La cultura de Colombia tiene su origen esencialmente en el mestizaje cultural de los pueblos nativos con la influencia colonizadora española y posteriormente de cultura norteamericana.

La alegría del trópico se manifiesta en infinidad de carnavales, ferias y celebraciones que se llevan a cabo durante el año en todo el país, porque el colombiano siempre encuentra un motivo para celebrar y mantener vivas sus tradiciones heredadas de españoles, indígenas y africanos.

Los desfiles, las comparsas y cabalgatas van y vienen al son de la música, mientras crece el alborozo de la fiesta.

GOVERNMENT

Under the current National Constitution (1991) Colombia is a social state of law, organized as a unitary republic, where authority is separated into three branches: legislative, executive and judicial branches and various supervisory bodies as the Prosecution General’s Office, the General Attorney, the Comptroller, the Veedurías and where the executive maintains a degree of dominance.

The president, elected with the vice president by popular vote for a term of four years, serves as head of state and government at a time. La Casa de Nariño, located in Bogota, is the seat of government. It runs the presidency and is also the residence of the President. The President can be reelected only once, the first president re-elected after the 1991 Constitution was Alvaro Uribe Velez, from the reform driven by him in 2004.

The bicameral parliament is the Congress of Colombia and is composed of the Senate (102 seats in the national constituency) and the Chamber of Representatives (166 seats with regional constituency proportional to the population of each department and the district capital. Five of those seats belong to minority areas as indigenous, Afro-Colombians and Colombians abroad). Members of both legislative chambers are elected by popular vote to serve a term of four years.

The Colombian judicial system has undergone significant reforms in the nineties. There are the Constitutional Court (responsible for ensuring respect for the constitution), the Supreme Court (ultimately to civil matters, labor and criminal), the State Council (highest administrative court) and the Supreme Judicial Council (responsible for judicial administration).

Recently, the criminal justice system was modified to the American accusatory system. The results of the new system showed a decrease in the effective term of duration of criminal proceedings.

ECONOMY

In addition to maintaining low inflation rates and interest and a stable currency, the government has emphasized the development of foreign trade. This strengthens the image of Colombia as a strong competitor in the global and regional scene, through an ambitious process of internationalization of the economy, to create a strong platform for the export of goods and services.

Foreign Trade

The strengthening of international trade, employment generation and social stability, have attracted positive attention from the international community regarding the economic future of Colombia.

Integration of Markets

The integration between the economies of Latin American countries, through multilateral agreements such as those of the Andean Community of Nations-CAN-MERCOSUR, the Group of Three, G3-, the ALADI and the ALCA, gives the possibility of Colombia access to a market close to the 500 million populaction and the ability to make a productivity which historically has been above the average for countries of Latin America.

Strategic alliances with large economies, through systems such as ATPDEA preferences with the United States and the Andean GSP with the European Union, have allowed the growth of sectors such as footwear, garments, metal, chemical, textile and crafts, and increase in the production of bananas and tropical fruits.

As a member of the CAN, the country is currently negotiating a free trade agreement with the United States, which seeks to replace the temporary system of preferences and create a stable environment for investment, based on the dismantling of bilateral custom tariff and the establishment of clear and transparent rules to remove obstacles to the export of agricultural products and services.

The Colombian products have preferential custom tariffs on exports to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, thanks to the signing of trade agreement between the Andean Community and MERCOSUR, which came into effect from 2005.

Macro-economical Policy

Its political stability has been a determining factor for compliance with the international financial obligations and to maintain access to capital markets to help finance its debt.
In compliance with the targets agreed with the IMF, the government managed to reduce, during 2003 the fiscal deficit to 3% of GDP. The IMF recently approved a loan contingency of two billion dollars, bringing the rating outlook of the external debt rose to the rank of stable by Standard and Poor’s.

The government has invested in the country’s economic infrastructure to ensure sustainable growth and achieve a reduction in unemployment that after this effort has grown from 15% in 2002 to 11.7% in 2003. In turn, the country has successfully faced the situation of internal violence through the Citizen Security Policy, which has restored security in cities and roads, and has created greater confidence for investment.

Foreign investment


Legislation for foreign investment

Within the policy of opening markets and in order to attract foreign investment, the government has launched a series of regulations. The most of them are already working: permission for investment between the country without prior authorization; equal rights for foreigners and Colombians; license for those 100%-owned enterprises is of foreign entities, and authorization for the free repatriation of profits and capital.

There are other benefits, including special regulations in export processing zones, where production for export and imported inputs for manufacturing are exempt from taxes. We have established 11 zones, where 437 companies operate.

Since June 2005 were reduced to 20 days in the procedures for exports and imports, by creating a single point of contact; also delete the registry import. Through these reforms are conducive an environment more attractive to foreign capital, with an investment framework stable, predictable and reliable.

Tourist Development

Colombia has made efforts to develop tourism infrastructure at the level of the best of Latin America. Thanks to the establishment of free trade zones, with special arrangements in the exchange rate, equity investments, tax incentives and exemption of income for 30 years for the construction or renovation of hotels, the sector has expanded and modernized with foreign direct investment in 2003, which was of US$ 208,700,000. In 2004, the number of rooms reached 55.110, with an average occupancy of 50%.

During 2008, income figures of foreign tourists have grown surprisingly; approximately 2.000.000 foreigners entered the country during 2008.

For travelers all major destinations have been Bogota and Cartagena, followed by Medellin, the latter with an improvement in security that projected a positive future. Rural areas are yet more attractive for Europeans because of their nature landscapes, to contact and cultural tradition which is already difficult to find in big cities.

Within the rural tourism highlights the Eje Cafetero, Huila, the Llanos Orientales, the Amazon and El Choco where they practice sustainable tourism, improving the living conditions of communities.

To provide accommodation in remote areas of exceptional beauty, the government created a program of tourist lodges, which suited rooms in houses and indigenous natives. In 2005, they opened 400 inns in places like Cabo de la Vela in La Guajira, Bahia Solano and Nuquí in Choco, and Leticia in the Amazon. In other regions there have been remodeled farms and ranches to receive tourists. In 2003, there were 284 farms with 1,300 rooms.

The Tourist Caravan program, which provides security on the roads leading to major destinations, has revived the domestic tourism. Between 2003 and 2004 were conducted more than 450 by 324 caravans safe routes, which generated hotel occupancy above 80%.

Colombia has become an ideal destination for carrying out international conventions and congresses. To this goal has extensive facilities strategically located in large cities, equipped with latest technology equipment. Bogota has 20 centers for 17.649 participants; Cartagena 2 to 6.057; Medellin 2 for 3.200 and Cali 1 for 1.185 people.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Air transportation

Colombia has 8 modern airports receiving international airlines from Latin America, North America and Europe. During 2003, joined nearly one and a half million passengers and 450.000 tones of cargo mobilized.

The rugged topography has driven the development of domestic air transport, with one of the densest route networks of Latin America, which moved 7.4 million passengers annually and is mobilized 130.000 tons of cargo across more than 587 airports communicating remote areas with the rest of the country.

Shipping

As part of the policy of openness to international markets, have been privatized and modernized the four major ports: Buenaventura on the Pacific coast, and Barranquilla, Cartagena and Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, which together have a turnover of 70 million tons of cargo. There are other ports specializing in exporting coal, oil and bananas, and a wharf for cruise tourism in Cartagena de Indias.

Ground transportation

The road network has currently more than 145.000 km. Routes connecting major cities with seaports, Venezuela and Ecuador, where moving lines of buses and cargo. It is also planned the Panamerican route, which join Colombia with Panama, and is constructed the “Marginal of the Forest” route, which will connect Colombia with Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru in the foothills of the Andes. There is 3.140 km. reconstruction of railways in two lines which transports coal to private ports for 27 million tons a year.

GEOGRAPHY

Located between 4 degrees south latitude and 12 degrees north latitude, and seventh among 67 and 79 degrees west longitude, is a nation whose equatorial climate is determined by the trade winds, humidity and altitude above sea level: a higher altitude the temperature is lower. The seasons are bimodal and in almost all the territory are two periods of rain (from April to June and from August to November) and two of summer. The country enjoys a constant brightness throughout the year, with the same number of hours day and night.

Los Andes dominate the western half of Colombia, and are divided into three major mountain ranges: the Western, Central and Eastern. Among the mountains, the Magdalena and Cauca rivers flow into the low plains along the Caribbean coast. In the highest parts of the mountains there are volcanoes, some of them occasionally active.

The highest point is the country’s peak Christopher Columbus in the Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, who has a height of 5.775 meters above sea level. The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta is considered the world’s highest mountain by the sea.

The eastern part of the country is characterized by low and flat lands. There are parts with a lot of trees side by side, and with many rivers such as Putumayo, Caqueta, Meta and Guaviare, which flow to the Orinoco or the Amazon. Also, Colombia has several small islands in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The local climate is hot along both coasts and the eastern plains, while the mountains and highlands may be quite cold, due to thermal Flats.

The largest city in Colombia and the largest is its capital, Bogota. Other major cities are Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Cucuta, Cartagena, Bucaramanga, Pereira, Ibague, Manizales, Pasto, Neiva, Armenia (Quindio), Santa Marta, Buenaventura and Villavicencio.

Within colombian geography worth outlining the Atrato River, one of the most plentiful in the world in relation to its length. Furthermore, the Magdalena and Cauca rivers have the particularity to flow in South America directed from South to North. Major Colombian volcanoes are the Nevado del Huila and Nevado del Ruiz.

It shares borders with Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and maritime boundaries with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

REGIONS

The Caribbean

This region extends over 1.600 km. on the Caribbean. It includes deserts in La Guajira, rainforests and mountains of perpetual snows in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain range in the world (5,770 meters).

We can find swamps and savannah in Magdalena, Cesar and Sucre. Also, there are gulfs of white beaches, as the Gulf of Morrosquillo. As well, there is a jungle in the Gulf of Uraba, and the stunning scenery of the Caribbean Sea.

Near to Cartagena emerge archipelagoes as Rosario and San Bernardo, coral paradises with islets filled with mangrove. At about 700 km of the coast, the archipelago of San Andres and Providencia, with islands, cays and banks scattered along 500 km, form an oasis of life in the midst of the sea.

The Andes

The “Cordillera de Los Andes”, the longest in the world, gets inside the country to the south, in the Nudo de Los Pastos, which divides into two. The Colombian Massif, the main basin star of the country, is separated into three mountain areas crossing from south to the northern Colombian territory and generates stream topography, with peaks exceeding 5.300 meters above sea level, extensive highlands, deep canyons and broad valleys.

The Pacific

With 1.300 km longitude, the Pacific coast is one of the more humid regions of the planet, with a rainfall of 10.000 mm, 3 per year. To the north, there are many mountains called Baudó, forming bays and inlets in the ocean: is a jungle area of great biodiversity. The southern, flatter and furrowed by rivers, is characterized by the cliffs and beaches lined with mangroves.

To 56 km to the coast, the islands of Gorgona and Gorgonilla were declared National Park. There are sanctuaries for wildlife. Coming from the south Pacific, every year arrives humpback whales. As well, there is an islet called Malpelo, a rock that emerges from the ocean surrounded by an amazing underwater life.

The Orinoco

This vast area, which reaches the Orinoco River in the boarder with Venezuela is a plain that stretches towards its eastern savannah dotted with bushes and forests.

In the southwest of the region is the Serranía de La Macarena, an independent hill of the Andes Mountains. Here, the biodiversity and natural elements of the Andes, the Amazon and Orinoco get together to create special ecosystem.

NATURAL RESOURCES

The great rivers, contributing to its water basins in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Amazon and Orinoco, and its rugged geography, facilitate the construction of dams that increase power generation capacity and drinking water. The wide range of thermal floors allows a large agricultural development, whose varied food production is an important part of its economy.

Annually, this sector contributed 14% of GDP, with a production of nearly US$11 billion, excluding coffee. In regions of low and warm Caribbean, the valleys and savannahs of the Orinoco, there are immense planted banana, plantain, sugar cane, rice, cotton, soybeans and sorghum. There have also been established large herds for the production of meat and dairy.

The coffee, a major line of the economy, is grown in the mountain ranges between 1000 and 1600 meters above sea level. The flowers, another important export product, grow in the highlands. The potato, beans, grains and vegetables grow between 2000 and 3300 meters. The tropical fruits, palm oil, timber forests, shrimp, heart of palm and asparagus, whose production increases significantly, they also represent a huge potential for exports.

Also, the underground is a source of wealth. One example is the coal mine opencast world’s largest, which operates in La Guajira, with an annual production, is near to 50 million tones, which put Colombia in the fifth global coal producer and exporter in the most large steam coal. At the present, the production of coal has made investments to increase production capacity and this is projected to arrive in 2010 at 70 million tons.

In the country there are a number of sedimentary basins that contain large deposits of hydrocarbons. They have found oil reserves of 1.8 trillion barrels in the Magdalena River valley and in the foothills of the Eastern Cordillera, which are extracted crude that are among the lightest in the world. At the present, there is a production of 540.000 barrels per day. The natural gas reserves, a source of clean and cheap energy for domestic and industrial consumption, amounting to 6.8 cubic gig feet.

As alternative energy sources are beginning to use the African palm oil and bagasse from sugar cane for fuel fabrication, as well as solar and wind.

One of the greatest potentials of the country is its biodiversity. Colombia ranks second in the world after Brazil, with only a quarter of its territory. This will help in the future a great development in the fields of medicine and food production.