Location: Colombia (officially called the Republic of Colombia) is a country in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered by Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, the Caribbean Sea, Panama, and the Pacific Ocean.
Capital: Bogotá is the capital of Colombia.
Size: Colombia covers about 1,138,910 square kilometers (a bit smaller than the US state of Alaska). Colombia is the 26th largest country in the world.
Population: The people of Colombia are called Colombians. Colombia has the 30th largest population of any country in the world. The population of Colombia is about 44,725,543 (as of July, 2010).
Government: Colombia is a republic that is divided into 32 departments plus the capital district. The national holiday is Independence Day, celebrated on July 20. Colombia became independent from Spain on July 20, 1810.
Language: The official language is Spanish.
Education: Girls in Colombia go to school for an average of 14 years; boys go for an average of 13 years.
Literacy Rate: About 90.4% (almost all) of the adults in Colombia can read and write. About 90.1% of the men and 90.7% of the women are literate.
Religion: Roman Catholic 90%, other 10%.
Flag of Colombia : Colombia's flag is a horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue and red. The yellow stripe takes up the top half of the flag; the blue is the middle quarter of the flag, and the red is the bottom quarter of the flag. (Colombia's flag is similar to the flag of Ecuador, which has a coat of arms and is longer.) The ratio of the flag's height to width is 2:3.
This flag was adopted on November 26, 1861. The yellow in the flag stands for the resources of Colombia's ground, the blue symbolizes the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans that border Colombia, and red stands for the blood shed while fighting for Colombia's independence from Spain (independence was declared in 1810).
The flag was designed in Haiti by Francisco Miranda, the Caribbean island country where the revolutionary Simon Bolivar was planning Colombia's independence.
Climate: Colombia varies from tropical along the coast and the eastern plains to cooler in the highlands.
Major Rivers: Magdalena River, Caquetá, Putumayo River, Meta River. The Amazon River flows briefly along the border of Colombia and Peru.
Terrain/Mountain Ranges: flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains.
Highest Point: The highest point in Colombia is Pico Cristobal Colon, which is 5,775 m above sea level; it is located in northern Colombia.
Lowest Point: The lowest point in Colombia is the Pacific Ocean, at sea level.
Natural Resources: Petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower.
Major Industries: Textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds.
Agricultural Products: Coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp.
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