Ch. 10: Columbia Countries of the World Ch
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Ch. 10: Columbia Countries of the World Ch. 10: Columbia Contents Introduction 4 Tourism 12 Etymology 4 Transportation 13 Geography 5 Biofuels 14 Climate 5 Demographics 14 Environmental issues 5 Ethnic groups 14 History 6 Indigenous peoples 15 Pre-Colombian era 6 Immigrant groups 15 Spanish discovery, conquest, and colonization 6 The impact of armed conflict on civilians 15 Independence from Spain 6 Education 15 Post-independence and republicanism 7 Religion 16 Government 9 Health 16 Administrative divisions 10 Culture 17 Foreign affairs 10 Colombia in popular culture 18 Defense 10 Cuisine of Colombia 18 Politics 10 Economy 11 2 3 Countries of the World Ch. 10: Columbia parties in the Americas. However, tensions between the Geography every 1,000-ft (300-m) increase in altitude above sea level, Introduction two have frequently erupted into violence, most notably presenting perpetual snowy peaks to hot river valleys and in the Thousand Days War (1899–1902) and La Violencia, Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Colombia (pronounced /kələmbiə/), officially the basins. Rainfall is concentrated in two wet seasons (rough- beginning in 1948. Since the 1960s, government forces, Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia, ly corresponding to the spring and autumn of temperate left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have Panama and the Caribbean Sea; and to the west by the pronounced [repuβlika ðe kolombja]), is a constitutional latitudes) but varies considerably by location. Colombia’s been engaged in the continent’s longest-running armed Pacific Ocean. Colombia is the only country in South republic in northwestern South America. Colombia is Pacific coast has one of the highest levels of rainfall in the conflict. Fuelled by the cocaine trade, this escalated dra- America to touch both Atlantic and Pacific oceans. bordered to the east by Venezuela[7] and Brazil;[8] to the world, with the south east often drenched by more than matically in the 1980s. However, the insurgents lack the south by Ecuador and Peru;[9] to the north by the Carib- Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of the world 200 in (510 cm) of rain per year. On the other hand rain- military or popular support necessary to overthrow the bean Sea; to the northwest by Panama; and to the west by subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, Colom- fall in parts of the Guajira Peninsula seldom exceeds 30 in government, and in the recent decade (2000s) the violence the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders bia is dominated by the Andes mountains. Beyond the (76 cm) per year. Rainfall in the rest of the country runs has decreased significantly as a result of accurate politi- with Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Colombian Massif (in the south-western departments of between these two extremes. cal leadership, increased international investments and a Nicaragua and Costa Rica.[10][11] With a population of Cauca and Nariño) these are divided into three branches The hot and humid Colombian Pacific coast, one of considerable raise in military funding (also called demo- known as cordilleras (from the Spanish for “rope”): the the rainiest regions in the world. nearly 45 million people, Colombia has the 29th largest cratic security policy) created to fortify military presence Cordillera Occidental, running adjacent to the Pacific population in the world and the second largest in South and intelligence in the rural Colombia. Many paramilitary Altitude not only affects temperature but is also one of coast and including the city of Cali; the Cordillera Central, America, after Brazil. Colombia has the third largest Span- groups have demobilized as part of a controversial peace the most important influences on vegetation patterns. The running between the Cauca and Magdalena river valleys ish-speaking population in the world after Mexico and process with the government, and the guerrillas have mountainous parts of the country can be divided into sev- (to the west and east respectively) and including the cities Spain. lost control in many areas where they once dominated.[2] eral vegetation zones according to altitude, although the of Medellín, Manizales , Pereira and Armenia, Quindío ; The territory of what is now Colombia was originally Meanwhile Colombia’s homicide rate, for many years one altitude limits of each zone may vary somewhat depending and the Cordillera Oriental, extending north east to the inhabited by indigenous nations including the Muisca, of the highest in Latin America, has almost halved since on the latitude. Below 3,300 ft (1,000 m) are the tropical [13] Guajira Peninsula and including Bogotá, Bucaramanga Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and 2002. crops of the tierra caliente (hot land). The most produc- and Cúcuta. Peaks in the Cordillera Occidental exceed initiated a period of conquest and colonization killing or [14] tive land and the majority of the population can be found Colombia is a standing middle power with the 13,000 ft (4,000 m), and in the Cordillera Central and taking as slaves almost 90% of that native population, and in the tierra templada (temperate land, 3,300-6,600 ft or fourth largest economy in South America and a major Cordillera Oriental they reach 18,000 ft (5,500 m).[17] At then creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada (comprising 1,000-2,000 m), which provide the best conditions for the impact of poverty. It is very ethnically diverse, and the 8,500 ft (2,600 m), Bogotá is the highest city of its size in modern-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, the northwest interaction between descendants of the original native country’s coffee growers, and the tierra fría (cold land, [12] the world. region of Brazil and Panama) with its capital in Bogotá. inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans brought as slaves 6,600–10,500 ft/2,000–3,200 m), where wheat and potatoes Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the East of the Andes lies the savanna of the Llanos, part dominate. Beyond this lie the alpine conditions of the zona “Gran Colombia” had collapsed with the secession of Ven- Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has of the Orinoco River basin, and, in the far south east, the forestada (forested zone), 10,500–12,800 ft/3,200–3,900 m) ezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama also been influenced by Colombia’s varied geography. The jungle of the Amazon rainforest. Together these lowlands and then the treeless grasslands of the páramos (12,800– emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands comprise over half Colombia’s territory, but they contain 15,100 ft/3,900–4,600 m). Above 15,100 ft (4,600 m), experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confed- of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also en- less than 3% of the population. To the north the Caribbe- where temperatures are below freezing, is the nieves per- eration (1858), and then the United States of Colombia compasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both an coast, home to 20% of the population and the location petuas, a zone of permanent snow and ice. of the major port cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena, (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia Colombian flora and fauna also interact with climate [2] generally consists of low-lying plains, but it also con- finally declared in 1886. Panama is one of the world’s 18 megadiverse countries (the most zone patterns. Scrub woodland of scattered trees and [15] tains the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, seceded in 1903 under biodiverse per unit area). bushes dominates the semi-arid north-eastern steppe and which includes the country’s tallest peaks (Pico Cristóbal pressure to fulfill financial Etymology tropical desert. To the south, savanna (tropical grass- Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar), and the Guajira Desert. responsibilities towards the land) vegetation covers the eastern plains, the Colombian By contrast the narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal United States government to The word “Colombia” comes from Christopher Co- portion of the Llanos. The rainy areas in the south east lowlands, backed by the Serranía de Baudó mountains, are build the Panama Canal. lumbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón). It was conceived by are blanketed by tropical rainforest. In the mountains, the covered in dense vegetation and sparsely populated. The Colombia has a long the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a spotty patterns of precipitation in alpine areas complicate principal Pacific port is Buenaventura. tradition of reference to all the New World, but especially to those ter- vegetation patterns. The rainy side of a mountain may be constitutional ritories and colonies under Spanish and Portuguese rule. Colombian territory also includes a number of Carib- lush and green, while the other side, in the rain shadow, government. The name was later adopted by the Republic of Colombia bean and Pacific islands. may be parched. As a result Colombia is one of the world’s of 1819, formed out of the territories of the old Viceroyalty [18] The Liberal Climate 18 megadiverse countries. and Conserva- of New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Panama, Vene- zuela and Ecuador).[16] Environmental issues tive parties, The climate of Colombia is perfect for agriculture, founded In 1830, when Venezuela and Ecuador broke away, enjoying typical weather patterns for near-equator regions, The environmental challenges faced by Colombia are in 1848 the Cundinamarca region that remained became a new with tropical and isothermal climate predominating.