Colombia is ethnically and linguistically diverse, with its rich cultural heritage reflecting influences by various Amerindian civilizations, European settlement, forced African labor, and immigration from Europe and the greater Middle East. Urban centers are concentrated in the Andean highlands and the Caribbean coast.<\/p>\n Colombia has been inhabited by various American Indian peoples<\/a> since at least 12,000 BCE, including the Muisca<\/a>, Quimbaya<\/a>, and the Tairona<\/a>, along with the Inca Empire<\/a> that expanded to the southwest of the country. Spaniards arrived in 1499 and by the mid-16th century annexed part of the region, establishing the New Kingdom of Granada<\/a>, with Santaf\u00e9 de Bogot\u00e1 as its capital. Independence<\/a> from Spain was achieved in 1819, but by 1830 the Gran Colombia Federation<\/a> was dissolved, with what is now Colombia and Panama emerging as the Republic of New Granada.<\/a> The new sovereign state experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation<\/a> (1858), and then the United States of Colombi<\/a>a (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Panama seceded<\/a> in 1903, leading to Colombia’s present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict<\/a> and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2005, there has been significant improvement in security, stability, and rule of law.<\/p>\n Colombia has the second-highest biodiversity in the world and is one of the world’s 17 mega-diverse countries; its territory encompasses Amazon rain forest, highlands, grasslands, deserts, and islands and coastlines along both the Atlantic and Pacific.<\/p>\n Colombia is the only NATO<\/a> Global Partner in Latin America. It is part of the CIVETS<\/a> group of leading emerging markets and a member of the UN<\/a>, the WTO<\/a>, the OAS<\/a>, the Pacific Alliance<\/a>, an associate member of Mercosur<\/a> and other international organizations. Colombia’s diversified economy is the third largest in South America, with macroeconomic stability and favorable long-term growth prospects.<\/p>\n The name “Colombia” is derived from the last name of the navigator Christopher Columbus<\/a> (Italian: Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish: Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n). It was conceived by the Venezuelan revolutionary Francisco de Miranda as a reference to all the New World, but especially to those portions under Spanish law (by then from the Mississippi River to Patagonia). The name was later adopted by the Republic of Colombia of 1819, formed from the territories of the old Viceroyalty of New Granada (modern-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northwest Brazil).<\/p>\n When Venezuela, Ecuador, and Cundinamarca<\/a> came to exist as independent states, the former Department of Cundinamarca<\/a> adopted the name “Republic of New Granada”. New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation. In 1863 the name was again changed, this time to United States of Colombia, before finally adopting its present name \u2013 the Republic of Colombia \u2013 in 1886.<\/p>\n Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human civilization from Mesoamerica<\/a> and the Caribbean to the Andes and Amazon basin<\/a>. The oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Bogot\u00e1. These sites date from the Paleoindian period<\/a> (18,000\u20138000 BCE). At Puerto Hormiga<\/a> and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period (~8000\u20132000 BCE) have been found. Vestiges indicate that there was also early occupation in the regions of El Abra<\/a> and Tequendama<\/a> in Cundinamarca. The oldest pottery discovered in the Americas, found at San Jacinto, dates to 5000\u20134000 BCE.<\/p>\n Indigenous people inhabited the territory that is now Colombia by 12,500 BCE. Nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes at the El Abra, Tibit\u00f3<\/a> and Tequendama sites near present-day Bogot\u00e1 traded with one another and with other cultures from the Magdalena River<\/a> Valley. Between 5000 and 1000 BCE, hunter-gatherer tribes transitioned to agrarian societies; fixed settlements were established, and pottery appeared. Beginning in the 1st millennium BCE, groups of Amerindians including the Muisca, Zen\u00fa<\/a>, Quimbaya, and Tairona developed the political system of cacicazgos<\/a> with a pyramidal structure of power headed by caciques. The Muisca inhabited mainly the area of what is now the Departments of Boyac\u00e1<\/a> and Cundinamarca<\/a> high plateau (Altiplano Cundiboyacense<\/a>) where they formed the Muisca Confederation<\/a>. They farmed maize, potato, quinoa, and cotton, and traded gold, emeralds<\/a>, blankets, ceramic handicrafts, coca and especially rock salt with neighboring nations. The Tairona inhabited northern Colombia in the isolated mountain range of Sierra Nevada de Santa Mart<\/a>a. The Quimbaya inhabited regions of the Cauca River<\/a> Valley between the Western<\/a> and Central Ranges<\/a> of the Colombian Andes. Most of the Amerindians practiced agriculture and the social structure of each indigenous community was different. Some groups of indigenous people such as the Caribs lived in a state of permanent war, but others had less bellicose attitudes. The Incas expanded their empire onto the southwest part of the country.<\/p>\n Alonso de Ojeda<\/a> (who had sailed with Columbus) reached the Guajira Peninsula<\/a> in 1499. Spanish explorers, led by Rodrigo de Bastidas<\/a>, made the first exploration of the Caribbean coast in 1500. Christopher Columbus navigated near the Caribbean in 1502. In 1508, Vasco N\u00fa\u00f1ez de Balboa<\/a> accompanied an expedition to the territory through the region of Gulf of Urab\u00e1<\/a> and they founded the town of Santa Mar\u00eda la Antigua del Dari\u00e9n<\/a> in 1510, the first stable settlement on the continent.<\/p>\n Santa Marta<\/a> was founded in 1525, and Cartagena<\/a> in 1533. Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jim\u00e9nez de Quesada<\/a> led an expedition to the interior in April 1536, and christened the districts through which he passed “New Kingdom of Granada”. In August 1538, he founded provisionally its capital near the Muisca cacicazgo of Bacat\u00e1<\/a>, and named it “Santa Fe”. The name soon acquired a suffix and was called Santa Fe de Bogot\u00e1. Two other notable journeys by early conquistadors to the interior took place in the same period. Sebasti\u00e1n de Belalc\u00e1zar<\/a>, conqueror of Quito<\/a>, traveled north and founded Cali<\/a>, in 1536, and Popay\u00e1n<\/a>, in 1537; from 1536 to 1539, German conquistador Nikolaus Federmann<\/a> crossed the Llanos Orientales<\/a> and went over the Cordillera Oriental<\/a> in a search for El Dorado<\/a>, the “city of gold”. The legend and the gold would play a pivotal role in luring the Spanish and other Europeans to New Granada during the 16th and 17th centuries.<\/p>\n The conquistadors<\/a> made frequent alliances<\/a> with the enemies of different indigenous communities. Indigenous allies were crucial to conquest, as well as to creating and maintaining empire. Indigenous peoples in New Granada experienced a decline in population due to conquest as well as Eurasian diseases, such as smallpox, to which they had no immunity. Regarding the land as deserted, the Spanish Crown sold properties to all persons interested in colonized territories, creating large farms and possession of mines.<\/p>\n In the 16th century, the nautical science<\/a> in Spain reached a great development thanks to numerous scientific figures of the Casa de Contrataci\u00f3n<\/a> and nautical science was an essential pillar of the Iberian expansion.<\/a><\/p>\n In 1542, the region of New Granada, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America, became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru<\/a>, with its capital in Lima<\/a>. In 1547, New Granada became the Captaincy-General of New Granada within the viceroyalty.<\/p>\n In 1549, the Royal Audiencia<\/a> was created by a royal decree, and New Granada was ruled by the Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogot\u00e1<\/a>, which at that time comprised the provinces of Santa Marta, Rio de San Juan, Popay\u00e1n, Guayana and Cartagena. But important decisions were taken from the colony to Spain by the Council of the Indies.<\/a><\/p>\n In the 16th century, Europeans began to bring slaves from Africa. Spain was the only European power that could not establish factories in Africa to purchase slaves; therefore, the Spanish empire relied on the asiento<\/a> system, awarding merchants (mostly from Portugal<\/a>, France<\/a>, England<\/a>, and the Dutch Empire<\/a>) the license to trade enslaved people to their overseas territories. Some people defended the human rights and freedoms of oppressed peoples. The indigenous peoples could not be enslaved because they were legally subjects of the Spanish Crown. To protect the indigenous peoples, several forms of land ownership and regulation were established: resguardos, encomiendas and haciendas.<\/p>\n The Viceroyalty of New Granada<\/a> was created in 1717, then temporarily removed, and then re-established in 1739. Its capital was Santa F\u00e9 de Bogot\u00e1. This Viceroyalty included some other provinces of northwestern South America that had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalties of New Spain<\/a> or Peru and correspond mainly to today’s Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. So, Bogot\u00e1 became one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with Lima and Mexico City<\/a>, though it remained somewhat backward compared to those two cities in several economic and logistical ways.<\/p>\n After Great Britain declared war on Spain in 1739, Cartagena<\/a> quickly became the British forces’ top target, but an upset Spanish victory during the War of Jenkins’ Ear<\/a>, a war with Great Britain for economic control of the Caribbean, cemented Spanish dominance in the Caribbean until the Seven Years’ War<\/a>.<\/p>\n The 18th-century priest, botanist and mathematician Jos\u00e9 Celestino Mutis<\/a> was delegated by Viceroy Antonio Caballero y G\u00f3ngora<\/a> to conduct an inventory of the nature of New Granada. Started in 1783, this became known as the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada<\/a>.<\/p>\n It classified plants and wildlife, and founded the first astronomical observatory in the city of Santa Fe de Bogot\u00e1. In July 1801 the Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt<\/a> reached Santa Fe de Bogot\u00e1 where he met with Mutis. In addition, historical figures in the process of independence in New Granada emerged from the expedition as the astronomer Francisco Jos\u00e9 de Caldas<\/a>, the scientist Francisco Antonio Zea<\/a>, the zoologist Jorge Tadeo Lozano<\/a> and the painter Salvador Rizo<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since the beginning of the periods of conquest and colonization, there were several rebel movements against Spanish rule, but most were either crushed or remained too weak to change the overall situation. The last one that sought outright independence from Spain sprang up around 1810 and culminated in the Colombian Declaration of Independence<\/a>, issued on 20 July 1810, the day that is now celebrated as the nation’s Independence Day. This movement followed the independence of St. Domingue<\/a> (present-day Haiti) in 1804, which provided some support to an eventual leader of this rebellion: Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar<\/a>. Francisco de Paula Santander<\/a> also would play a decisive role.<\/p>\n A movement was initiated by Antonio Nari\u00f1o<\/a>, who opposed Spanish centralism and led the opposition against the Viceroyalty. Cartagena became independent in November 1811. In 1811 the United Provinces of New Granada<\/a> were proclaimed, headed by Camilo Torres Tenorio<\/a>. The emergence of two distinct ideological currents among the patriots (federalism and centralism) gave rise to a period of instability<\/a>. Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars<\/a> ended, Ferdinand VII<\/a>, recently restored to the throne in Spain, unexpectedly decided to send military forces to retake most of northern South America<\/a>. The viceroyalty was restored under the command of Juan S\u00e1mano<\/a>, whose regime punished those who participated in the patriotic movements, ignoring the political nuances of the juntas<\/a>. The retribution stoked renewed rebellion, which, combined with a weakened Spain, made possible a successful rebellion led by the Venezuelan-born Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar, who finally proclaimed independence in 1819. The pro-Spanish resistance was defeated in 1822 in the present territory of Colombia and in 1823 in Venezuela.<\/p>\n The territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Colombia, organized as a union of the current territories of Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, parts of Guyana and Brazil and north of Mara\u00f1\u00f3n River<\/a>. The Congress of C\u00facuta<\/a> in 1821 adopted a constitution for the new Republic. Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar became the first President of Colombia, and Francisco de Paula Santander was made Vice President. However, the new republic was unstable and three countries emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (New Granada, Ecuador and Venezuela).<\/p>\n Colombia was the first constitutional government in South America, and the Liberal and Conservative<\/a> parties, founded in 1848 and 1849, respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. Slavery was abolished in the country in 1851.<\/p>\n Internal political and territorial divisions led to the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830. The so-called “Department of Cundinamarca” adopted the name “New Granada”, which it kept until 1858 when it became the “Confederaci\u00f3n Granadina” (Granadine Confederation). After a two-year civil war in 1863<\/a>, the “United States of Colombia” was created, lasting until 1886, when the country finally became known as the Republic of Colombia. Internal divisions remained between the bipartisan political forces, occasionally igniting very bloody civil wars, the most significant being the Thousand Days’ War (1899\u20131902)<\/a>.<\/p>\n The United States of America’s intentions to influence the area (especially the Panama Canal<\/a> construction and control) led to the separation of the Department of Panama<\/a> in 1903 and the establishment of it as a nation. The United States paid Colombia $25,000,000 in 1921, seven years after completion of the canal, for redress of President Roosevelt’s<\/a> role in the creation of Panama, and Colombia recognized Panama under the terms of the Thomson\u2013Urrutia Treaty<\/a>. Colombia and Peru went to war<\/a> because of territory disputes far in the Amazon basin<\/a>. The war ended with a peace deal brokered by the League of Nations.<\/a> The League finally awarded the disputed area to Colombia in June 1934.<\/p>\n Soon after, Colombia achieved some degree of political stability, which was interrupted by a bloody conflict that took place between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, a period known as La Violencia (“The Violence”)<\/a>. Its cause was mainly mounting tensions between the two leading political parties, which subsequently ignited after the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eli\u00e9cer Gait\u00e1n<\/a> on 9 April 1948. The ensuing riots in Bogot\u00e1, known as El Bogotazo<\/a>, spread throughout the country and claimed the lives of at least 180,000 Colombians.<\/p>\n Colombia entered the Korean War<\/a> when Laureano G\u00f3mez<\/a> was elected president. It was the only Latin American country to join the war in a direct military role as an ally of the United States. Particularly important was the resistance of the Colombian troops at Old Baldy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The violence between the two political parties decreased first when Gustavo Rojas<\/a> deposed the President of Colombia in a coup d’\u00e9tat and negotiated with the guerrillas, and then under the military junta<\/a> of General Gabriel Par\u00eds<\/a>.<\/p>\n After Rojas’ deposition, the Colombian Conservative Party and Colombian Liberal Party agreed to create the National Front<\/a>, a coalition that would jointly govern the country. Under the deal, the presidency would alternate between conservatives and liberals every 4 years for 16 years; the two parties would have parity in all other elective offices. The National Front ended “La Violencia”, and National Front administrations attempted to institute far-reaching social and economic reforms in cooperation with the Alliance for Progress<\/a>. Despite the progress in certain sectors, many social and political problems continued, and guerrilla groups were formally created such as the FARC<\/a>, the ELN<\/a> and the M-19<\/a> to fight the government and political apparatus.<\/p>\n Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric<\/a> low-intensity armed conflict<\/a> between government forces<\/a>, leftist guerrilla groups<\/a> and right wing paramilitaries<\/a>. The conflict escalated in the 1990s, mainly in remote rural areas. Since the beginning of the armed conflict, human rights defenders have fought for the respect for human rights, despite staggering opposition. Several guerrillas’ organizations decided to demobilize after peace negotiations in 1989\u20131994.<\/p>\n The United States has been heavily involved in the conflict since its beginnings, when in the early 1960s the U.S. government encouraged the Colombian military to attack leftist militias in rural Colombia. This was part of the U.S. fight against communism. Mercenaries and multinational corporations such as Chiquita Brands International<\/a> are some of the international actors that have contributed to the violence of the conflict.<\/p>\n On 4 July 1991, a new Constitution<\/a> was promulgated. The changes generated by the new constitution are viewed as positive by Colombian society.<\/p>\n The administration of President \u00c1lvaro Uribe<\/a> (2002\u201310), adopted the democratic security policy<\/a> which included an integrated counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency campaign. The Government economic plan also promoted confidence in investors. As part of a controversial peace process the AUC (right-wing paramilitaries) as a formal organization had ceased to function. In February 2008, millions of Colombians demonstrated against FARC and other outlawed groups.<\/p>\n After peace negotiations in Cuba, the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos<\/a> and guerrilla of FARC-EP announced a final agreement to end the conflict.<\/p>\n However, a referendum<\/a> to ratify the deal was unsuccessful. Afterward, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal<\/a> in November 2016, which the Colombian congress approved. In 2016, President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a>. The Government began a process of attention and comprehensive reparation for victims of conflict. Colombia shows modest progress in the struggle to defend human rights, as expressed by HRW<\/a>, although such statements may be misleading given that victims and witnesses are too scared to report or have lost trust in the authorities. A Special Jurisdiction for Peace has been created to investigate, clarify, prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law which occurred during the armed conflict and to satisfy victims’ right to justice. During his visit to Colombia, Pope Francis<\/a> paid tribute to the victims of the conflict.<\/p>\n Colombia’s relations with Venezuela<\/a> have fluctuated due to ideological differences between both governments. Colombia has offered humanitarian support with food and medicines to mitigate the shortage of supplies in Venezuela. Colombia’s Foreign Ministry said that all efforts to resolve Venezuela’s crisis<\/a> should be peaceful. Colombia proposed the idea of the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> and a final document was adopted by the United Nations.<\/p>\n The geography of Colombia is characterized by its six main natural regions that present their own unique characteristics, from the Andes<\/a> mountain range region shared with Ecuador and Venezuela; the Pacific coastal region<\/a> shared with Panama and Ecuador; the Caribbean coastal region shared with Venezuela and Panama; the Llanos<\/a> (plains) shared with Venezuela; the Amazon Rainforest<\/a> region shared with Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador; to the insular area<\/a>, comprising islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica<\/a>, Nicaragua<\/a>, Honduras<\/a>, Jamaica<\/a>, Haiti<\/a>, and the Dominican Republic<\/a>.<\/p>\n Colombia is bordered to the northwest by Panama, to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, and to the south by Ecuador and Peru; it established its maritime boundaries with neighboring countries through seven agreements on the Caribbean Sea and three on the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n Part of the Ring of Fire, a region of the world subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, in the interior of Colombia the Andes are the prevailing geographical feature. Most of Colombia’s population centers are located in these interior highlands. Beyond the Colombian Massif<\/a> (in the southwestern departments of Cauca<\/a> and Nari\u00f1o<\/a>), these are divided into three branches known as cordilleras (mountain ranges): the Cordillera Occidental, running adjacent to the Pacific coast and including the city of Cali; the Cordillera Central, running between the Cauca and Magdalena River valleys (to the west and east, respectively) and including the cities of Medell\u00edn<\/a>, Manizales<\/a>, Pereira<\/a>, and Armenia<\/a>; and the Cordillera Oriental, extending northeast to the Guajira Peninsula and including Bogot\u00e1, Bucaramanga<\/a>, and C\u00facuta<\/a>.<\/p>\n East of the Andes lies the savanna of the Llanos, part of the Orinoco River<\/a> basin, and in the far southeast, the jungle of the Amazon rainforest. Together these lowlands comprise over half Colombia’s territory, but they contain less than 6% of the population. To the north the Caribbean coast<\/a>, home to 21.9% of the population and the location of the major port cities of Barranquilla<\/a> and Cartagena, generally consists of low-lying plains, but it also contains the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta<\/a> mountain range, which includes the country’s tallest peaks (Pico Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n<\/a> and Pico Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar), and the La Guajira Desert<\/a>. By contrast the narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal lowlands<\/a>, backed by the Serran\u00eda de Baud\u00f3<\/a> mountains, are sparsely populated and covered in dense vegetation. The principal Pacific port is Buenaventura<\/a>.<\/p>\n The main rivers of Colombia are Magdalena, Cauca, Guaviare<\/a>, Atrato<\/a>, Meta<\/a>, Putumayo<\/a> and Caquet\u00e1<\/a>. Colombia has four main drainage systems: the Pacific drain, the Caribbean drain, the Orinoco Basin and the Amazon Basin. The Orinoco and Amazon Rivers mark limits with Colombia to Venezuela and Peru respectively.<\/p>\n Protected areas and the “National Park System” cover an area of about 14,268,224 hectares (142,682.24 km2) and account for 12.77% of the Colombian territory. Compared to neighboring countries, rates of deforestation<\/a> in Colombia are still relatively low. Colombia is the sixth country in the world by magnitude of total renewable freshwater supply, and still has large reserves of freshwater.<\/p>\n Historically an agrarian economy, Colombia urbanized rapidly in the 20th century, by the end of which just 15.8% of the workforce were employed in agriculture, generating just 6.6% of GDP; 19.6% of the workforce were employed in industry and 64.6% in services, responsible for 33.4% and 59.9% of GDP respectively. The country’s economic production is dominated by its strong domestic demand. Consumption expenditure by households is the largest component of GDP.<\/p>\n Colombia’s market economy grew steadily in the latter part of the 20th century, with gross domestic product (GDP) increasing at an average rate of over 4% per year between 1970 and 1998. The country suffered a recession in 1999 (the first full year of negative growth since the Great Depression), and the recovery from that recession was long and painful. However, in recent years growth has been impressive, reaching 6.9% in 2007, one of the highest rates of growth in Latin America. According to International Monetary Fund<\/a> estimates, in 2012, Colombia’s GDP (PPP) was US$500 billion (28th in the world and third in South America).<\/p>\n Colombia is rich in natural resources, and its main exports include mineral fuels, oils, distillation products, fruit and other agricultural products, sugars and sugar confectionery, food products, plastics, precious stones, metals, forest products, chemical goods, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, electronic products, electrical equipments, perfumery and cosmetics, machinery, manufactured articles, textile and fabrics, clothing and footwear, glass and glassware, furniture, prefabricated buildings, military products, home and office material, construction equipment, software, among others. Principal trading partners are the United States, China, the European Union and some Latin American countries.<\/p>\n Colombia has 3,034 kilometers (1,885 mi) of rail lines. However, only 2,611 kilometers (1,622 mi) of lines are still in use. Rail transport in Colombia remains underdeveloped. The national railroad system, once the country’s main mode of transport for freight, has been neglected in favor of road development and now accounts for only about a quarter of freight transport. Passenger-rail use was suspended in 1992 resumed at the end of the 1990s, and as of 2017 it is considered abandoned. The two still-functioning passenger trains are: one between Puerto Berr\u00edo<\/a> and Garc\u00eda Cadena, and another one between Bogot\u00e1<\/a> and Zipaquir\u00e1<\/a>. Short sections of railroad, mainly the Bogot\u00e1-Atlantic rim, are used to haul goods, mostly coal, to the Caribbean and Pacific ports.<\/p>\n The three main north-south highways are the Caribbean, Eastern, and Central Trunk Highways (troncales). Estimates of the length of Colombia’s road system in 2004 ranged from 115,000 kilometers to 145,000 kilometers, of which fewer than 15 percent were paved. However, according to 2005 data reported by the Colombian government, the road network totaled 163,000 kilometers, 68 percent of which were paved and in good condition. The increase may reflect some newly built roads. President Uribe<\/a> has vowed to pave more than 2,500 kilometers of roads during his administration, and about 5,000 kilometers of new secondary roads were being built in the 2003\u20136 period. Despite serious terrain obstacles, almost three-quarters of all cross-border dry cargo is now transported by road, 105,251 metric tons in 2005.<\/p>\n Colombia has well-developed air routes and an estimated total of 984 airports, 100 of which have paved runways, plus two heliports. Of the 74 main airports, 20 can accommodate jet aircraft. The country has 40 regional airports, and the cities of Bogot\u00e1, Medell\u00edn<\/a>, Cali<\/a>, Barranquilla<\/a>, Bucaramanga<\/a>, Cartagena<\/a>, C\u00facuta<\/a>, Leticia<\/a>, Pereira<\/a>, Armenia<\/a>, San Andr\u00e9s<\/a>, and Santa Marta<\/a> have international airports. Bogot\u00e1’s El Dorado International Airport<\/a> handles 550 million metric tons of cargo and 22 million passengers a year, making it the largest airport in Latin America in terms of cargo and the third largest in passenger numbers.<\/p>\n Urban transport systems have been developed in Bogot\u00e1, Medell\u00edn, Cali and Barranquilla. Bogot\u00e1’s system consists of bus and minibus services managed by both private- and public-sector enterprises. Since 1995 Medell\u00edn has had a modern urban railway referred to as the Metro de Medell\u00edn<\/a>, which also connects with the cities of Itag\u00fc\u00ed, Envigado, and Bello. An elevated cable car system, Metrocable<\/a>, was added in 2004 to link some of Medell\u00edn’s poorer mountainous neighborhoods with the Metro de Medell\u00edn. A BRT line<\/a> called Transmetro began operating in 2011, with a second line added in 2013. Other cities have also installed BRT systems such as Cali<\/a> with a six line system (opened 2008), Barranquilla<\/a> with two lines (opened 2010), Bucaramanga<\/a> with one line (opened 2010), Cartagena<\/a> with one line (opened 2015) and Pereira<\/a> with three lines (opened 2006). A light rail line in Barranquilla is planned.<\/p>\n The national flag of Colombia symbolizes Colombian independence from Spain, gained on July 20, 1810. It is a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue and red. The yellow stripe takes up the top half of the flag and the blue and red take up a quarter of the space each.<\/p>\n The horizontal stripes (from top to bottom) of yellow, blue and red tricolor have a ratio of 2:1:1. It\u2014together with that of Ecuador<\/a>, also derived from the flag of Gran Colombia<\/a>\u2014is different from most other tricolor flags, either vertical or horizontal, in having stripes which are not equal in size. (Venezuela<\/a>, whose flag is also derived from the same source, opted for a more conventional tricolor with equal stripes).<\/a><\/p>\n According to the current interpretation, the colors signify:<\/p>\n Yellow: Represents the riches of the country, the wealth of the Colombian soil, the gold, sovereignty, harmony, justice and agriculture, as well as the Sun, the source of Light. Although, the flag has other representatives such as blue for loyalty and vigilance, red for victory of battles for Colombian independence, and finally yellow for sovereignty and justice.<\/p>\n Francisco de Miranda<\/a> was the person who was a welder originally created the common yellow, blue and red flag of Gran Colombia that Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, with slight variations, share today. Miranda gave at least two sources of inspiration for his flag. In a letter written to Count Simon Romanovich Woronzoff<\/a> and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<\/a>, Miranda described a late-night conversation he had had with Goethe at a party in Weimar during the winter of 1785. Fascinated by Miranda’s account of his exploits in the United States Revolutionary War<\/a> and his travels throughout the Americas and Europe, Goethe told him that, “Your destiny is to create in your land a place where primary colors are not distorted.\u201d He proceeded to clarify what he meant:<\/p>\n First he explained to me the way the iris transforms light into the three primary colours then he proved to me why yellow is the most warm, noble and closest to [white] light; why blue is that mix of excitement and serenity, a distance that evokes shadows; and why red is the exaltation of yellow and blue, the synthesis, the vanishing of light into shadow.<\/p>\n It is not that the world is made of yellows, blues and reds; it is that in this manner, as if in an infinite combination of these three colours, we human beings see it. A country starts out from a name and a flag, and it then becomes them, just as a man fulfils his destiny.<\/p>\n After Miranda designed his flag based on this conversation, he recalled seeing a fresco by Lazzaro Tavarone<\/a> in the Palazzo Belimbau in Genoa that depicted Christopher Columbus<\/a> unfurling a similar-colored flag in Veragua during his fourth voyage<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Colombia-on-the-Globe-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/City-Map-of-Colombia-300x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Etymology:<\/h2>\n
History:<\/h2>\n
Pre-Columbian Era:<\/h3>\n
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<\/a>European Annexation:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Musica-Raft-300x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/San-Agust\u00edn-Archaeological-Park-300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Colonial Exchange:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/British-Attack-on-Cartagena-300x226.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Royal-Botanical-Expedition-to-New-Granada-225x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Independence:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Battle-of-Boyac\u00e1-300x203.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>20th Century:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/The-Bogotazo-300x187.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/The-Axis-of-Peace-and-Memory-300x222.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>21st Century:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Former-President-Juan-Manuel-Santos-Signed-a-Peace-Accord-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Colombian-Amazon-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Topographic-Map-of-Colombia-266x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Colombia-GDP-by-Sector-in-2017-300x210.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
Railways:<\/h3>\n
Roads:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Route-25-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Air:<\/h3>\n
Urban Transport:<\/h3>\n
Flag of Colombia:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2020\/01\/Flag-of-Colombia-300x200.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>
\nBlue:\u00a0 \u00a0 Represents the seas on Colombia’s shores, the rivers that run through, and the sky above.
\nRed:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Represents the blood spilled for Colombia’s independence and also the effort of Colombian people, the determination and the perseverance. It represents that although Colombia’s people\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 have had to struggle they have thrived.<\/p>\n