Background:

Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others being Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to be several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and illicit industries such as the drug trade and the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

• Population: 41,662,073
• Ethnic Groups: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, other 4.0%,
• Religions: Roman Catholic 90%

Geography:

• Area: total: 1,138,910 sq km. water: 100,210 sq km, land: 1,038,700 sq km
• Borders: Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Venezuela
• Climate: tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
• Terrain: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains

• Colombia Tourism Board
• Embassy of Colombia, USA,
• Colombia Art and Culture
• Columbia Times

• Industries: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement, gold, coal, emeralds

• Imports: industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity

• Exports: petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers