Location and Geography

Location:

•  Northern South America on the border of the Caribbean Sea 
•  In between Panama and Venezuela
  •  Borders the Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, Brazil,  and Peru
  • Slightly less than twice the size of Texas

Geography:

•  flat coastal lowlands
• central highlands
• high Andes Mountains
• eastern lowland plains. 

The People of Colombia

Colombia was originally inhabited by the indigenous peoples of the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. While these specific groups are not around today, the people of Colombia have been heavily influenced by their indigenous ancestors. Due to it's history and conquest, Colombia’s population is extremely diverse.  According to the CIA Factbook, over 84% of the people in Colombia are mestizo or of indigenous descent. The second largest group of people in Colombia is the Afro-Colombians who make up 10.4% of the population.   

Population: 
46,736,728 (July 2015 est.)
*Colombia has experienced both legal and illegal instances of emigration and refugee flow. This may effect the population number. 
Official Language:  
Spanish

Society and Culture

Colombian Customs
Eye Contact

• Common and socially acceptable to look someone in the eye when you are speaking to them
• Lack of eye contact is often used when the person is guilty or ashamed

Views of Time

• In social situations, even if punctuality is valued extreme punctuality is not expected

​**It is not considered rude to be late, especially if "late" is no longer than 30-45 minutes

• In business situations, people tend to be more punctual 

​** The normal time span of acceptable 'lateness' is 15 to 45 minutes

Taboos

• Making an O.K. sign and placing it over your nose indicates that someone is a homosexual
• To indicate a length of something, use your right arm and left hand, using two fingers to show a length or distance is obscene
• Homosexuality is not common or understood in Colombia

Dance

• Colombia has a rich dance culture
• Many different types of dances that have been influenced by the history of Colombia

​For example:
-Cumbia- a mix of Spanish and African music
- Merengue- orignates from the West Indies
-Mapale- energetic dance influenced by African movements (Very common in Cartagena)​

​Music

• Colombia has a variety of different types of music depending on geographic sections
• Mountain Heartland

-Cities in this region are Medellin, Bogota, and Cali
-Primarily gentle and sentimental music

• Pacific Coast

-Home of music with the most African influence
-Music is upbeat and energetic

• Caribbean Coast

-This region contains Cartagena, Barranquilla, and Santa Marta
-Tropical or Island Music is extremely common in this area of Colombia

• Llanos

-this is known as the great eastern plains between Rios Aracua and Guaviare
-ranges from slow romantic songs to fast upbeat songs

Politics and Social Conflict

• The territory of Colombia holds the longest running guerrilla, armed insurrection force in the continent of the Americas:
  • The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
    • For decades, this guerrilla group has been at war with the Colombian state over land reform, with intentions of abolishing capitalism and greater social justice.
    • The decades long strife has resulted in thousands of causalities, on both sides and as well as the civilian populace.

• Peace Process:
  • Occurred in 2012
  • Refers to the dialogue between the Colombian government and guerrilla of FARC-EP
  • Goal= To find a political solution to the armed conflict
  • Since September 2015 there have been significant breakthroughs with assistance and reparation for victims of conflict
• Since the establishment of the War on Drugs, the United States and European countries have provided financial, logistical, tactical and military aid to the government of Colombia in order to implement plans to combat the illegal drug trade. The most notable of these programs has been the Plan Colombia which also intended to combat leftist organizations, such as the FARC guerrillas, who have controlled many coca-growing regions in Colombia over the past decades. ​
• Despite Colombia having the dubious distinction of being the world’s leading producer of coca for many years those plans, slowly but surely, diminished the drug produced, to the extent that in 2010 the country reduced cocaine production by 60%, relative to the peak in 2000.

​Works Cited

• "Visibilización estadística de los grupos étnicos" (PDF). Censo General 2005. Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadistica (DANE). Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  
• Bushnell, David & Rex A. Hudson (2010) "The Society and Its Environment"; Colombia: a country study: pp. 87, 92. Washingtion D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress.
  
• "Animated clock". Colombian State Department. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  
• "World Economic Outlook Database: Colombia". International Monetary Fund. October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  
• "Socio-economic policies" (PDF). dane.gov.co. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  
• "2015 Human Development Report" (PDF). United Nations Development Programme. 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  
• CIA Factbook: Colombia
  
• "Colombia - Culture, Customs & Etiquette." Colombia - Culture, Customs & Etiquette. Culture Crossings, 2014. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
  
• "Introduction to Colombian Dance - Dance and Music in Colombia." Off2Colombia. Off2, 2013. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.
  
• "Music and Dance in Colombia." Music and Dance in Colombia. Footprint Travel Guides, 2016. Web. 02 Mar. 2016.