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Colombia |
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Capital city: Bogota
Ethnic groups that make up the population: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1% Religions: Roman Catholic 90% Languages: Spanish Literacy rate (Definition: age 15 and over can read and write): total population: 92.5%, Male: 92.4%, Female: 92.6% (2003 est.) Legal system: based on Spanish law; a new criminal code modeled after US procedures was enacted in 1992-93; judicial review of executive and legislative acts; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations Industries & Agriculture: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds/ coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp GDP: $251.6 billion GDP per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,100 (2002 est.) Currency: Colombian peso (COP) Misc. interesting facts: 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. References: CIA Fact book http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
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