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Colombia - Land of the Flowers

Colombia (pron.: /kəˈlʌmbiə/ kə-LUM-biə, or /kəˈlɒmbiə/ kə-LOM-biə), formally the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia), is an unitary lawful republic involving thirty-two divisions. The nation is placed in northwestern South America, flanked to the northwest by Panama; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia is the 26th greatest nation by region and the fourth greatest in South America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru. With over 46 million individuals, Colombia is the 27th greatest nation in the planet by inhabitant total and has the second greatest citizenry of any Spanish-talking nation in the planet, after Mexico. Colombia is a center force, and is the fourth greatest economy in Latin America, and the third greatest in South America. The handling of espresso, blossoms, emeralds, coal, and oil shape the essential division of Colombia's economy. The planet's third grandest bank HSBC has made a viewpoint on the investment viewpoint in 2050 where Colombia is perceived playing a conclusive part in the worldwide economy, specifically in the Americas, as the 25th-greatest planet economy by GDP.

The domain of what is presently Colombia was basically occupied by indigenous individuals incorporating the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish landed in 1499 and launched a time of triumph and colonization when its all said and done making the Viceroyalty of New Granada (including cutting edge Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, north-western Brazil and Panama), with it capital at Bogotá. Independence from Spain was won in 1819, however by 1830 "Gran Colombia" had caved in with the severance of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is currently Colombia and Panama rose as the Republic of New Granada. The new country tried different things with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and afterward the United States of Colombia (1863), when the Republic of Colombia was at last announced in 1886. Panama withdrew in 1903. Colombia was the first sacred administration in South America, and a critical promoter of the Pan American conglomerations, at first with the Congress of Panama and later as originator of the Organization of American States. The Liberal and Conservative gatherings, organized in 1848 and 1849, are two of the most seasoned surviving political gatherings in the Americas.



Colombia is ethnically various. The communication between relatives of the definitive local occupants, Spanish homesteaders, African individuals basically carried to the nation as slaves and 20th-century migrants from Europe and the Middle East, have prepared a changed social heritage. This has moreover been affected by Colombia's shifted topography. The larger piece of the pie of the urban centres are placed in the high countries of the Andes mountains, however Colombian region likewise includes Amazon rainforest, tropical field and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Naturally, Colombia is one of the planet's 17 megadiverse nations, and is acknowledged the most megadiverse for every square kilometer.

Tensions between political gatherings have oftentimes ejected into brutality, overwhelmingly prominently in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia, starting in 1948. Since the 1960s, legislature strengths, left-wing extremists and conservative paramilitaries have been occupied with the landmass' longest-running outfitted conflict. Fueled by the cocaine exchange, this heightened incredibly in the 1980s. Since 2010 the savagery has diminished, with some paramilitary gatherings demobilising as a component of a disputable peace process and the guerrillas losing control of a significant part of the region they once dominated.

Colombia is acknowledged a solid entertainer of the EPI (Environmental Performance Indicator) arrangements, standing second right around every bit of the Latin American nations, right after Costa Rica, and the 27th recognizing every one of the nations included in the rank. 
 
Geography

 

The topography of Colombia is portrayed by it five principle characteristic areas that exhibit their particular one of a kind qualities, from the Andes mountain range district imparted to Ecuador and Venezuela; the Pacific seaside district imparted to Panama and Ecuador; the Caribbean beachfront district imparted to Venezuela and Panama; the Llanos (fields) imparted to Venezuela; to the Amazon Rainforest locale imparted to Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Colombia is the nation in the planet more described by a heightened biodiversity, with the most elevated rate of species by range unit worldwide and it has the greatest number of endemisms (species that are not discovered regularly anyplace else) of any nation. About 10% of the species of the Earth exist in Colombia, incorporating over 1800 species of winged creatures, more than in Europe and North America joined, and it accommodates 456 species of vertebrates, more than whatever possible nation in the planet. It is the sole South American nation which outskirts both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Colombia is circumscribed to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by Panama and the Caribbean Sea; and to the west by Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean. Incorporating it Caribbean islands, it lies between scopes 14°N and 5°S, and longitudes 66° and 82°W

Part of the Ring of Fire, a district of the planet subject to quakes and volcanic emissions, Colombia is ruled by the Andes (which hold the larger part of the nation's urban centres). Past the Colombian Massif (in the south-western branches of Cauca and Nariño) the aforementioned are isolated into several extensions reputed to be cordilleras (mountain ranges): the Cordillera Occidental, running nearby the Pacific coast and incorporating the city of Cali; the Cordillera Central, running between the Cauca and Magdalena stream valleys (to the west and east separately) and incorporating the urban areas of Medellín, Manizales, Pereira and Armenia; and the Cordillera Oriental, enlarging north east to the Guajira Peninsula and incorporating Bogotá, Bucaramanga and Cúcuta. Tops in the Cordillera Occidental surpass 13,000 ft (3,962 m), and in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental they arrive at 18,000 ft (5,486 m). At 8,500 ft (2,591 m), Bogotá is the most elevated city of it size in the planet.

East of the Andes falsehoods the savanna of the Llanos, part of the Orinoco River pan, and, in the far south east, the wilderness of the Amazon rainforest. As one unit these swamps contain over half Colombia's region, however they hold less than 3% of the citizenry. To the north the Caribbean coast, home to 20% of the people and the area of the major port urban areas of Barranquilla and Cartagena, for the most part comprises of flat-lying fields, yet it additionally holds the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, which incorporates the nation's tallest tops (Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar), and the Guajira Desert. By complexity the tight and spasmodic Pacific beachfront marshes, supported by the Serranía de Baudó mountains, are meagerly populated and secured in thick vegetation. The chief Pacific port is Buenaventura.

Colombian region additionally incorporates various Caribbean and Pacific islands. This is recognized by certain as a sixth area, containing the previously mentioned ranges outside mainland Colombia, incorporating the bureau of San Andrés y Providencia in the Caribbean Sea and the islands of Malpelo and Gorgona in the Pacific Ocean. Then again, social ties are with the particular coastlines.  
 
Climate

 

The striking mixed bag in temperature and precipitation comes about essentially from contrasts in height. Temperatures extend from extremely blazing at ocean level to comparatively chilly at higher rises however differ small with the time of year. Temperatures usually diminish about 3.5°F (2°C) for each 1,000-ft (300-m) build in elevation above ocean level, introducing interminable cold crests to smoking stream valleys and sinks. Precipitation is gathered in two wet flavors (harshly comparing to the spring and pre-winter of temperate scopes) however fluctuates significantly by area. Colombia's Pacific coast has one of the largest amounts of precipitation in the planet, with the south east regularly soaked by more than 200 in (500 cm) of downpour for every year. Moreover precipitation in parts of the Guajira Peninsula sometimes surpasses 30 in (75 cm) for every year. Precipitation in the last remainder of the nation runs between the aforementioned two extremes.

Colombians usually portray their nation as far as the climatic zones. Underneath 900 meters (2,953 ft) in rise is the tierra caliente (sweltering area), where temperatures differ between 24 and 38 °C (75.2 and 100.4 °F). The most profitable area and the larger part of the residents could be recognized in the tierra templada (temperate arrive, between 900 and 1,980 meters (2,953 and 6,496 ft)), which give the best conditions for the nation's cafe cultivators, and the tierra fría (icy land, 1,980 and 3,500 meters (6,496 and 11,483 ft)), where wheat and potatoes rule. In the tierra fría mean temperatures go between 10 and 19 °C (50 and 66.2 °F). Past the tierra fría lie the high states of the zona forestada (forested zone) then after that the treeless prairies of the páramos. Above 4,500 meters (14,764 ft), where temperatures are beneath cold, is the tierra helada, a zone of lasting snow and ice.

About 86% of the nation's sum territory lies in the tierra caliente. Incorporated in this, and intruding on the temperate zone of the Andean high countries, are the long and thin growth of the Magdalena Valley and a minor expansion in the Cauca Valley. The tierra fría constitutes just 6% of the sum territory, yet backs around a quarter of the nation's residents. 

Biodiversity

 

Colombia has an expansive number of taxonomic aggregations creatures and verdure average equator which is, notwithstanding assortments of relocations untamed life from around the world. Colombia is one of the megadiverse nations in biodiversity, standing third in living species and second in winged creature species. As for plants, the nation has between 40 000 and 45 000 species s plant, comparable to 10 or 20% of aggregate worldwide species, thought about exceptionally elevated for a nation of middle size. In aggregate, Colombia is the second most biodiverse nation in the planet, after Brazil.

The national winged animal is the Andean Condor (which could be perceived on the shield) Orchid Cattleya trianae is the national blossom of Colombia and the Quindio wax palm is the national tree.

Colombia has a "National Protected Areas System" (SINAP) managed by the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development. It moreover has a "National Park System", under the Directorate of National Parks, at the finish of 2007, containing over 11% of the terrain and has 55 secured territories, which testify to the extravagance and biodiversity of the nation and are in the Andean Region, 25 (in the Knot Pasture, 2, in the Cordillera Occidental, 4, in Central, 6, and the East, 13), in the Caribbean Region, 9, in the Orinoco, 2, in the Amazon, 10, on the Pacific Coast, 5, and irrevocably, in the Islands, 3. The zones are ordered as: National Parks (41) Fauna and Flora Sanctuary (10), National Reserves (2) Via Park (1) and Unique Natural Area (1).

Tourism

 

For numerous years genuine inside equipped clash prevented travelers from going by Colombia, with official voyage advisories cautioning opposite set out to the nation. Notwithstanding, in later years numbers have climbed sharply, in light of upgrades in security coming about because of President Álvaro Uribe's "fair security" system, which has incorporated huge increments in military ability and police presence all through the nation and pushed agitator bunches further far from the major urban communities, expressways and traveler locales prone to pull in worldwide guests. Remote voyager visits were anticipated to have climbed from 0.5 million in 2003 to 1.3 million in 2007, while Lonely Planet picked Colombia as one of their top ten planet goals for 2006.

In November 2010 the U.S. State Department voyage cautioning for the nation stated that security conditions had upgraded essentially in later years and kidnappings had been perceptibly lessened from their past top, however advised voyagers in regards to proceeding terrorist threats and the dangers of regular wrongdoing, incorporating prisoner-taking. Climbing homicide rates in Medellín and Cartagena were additionally highlighted and U.S. nationals were urged to voyage between urban communities via air in place of utilizing ground transportation.

Prevalent vacation destinations incorporate the notable Candelaria region of centermost Bogotá, the walled city and beaches of Cartagena, the pilgrim towns of Santa Fe de Antioquia, Popayán, Villa de Leyva and Santa Cruz de Mompox, and the Las Lajas Sanctuary and the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. Travelers are moreover drawn to Colombia's various celebrations, incorporating Feria de Cali (Carnaval of Cali), the Barranquilla Carnival, the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto, Flower Fair in Medellín and the Ibero-American Theater Festival in Bogotá. In the interim, due to the enhanced security, Caribbean voyage ships now stop at Cartagena and Santa Marta.

The extraordinary assortment in topography, vegetation opposite Colombia has likewise brought about the improvement of an ecotourist industry, gathered in the nation's national parks. Notorious ecotourist goals incorporate: along the Caribbean coast, the Tayrona National Natural Park in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range and Cabo de la Vela on the tip of the Guajira Peninsula; the Nevado del Ruiz fountain of liquid magma, the Cocora valley and the Tatacoa Desert in the mid Andean locale, the Farallones de Cali National Natural Park, in the departament of Valle del Cauca; Amacayacu National Park in the Amazon River container; and the Pacific islands of Malpelo and Gorgona, there other one of a kind scenes similar to the waterway of the seven colors in Meta. Colombia is home to seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Demographics

 

With an expected 46 million individuals in 2008, Colombia is the third-most crowded nation in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. It is likewise home to the third-greatest number of Spanish speakers in the planet after Mexico and Spain. It is somewhat in advance of Argentina by well-nigh 6 million individuals. At the beginning of the 20th century, Colombia's residents was more or less 4 million. The citizenry expanded at a rate of 1.9% between 1975 and 2005, anticipated to drop to 1.2% over the following decade. Colombia is imagined to have an inhabitants present of 50.7 million by 2015. The aforementioned movements are reflected in the nation's age profile. In 2005 over 30% of the inhabitants present was under 15 years old, contrasted with just 5.1% experienced 65 and over.

The inhabitant total is amassed in the Andean good countries and along the Caribbean coast. The nine eastern swamp divisions, involving in regards to 54% of Colombia's territory, have less than 3% of the citizenry and a thickness of less than one individual for every square kilometer (two persons for every square mile). Customarily a provincial social norms, development to urban ranges was extremely considerable in the mid-20th century, and Colombia is presently a standout amongst the most urbanized nations in Latin America. The urban inhabitants present expanded from 31% of the sum in 1938 to 60% in 1975, and by 2005 the figure stood at 72.7%. The citizenry of Bogotá apart from everyone else has expanded from barely over 300,000 in 1938 to roughly 8 million today. In aggregate seventy one urban communities now have inhabitant numbers of 100,000 or more (2013). As of 2010 Colombia has the planet's greatest inhabitant numbers of inside dislodged persons (IDPs), assessed up to 4.5 million people.

More than 99.2% of Colombians talk the Spanish dialect, however a hundred Amerindian dialects ​​are talked in the country. The future is 74.79 years, child mortality of 15.92 for every thousand. 93,4 % Colombians can peruse and compose and uses about 7.3% of GDP to education. Colombia is stacked up the third in the planet in the Happy Planet Index. 
Religion

 

The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) does not gather religious statistics, and correct reports are demanding to get. Notwithstanding, taking into account different contemplates, more than 95% of the inhabitants present sticks to Christianity, the boundless greater part of which (between 81% and 90%) are Roman Catholic. About 1% of Colombians hold fast to indigenous religions and under 1% to Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Nonetheless, around 60% of respondents to a survey by El Tiempo reported that they did not drill their Catholic confidence actively.

Similar to whatever remains of Latin America, Colombia is seeing a constant increment of Protestant followers, the vast majority of them being changes over from Catholicism to Protestantism. Right away Protestants constitute between 10 to 13% of the Colombian population, While Colombia remains a chiefly Roman Catholic nation by baptismal numbers, the 1991 Colombian constitution ensures luxury and correspondence of religion. Religious aggregations are promptly equipped to acquire distinguishment as composed cooperations, even though some littler ones have confronted challenge in acquiring the supplemental distinguishment needed to award chaplaincy fixes out in the open offices and to perform legitimately distinguished marriages. Before the constitution ensured luxury of religion, Catholicism was the official states religion. After the 1991 constitution, there was a detachment between the Catholic Church and the state, in spite of the fact that the Catholic Church still keeps a concession position in Colombia.

Today opened the probability to an amazing differing qualities of acceptances, incorporating the movement of agnostics who made the first World Congress of agnostics in Bogota in the year 2001.

Education

 

The instructive encounter of numerous Colombian kids starts with participation at a preschool conservatory until age five (Educación preescolar). Essential training (Educación básica) is mandatory by law. It has two stages: Primary essential instruction (Educación básica primaria) which heads off from first to fifth grade – kids from six to ten years old, and Secondary fundamental instruction (Educación básica secundaria), which heads off from sixth to ninth grade. Essential training is accompanied by Middle vocational instruction (Educación media vocacional) that includes the tenth and eleventh grades. It might have distinctive vocational preparing modalities or distinguishing offerings (scholarly, specialized, business, et cetera.) consistent with the curriculum embraced by every school. In any case, in numerous open schools participation is part into morning and evening sessions to oblige the great various children.

After the auspicious finish of every last trace of the fundamental and center training years, a secondary-school certificate is granted. The secondary-school graduate is reputed to be a bachiller, on the grounds that optional essential school and center training are customarily recognized as one unit as an unit called bachillerato (sixth to eleventh grade). Understudies in their last year of center instruction take the ICFES test (now renamed Saber 11) to addition access to higher training (Educación prevalent). This higher instruction incorporates undergraduate expert studies, specialized, mechanical and middle master instruction, and post-graduate studies.

Bachilleres (secondary-school graduates) might take part in a pro undergraduate lifework project offered by a school; the aforementioned projects keep going up to five years (or less for specialized, innovative and moderate master instruction, and post-graduate concentrates on), even as much to six to seven years for certain lifeworks, for example prescription. In Colombia, there is not an organization for example school; people go straightforwardly into a vocation project at a college or whatever available instructive foundation to acquire a pro, specialized or mechanical title. Once moved on from the school, individuals are conceded a (master, specialized or mechanical) confirmation and authorized (if needed) to practice the vocation they have decided on. For some master profession systems, understudies are obliged to take the Saber-Pro test, in the past regarded as ECAES, in their last year of undergraduate scholastic education.

Open using on training as a size of gross household feature in 2006 was 4.7% – one of the most noteworthy rates in Latin America – as contrasted and 2.4% in 1991. This acted for 14.2% of aggregate legislature expenditure. In 2006, the essential and auxiliary net enlistment rates stood at 88% and 65% separately, marginally underneath the provincial normal. School-future was 12.4 years. what added up to 92.3% of the citizenry experienced 15 and more senior were recorded as educated, incorporating 97.9% of the aforementioned experienced 15–24, both figures somewhat higher than the local average.
 
Miss Colombia 2012:  


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