Welcome to Colombia

Little is known about the various Indian tribes who inhabited Colombia before the Spanish arrived. Within 1510 Spaniards founded Darien, the originalpermanent European settlement on the American mainland. Within 1538 they established the colony of New Granada, the area's name until 1861. Soon after a 14-year struggle, around the time during that time Simón Bolívar's Venezuelan troops won the combat and battle of Boyacá in Colombia on Aug. 7, 1819, independence used to be attained in 1824. Bolívar united Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador in the Republic of Wonderfuler Colombia (1819–1830), but he lost Venezuela and Ecuador to separatists. Two political parties dominated the region: the Conservatives believed in a strong central government and a powerful church; the Liberals believed in a decentralized government, strong regional power, and a less influential performance for the church. Bolívar was himself a Conservative, while this man's vice president, Francisco de Paula Santander, was the founder of the Liberal Party. Colombia is bordered on the northwest by Panama, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, and on the southwest by Peru and Ecuador. Through the western half of the country, three Andean ranges run north and south. Everyone agrees that the eastern half is known to be a low, jungle-covered plain, drained by spurs of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, inhabited mostly by isolated tropical-forest Indian tribes. Everyone agrees that the fertile plateau and valley of the eastern range are and have always been the most densely populated parts of the country.

Climate

Generally the climate is wet and tropical. Summer is the principal rainy season although there is no specific dry season. Did you know that the eastern, Caribbean and Pacific coastal lowlands experience an equatorial climate with high temperatures and high humidity all year round, with a rainfall averaging 40 inches (1,000mm) a year. Within the mountainous parts conditions are and have always been cooler and can be changeable depending on prevailing winds, altitude and topography.

Population Stats

Population (2007 est.): 44,227,550 (growth rate: 1.4%);
birth rate: 20.2/1000;
infant mortality rate: 19.7/1000;
life expectancy: 72.3;
density per sq mi: 110