Colombia Country Handbook This Handbook Provides Basic Reference
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Colombia Country Handbook This handbook provides basic reference information on Colombia including its geography, history, government, military forces, and communications and trans- portation networks. This information is intended to familiarize military per sonnel with local customs and area knowledge to assist them during their assignment to Colombia. The Marine Corps Intel ligence Activity is the community coordinator for the Country Hand book Program. This product reflects the coordinated U.S. Defense Intelligence Community position on Colombia. Dissemination and use of this publication is restricted to official military and gov- ernment personnel from the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, NATO member countries, and other countries as required and desig- nated for support of coalition operations. The photos and text reproduced herein have been extracted solely for research, comment, and information reporting, and are intended for fair use by designated personnel in their official duties, including local reproduction for training. Further dissemination of copyrighted material contained in this document, to include ex- cerpts and graphics, is strictly prohibited under Title 17, U.S. Code. CONTENTS KEY FACTS .................................................................... 1 U.S. MISSION ................................................................. 2 U.S. Embassy .............................................................. 2 Travel Advisories ....................................................... 2 Entry Requirements .................................................... 6 Passport/Visa Requirements ................................. 6 Immunization Requirements .................................. 6 Customs Restrictions ............................................. 7 Credit Cards/Banking ............................................ 7 GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE ..................................... 8 Geography ................................................................... 8 Land Statistics ....................................................... 8 Border Disputes ..................................................... 9 Bodies of Water ...................................................... 9 Topography ........................................................... 13 Climate ....................................................................... 16 Temperature .......................................................... 16 Precipitation ........................................................... 19 Phenomena ............................................................. 19 Environment ........................................................... 20 Cross Country Movement ...................................... 22 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION .......... 23 Transportation ............................................................. 23 Roads ..................................................................... 23 Transmilenio .......................................................... 25 Rail ......................................................................... 26 iii Contents (Continued) Air .......................................................................... 27 Primary Airports ............................................... 28 Maritime ............................................................... 29 Primary Ports .................................................... 31 Communication ........................................................... 31 Radio and Television .............................................. 31 Telecommunication ................................................ 33 Internet ................................................................... 34 Newspapers and Magazines ................................... 34 Leading Spanish Publications ........................... 34 Postal Service ......................................................... 35 Satellites ................................................................. 35 CULTURE ...................................................................... 36 Population Patterns ..................................................... 38 Ethnic Density ...................................................... 40 Society .................................................................. 40 People ......................................................................... 42 Ethnic Groups ........................................................ 43 Mestizos ............................................................ 43 European .......................................................... 44 Africans ............................................................ 44 Tribal Groups .................................................... 45 Family ................................................................... 47 Roles of Men and Women ............................... 48 Rites of Passage ............................................... 49 Education and Literacy ............................................... 49 Language ..................................................................... 51 Religion ....................................................................... 52 Recreation ................................................................... 54 Customs and Courtesies .............................................. 55 iv Contents (Continued) Greetings ................................................................ 55 Gestures ................................................................. 56 Cultural Considerations ......................................... 57 Dress ..................................................................... 58 Food ....................................................................... 59 Interpersonal Relations .......................................... 62 MEDICAL ASSESSMENT ............................................. 63 Disease Risks to Deployed Personnel ......................... 63 Food- and Waterborne Diseases ............................. 63 Vector-borne Diseases ............................................ 64 Water-contact Diseases .......................................... 64 Sexually Transmitted Diseases .............................. 64 Respiratory Diseases .............................................. 65 Animal-associated Diseases ................................... 65 Civilian Health Care ................................................... 66 Organizational Effectiveness ................................. 66 Social Factors ......................................................... 66 Medical Personnel Capability ................................ 67 Quality of Medical Treatment Facilities ................ 67 Medical Equipment ................................................ 67 Military Health Care ................................................... 68 Medical Personnel Capability ................................ 68 Quality of Medical Treatment Facilities ................ 68 Disaster and Emergency Response Capability ........... 69 Casualty Handling ................................................. 69 Key Medical Facilities ................................................ 70 Centro Medico (Clinica) Santa Fe ......................... 70 Clinica de Marly .................................................... 70 University Hospital ................................................ 71 Hospital Departmental Universitario de Cartagena 71 v Contents (Continued) Hospital Naval De Cartagena ................................ 72 Clinica Medellin S. A. Sede Centro ....................... 72 Central Military Hospital ....................................... 73 HISTORY ........................................................................ 73 Early History ............................................................... 73 Recent History ............................................................ 79 Chronology ................................................................. 80 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS .................................. 81 Government ................................................................. 81 National Level ........................................................ 82 Executive Branch .............................................. 82 Legislative Branch ........................................... 82 Judicial Branch ................................................ 82 Local Level ............................................................ 83 Politics ....................................................................... 85 Political Parties ...................................................... 85 Leading Political Parties ................................... 85 Foreign Relations ................................................... 86 Brazil ................................................................ 87 Ecuador ............................................................ 87 Panama .............................................................. 87 Peru ................................................................... 88 Venezuela ......................................................... 88 European Union ................................................ 88 United States ..................................................... 88 International Organizations .................................... 89 ECONOMY ..................................................................... 90 Statistics (2005) .......................................................... 90 Resources ...................................................................