to health care services. As of 2004, Colombia had an estimated 135 physicians, 237 nurses and 78 dentists per 100,000 people.

Average life expectancy in 2005 was 71.72 years. The infant mortality rate decreased from 99.8 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.97 in 2005. As of 2002, there were an estimated 22 births per 1,000, with 77% of married women (ages 15 to 49) using contraception in 2000. In 1999, children up to one year of age were immunized against the following: diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus, 74%, and measles, 74%. Colombia's estimated death rate as of 2002 was 5.66 per 1,000 inhabitants. Between 1986 and 1992, there were approximately 22,000 civil war-related deaths.

The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.70 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 190,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 3,600 deaths from AIDS in 2003.

The disease is mostly spread by sexual activity. The first case of perinatal transmission occurred in 1987 and there have been 195 cases reported since then.

HOUSING

Colombia's housing shortage is largely a result of the rapid growth of the urban population. With the annual urban population growth rate at over 5%, the housing deficit was estimated to be around 800,000 units in the early 1980s and is expanding annually. Total housing units numbered approximately seven million in the mid-1990s. About 6,923,945 units were privately owned. About 81% of privately owned units were detached homes; about 13% were apartments, and the remainder were mobile units, natural shelters, and nonresidential housing. Roughly 70% were owner-occupied, and 25% were rented. Three-fourths of all dwellings were made of bricks, adobe, mud or stone; nearly 15% had external walls of wattle or daub; 7% were wood; and 3% were mostly cane.

In 2005, Habitat for Humanity reported that about 11.5 million homes are still without basic necessities. About 40% of these homes are overcrowded and of inadequate structures. The housing deficit is at about 900,000 and growing. In rural areas, poverty-stricken residents often construct their own tin huts called cambuches. Rural housing problems in Colombia are dealt with primarily by the Credit Bank for Agriculture, Industry, and Mining, and by the Colombian Institute of Agrarian Reform.

Public resources are channeled into urban housing through the Central Mortgage Bank, whose mortgages, because of interest rates, down-payment requirements, and repayment terms, have usually been accessible only to upper-middle-income groups; and the savings and loan corporations, whose interest rates are pegged to inflation through daily monetary correction factors known as units of constant purchasing power value (UPACs). In addition, through AID, substantial private funds from US investors have been used for various housing programs.

EDUCATION

The constitution provides that public education shall not conflict with the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church; courses in the Roman Catholic religion are compulsory, and the Church is in virtual control of the public schools. Private schools have freedom of instruction, and there are a number of Protestant schools, principally in Bogotá. The national government supports secondary as well as university education and maintains a number of primary schools throughout the country.

Education is free and compulsory for nine years, beginning with one year of preschool starting at age five or six. Primary school covers five years of study and is followed by four years of basic secondary school. For their remaining two years of secondary school, students may choose a general course of studies or a technical school program. The government has established two basic programs for improving secondary education—the integration of practical training into high-school academic curricula and the training of agricultural experts at the secondary level—so that students who do not go on to college are prepared to receive further technical training or to earn a living. The National Apprenticeship Service offers technical and vocational training in fields that contribute to national development; the program is financed by compulsory contributions from private enterprises and employees.

In 2001, about 36% of children between the ages of three and five were enrolled in some type of preschool program. Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 87% of age-eligible students. The same year, secondary school enrollment was about 55% of age-eligible students. Dropout rates are high at the primary level, particularly in rural areas, where the students frequently live at considerable distances from their schools. Almost all secondary schools are in the larger cities; thus, little educational opportunity is open to rural children, except those reached by educational radio and television broadcasting. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 27:1 in 2003. The ratio for secondary school was about 21:1.

By law, Colombia must spend at least 10% of its annual budget on education. Financing and supervision of public education is the joint responsibility of the Ministry of Education, the departments, and the municipalities. Secondary and technical education and universities are administered by the Ministry of Education. The central government also pays teachers' salaries. As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 5.2% of GDP, or 15.6% of total government expenditures.

The National University in Bogotá, founded in 1572, is one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Other important universities include the Universidad Javeriana (founded 1622), which is operated by the Jesuits; the Universidad de los Andes, a private institution based on a US model; and the Universidad Libre, a private university with active liberal leanings. In 1964, the Colombian Overseas Technical Specialization Institute (ICETEX) was formed to coordinate scholarship and fellowship funds for Colombians wishing to study abroad. Graduates of foreign schools who return to Colombia reimburse ICETEX from their subsequent earnings. In 2003, about 24% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 94.2%.

LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS

The National Library, founded in 1777 in Bogotá, has over 800,000 volumes. It also acts as a public library, maintaining a small circulating collection and a children's room, and serves as a depository library of the United Nations. The cities have municipal libraries and the towns have village libraries, which are under the control of the Colombian Institute of Culture. There are two valuable private libraries in Bogotá, established by Dr. Luis Agusto Cuervo and Dr. Antonio Gómez Restrepo, respectively; each contains about 50,000 volumes. The Bank of the Republic maintains the Luis Angel Arango Library, an important cultural center holding some 400,000 volumes. The library of the National University in Bogotá has approximately 230,000 volumes. The University of the Andes in Bogotá has 210,000 volumes. The Library of Congress holds 140,000 volumes. There are over 1,000 local branches of the public library.

The most notable of Bogotá's museums are the National Museum, which concentrates on history and art since the Spanish conquest, the founding of Bogotá, and the colonial period; the National Archaeological Museum, which exhibits indigenous ceramics, stone carvings, gold objects, and textiles; the Museum of Colonial Art, formerly part of the National University, which specializes in art of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries; and the Gold Museum, located in the Bank of the Republic. There are more than 50 provincial museums, including many archeological and anthropological sites.

MEDIA

Telephone and telegraph networks link all provincial capitals and connect these centers with surrounding rural areas. Each local system is independent; most are municipally owned, but a few are in private hands. Long-distance service is provided by the national government and is based on an agreement among local and departmental systems. In the early 1980s, the National Telecommunications Enterprise (TELECOM) had one of the largest automatic telephone service networks in Latin America. Its high-capacity microwave system connected the 40 largest cities in the country. Colombia launched its own communications satellite in 1985. In 2003, there were an estimated 179 mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; nearly one million people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 141 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.

Most of the nation's 498 (463 AM, 35 FM) radio stations are privately owned. In 1997 there were 60 television stations. Color television was introduced in 1979. Radiodifusora Nacional de Colombia is the government owned radio station. Intravision is a government-owned television station that operates two commercial and one educational station. Caracol is a prominent private commercial station for both television and radio. In 2003, there were an estimated 548 radios and 319 television sets for every 1,000 people. The same year, there were 49.3 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 53 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were 159 secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.

Almost every town publishes at least one daily newspaper. The press varies from the irregular, hand-printed newspapers of the small towns of the interior to such national dailies as El Tiempo, one of the most influential newspapers of the Spanish-speaking world. The leading newspapers in Bogotá, with their political orientation are El Tiempo, liberal; El Espacio, liberal; and El Nuevo Siglo, conservative. La Republica in Bogotá reported a 2004 circulation of 55,000. In Cali, the leading newspapers are El País, conservative, 60,000 circulation in 2004 and Occidente, conservative, 25,000. In Medellín, the conservative El Colombiano had a 2004 circulation of 90,000. The same year, the Barranquilla El Heraldo (liberal) had a circulation of 70,000. and the Bucaramanga El Vanguardia liberal had a circulation of 48,000.

In general, the authorities are said to respect free speech and free press; most media are able to resist pressure from the government concerning sensitive issues, though censorship has been exercised occasionally in times of national emergency, and journalists exercise some self-censorship.

ORGANIZATIONS

The National Federation of Coffee Growers, organized in 1927, is a semiofficial organization partly supported by tax revenue. The organization carries great weight as the representative of Colombia's leading industry, and its influence is felt in many spheres. Other trade associations include the National Association of Manufacturers, the People's Association of Small Industrialists of Colombia, and chambers of commerce in the larger cities. The Bank Association is an association of both national and foreign banks in Colombia. The Colombian Livestock Association, the National Federation of Cotton Growers, and the National Association of Sugar Growers serve their respective industries. Most farmers belong to the Agricultural Society of Colombia.

Learned societies include the Academy of History, the Colombian Academy of Language, the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences, the Academy of Medicine, the Colombian Academy of Jurisprudence, the Colombian Geographical Society, the Colombian Institute of Anthropology, and a number of regional bodies. The National Association of Colombian Writers and Artists includes most of the country's writers, painters, sculptors, and composers. Journalists have national and local organizations.

There are a number of youth organizations, some of which are affiliated with political or religious groups. Scouting programs are active throughout the country as are organizations of the YMCA and YWCA. A wide variety of sports organizations are active in the country.

In 2004, there were over 60,000 human rights and civil society nongovernmental organizations in the country. The Center for Popular Research and Education, sponsored by the Jesuits, is a prominent human rights organization. Others include the Colombian Commission of Jurists and the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective. There are national chapters of the Red Cross, UNICEF, and Habitat for Humanity.

TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION

Colombia has mountains, jungles, modern and colonial cities, and resorts on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, all of which the Colombian Government Tourist Office (CORTURISMO) has aggressively promoted.

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport, followed by basketball, baseball, boxing, and cockfighting; there are also facilities for golf, tennis, and horseback riding, and bullrings in the major cities. Visas are not required, but all visitors need a valid passport and an onward/return ticket for entry.

The tourist industry in Colombia developed greatly in the late 1970s but declined in the 1980s. Spurred by the government's economic liberalization program, earnings from tourism rose from us$755 million in 1993 to us$955 million in 1997. In 2003, about 625,000 tourists arrived in the country and tourism receipts reached us$1.1 billion. There were 54,820 hotel rooms with 109,940 beds and an occupancy rate of 50%.

In 2005, the US Department of State estimated the cost of staying in Cartagena at us$234 per day; in Bogotá, us$184; in Cali, us$186; and in Medellín, us$160.

FAMOUS COLOMBIANS

Outstanding political and military figures in Colombian history include Francisco de Paula Santander (1792–1840), who served as a general in the war of independence and was the first president of independent Colombia, and José María Córdoba (1800?–1830), a brilliant young soldier of the war of independence, who was made a general at 22 by Simón Bolívar.

Colombia, famous for its literary figures, has produced three outstanding novelists widely read outside the country: Jorge Isaacs (1837–95), whose most famous work, María, is a novel in the Romantic tradition; José Eustacio Rivera (1880–1929), whose outstanding novel, La Vorágine (The Vortex), written after World War I, is a drama of social rebellion; and Gabriel García Márquez (b.1928), a Nobel Prize winner in 1982, who is best known for Cien años de soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude ). Colombia has had a number of noteworthy poets. The 19th-century Romantic school included Julio Arboleda (1814–92), José Eusebio Caro (1817–53), Gregorio Guitiérrez Gonzales (1826–72), and Rafael Pombo (1834–1912). Caro, who was influenced by the English poets, is generally rated as the most important Colombian Romantic. José Asunción Silva (1865–96) is regarded as the father of Latin American symbolism; his Nocturnos are among the finest poems in the Spanish language. Guillermo Valencia (1873–1945), the author of Anarkos, was a polished poet of the classical school, and León de Greiff (1895–1976) was a well-known poet. Miguel Antonio Caro (1843–1909) and Rufino José Cuervo (1844–1911) were philologists and humanists of great erudition who influenced scholars and students in the 19th century. The Instituto Caro y Cuervo in Bogotá is devoted to the study and publication of their works. Well-known literary critics include Baldomero Sanín-Cano (1861–1957) and Antonio Gómez-Restrepo (1868–1951).

Colombia's most notable painter was Gregorio Vázquez Arce y Ceballos (1638–1711), whose drawing and coloring have been compared to the work of the Spanish painter Murillo. Fernando Botero (b.1932) is a contemporary painter and sculptor whose human and animal subjects are known for their corpulence and exaggerated proportions. Francisco José de Caldas (1770–1816) was a brilliant botanist who discovered a system for determining altitude by the variation in the boiling point of water and began the scientific literature of the country. Guillermo Uribe-Holguín (1880–1971) and José Rozo Contreras (1894–1976) are noted composers. The works of historian Germán Arciniegas (1900–99) are well known to the English-speaking world through translation.

DEPENDENCIES

The archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia, administered as an intendancy, is located 729 km (453 mi) from the Caribbean coast northwest of Cartagena and about 190 km (118 mi) off the Nicaraguan coast. Grouped roughly around the intersection of longitude 82° w and latitude 12° n, the archipelago consists of the islands of San Andrés and Providencia and 13 small keys. The population is mostly black. Both English and Spanish are spoken. The principal towns are San Andrés, San Luis, and Loma Alta on the island of San Andrés and Old Town on Providencia.

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