The Putumayo River or Içá River ( Spanish : Río Putumayo , Portuguese : Rio Içá ) is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River , southwest of and parallel to the Japurá River .
139-634: The Putumayo River forms part of Colombia 's border with Ecuador , as well as most of the border with Peru . Known as the Putumayo within these three nations, it is called the Içá when it crosses into Brazil . The Putumayo originates in the Andes Mountains east of the city of Pasto , Colombia. It empties into the Solimões (upper Amazon) near the municipality of Santo Antônio do Içá , Brazil. Major tributaries include
278-509: A union of the current territories of Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, parts of Guyana and Brazil and north of Marañón River . The Congress of Cúcuta in 1821 adopted a constitution for the new Republic. Simón Bolívar became the first President of Colombia , and Francisco de Paula Santander was made Vice President . However, the new republic was unstable and the Gran Colombia ultimately collapsed. Modern Colombia comes from one of
417-536: A 42,000 km (16,200 sq mi) safe haven meant to serve as a confidence building measure, centred on the San Vicente del Caguán settlement. After a series of high-profile guerrilla actions, including the hijacking of an aircraft, the attack on several small towns and cities, the arrest of the Irish Colombia Three (see below) and the alleged training of FARC-EP militants in bomb making by them, and
556-515: 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. In the 16th century, the nautical science in Spain reached a great development thanks to numerous scientific figures of
695-742: A former police inspector, said he had seen Mr McCauley with FARC-EP members in 1998. Without his testimony, legal sources said the chances of convicting the three men were reduced. They were eventually found guilty of travelling on false passports in June 2004 but were acquitted of training FARC-EP members. That decision was reversed after an appeal by the Attorney General of Colombia and they were sentenced to 17-year terms. However, they vanished in December 2004 while on bail and returned to Ireland. Tánaiste Mary Harney said no deal had been done with Sinn Féin or
834-579: A government agency, has estimated that between 1981 and 2012 paramilitary groups have caused 38.4% of the civilian deaths, while the Guerillas are responsible for 16.8%, the Colombian Security Forces for 10.1%, and other non-identified armed groups for 27.7%. The National Centre for Historical Memory has also concluded that of the 27,023 kidnappings carried out between 1970 and 2010, the Guerillas were responsible for 90.6% of them. The strength of
973-511: A longstanding connection between the IRA and FARC–EP, mentioned at least 15 IRA members who had been travelling in and out of Colombia since 1998, and estimated that the IRA had received at least $ 2 million in drug proceeds for training FARC-EP members. The IRA/FARC-EP connection was first made public on 11 August 2001, following the arrest in Bogotá of two IRA explosives and urban warfare experts and of
1112-428: A new Constitution was promulgated. The changes generated by the new constitution are viewed as positive by Colombian society. The administration of President Álvaro Uribe (2002–2010) adopted the democratic security policy 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,
1251-431: A number of controversies, the democratic security policy has ensured that former President Álvaro Uribe remained popular among Colombian people, with his approval rating peaking at 76%, according to a poll in 2009. However, having served two terms, he was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election in 2010. In the run-off elections on 20 June 2010 the former Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos won with 69% of
1390-800: A population of around 52 million. Its rich cultural heritage —including language, religion, cuisine, and art—reflects its history as a colony, fusing cultural elements brought by immigration from Europe and the Middle East , with those brought by the African diaspora , as well as with those of the various Indigenous civilizations that predate colonization. Spanish is the official language , although Creole, English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally. Colombia has been home to many indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish first landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by
1529-740: A representative of Sinn Féin who was known to be stationed in Cuba . Jim Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly (known as the Colombia Three ), were arrested in Colombia in August 2001 and were accused of teaching bomb-making methods to FARC–EP. On 15 February 2002, the Colombia Three were charged with training FARC-EP members in bomb-making in Colombia. The Colombian authorities had received satellite footage of
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#17329306297121668-561: A republic—the current Republic of Colombia—in 1886. With the backing of the United States and France, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, resulting in Colombia's present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2005, there has been significant improvement in security, stability, and rule of law, as well as unprecedented economic growth and development. Colombia
1807-465: A school for U'Wa children, and were fighting against encroachment of U'Wa territory by multinational oil corporations. The killings were questioned by many and condemned by many others, and led the United States to increase pressure on the Pastrana administration to crack down on FARC guerrillas. With the hope of negotiating a peace settlement, on 7 November 1998, President Andrés Pastrana granted FARC-EP
1946-498: A secret supplement to his report to the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Yarborough encouraged the creation and deployment of a US-backed force to commit " paramilitary , sabotage and/or terrorist activities against known communist proponents". The new counter-insurgency policy was instituted as Plan Lazo in 1962 and called for both military operations and civic action programs in violent areas. Following Yarborough's recommendations,
2085-556: A single rapid . Cuembí is only 320 km (200 mi) from the Pacific Ocean , in a straight line, passing through the town of Pasto in southern Colombia. Creveaux discovered the river sediments to be free of rock to the base of the Andes ; the river banks were of argillaceous earth and the bottom of fine sand . During the Amazon rubber boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
2224-594: A year earlier, when the two men were leading a march for peace from Medellín to Caicedo in Antioquia. On 13 July 2004, the office of the United Nations ' High Commissioner for Human Rights publicly condemned the group, given evidence that FARC-EP violated article 17 of the additional Protocol II of the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law, as a result of the 10 July massacre of seven peasants and
2363-541: Is approximately 7 times bigger. Colombia has about 2,000 species of marine fish and is the second most diverse country in freshwater fish . It is also the country with the most endemic species of butterflies , is first in orchid species, and has approximately 7,000 species of beetles . Colombia is second in the number of amphibian species and is the third most diverse country in reptiles and palms . There are about 1,900 species of mollusks and according to estimates there are about 300,000 species of invertebrates in
2502-664: Is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments . The Capital District of Bogotá is also the country's largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub. Other major urban areas include Medellín , Cali , Barranquilla , Cartagena , Santa Marta , Cúcuta , Ibagué , Villavicencio and Bucaramanga . It covers an area of 1,141,748 square kilometers (440,831 sq mi) and has
2641-458: Is characterized for being tropical presenting variations within six natural regions and depending on the altitude, temperature, humidity , winds and rainfall. Colombia has a diverse range of climate zones, including tropical rainforests , savannas , steppes , deserts and mountain climates. Mountain climate is one of the unique features of the Andes and other high altitude reliefs where climate
2780-476: Is determined by elevation. Below 1,000 meters (3,281 ft) in elevation is the warm altitudinal zone , where temperatures are above 24 °C (75.2 °F). About 82.5% of the country's total area lies in the warm altitudinal zone. The temperate climate altitudinal zone located between 1,001 and 2,000 meters (3,284 and 6,562 ft) is characterized for presenting an average temperature ranging between 17 and 24 °C (62.6 and 75.2 °F). The cold climate
2919-408: Is present between 2,001 and 3,000 meters (6,565 and 9,843 ft) and the temperatures vary between 12 and 17 °C (53.6 and 62.6 °F). Beyond lies the alpine conditions of the forested zone and then the treeless grasslands of the páramos . Above 4,000 meters (13,123 ft), where temperatures are below freezing, the climate is glacial , a zone of permanent snow and ice. Colombia is one of
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#17329306297123058-603: Is recognized for its healthcare system , being the best healthcare in Latin America according to the World Health Organization and 22nd in the world. Its diversified economy is the third-largest in South America, with macroeconomic stability and favorable long-term growth prospects. Colombia is one of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries ; it has the highest level of biodiversity per square mile in
3197-472: Is the sixth country in the world by magnitude of total renewable freshwater supply, and still has large reserves of freshwater. The government of Colombia takes place within the framework of a presidential participatory democratic republic as established in the Constitution of 1991. In accordance with the principle of separation of powers , government is divided into three branches: the executive branch,
3336-647: Is to bring together local stakeholders to collaboratively protect wilderness. As of June 2024, the British government warns against "all but essential travel" to some areas within 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the south of the river. Colombia Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America . The Colombian mainland
3475-485: The latifundio type of industrial farm (more than 50 hectares) occupied more than 77 per cent of arable land in the country. The AED policy increased the concentration of land ownership among cattle ranchers and urban industrialists, whose businesses expanded their profits as a result of reductions in the cost of labor wages after the influx of thousands of displaced peasants into the cities. During this period, most rural workers lacked basic medical care and malnutrition
3614-551: The AUC (right-wing paramilitaries) had ceased to function formally as an organization . In February 2008, millions of Colombians demonstrated against FARC and other outlawed groups. After peace negotiations in Cuba , the Colombian government of President Juan Manuel Santos and the guerrillas of the FARC-EP announced a final agreement to end the conflict. However, a referendum to ratify
3753-656: The Alliance for Progress . Despite the progress in certain sectors, many social and political problems continued, and guerrilla groups were formally created such as the FARC , the ELN and the M-19 to fight the government and political apparatus. Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict between government forces , leftist guerrilla groups and right wing paramilitaries . The conflict escalated in
3892-479: The Amazon basin . The war ended with a peace deal brokered by the League of Nations . The League finally awarded the disputed area to Colombia in June 1934. 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"). Its cause was mainly mounting tensions between
4031-515: The Amazon rainforest . Together these lowlands make up over half Colombia's territory, but they contain less than 6% of the population. To the north the Caribbean coast , home to 21.9% of the population and the location of the major port cities of Barranquilla and Cartagena , generally consists of low-lying plains, but it also contains the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, which includes
4170-619: The Andean Community ; it is also a NATO Global Partner and a major non-NATO ally of the United States . The name "Colombia" is derived from the last name of the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus ( Latin : Christophorus Columbus , Italian : Cristoforo Colombo , Spanish: Cristóbal Colón ). It was conceived as a reference to all of the New World. The name was later adopted by
4309-637: The Andes and Amazon basin . The oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley 100 kilometers (62 mi) southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the Paleoindian period (18,000–8000 BCE). At Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the Archaic Period (~8000–2000 BCE) have been found. Vestiges indicate that there was also early occupation in
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4448-669: The Casa de Contratación and nautical science was an essential pillar of the Iberian expansion . In 1542, the region of New Granada, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America, became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru , with its capital in Lima . In 1547, New Granada became a separate captaincy-general within the viceroyalty, with its capital at Santa Fe de Bogota. In 1549, the Royal Audiencia
4587-507: The Congress , a bicameral institution comprising a 166-seat Chamber of Representatives and a 102-seat Senate . The Senate is elected nationally and the Chamber of Representatives is elected in electoral districts. Members of both houses are elected to serve four-year terms two months before the president, also by popular vote. The judicial branch is headed by four high courts , consisting of
4726-770: The Guamués River , San Miguel, Güeppí, Cumpuya, Algodón, Igara-Paraná, Yaguas, Cotuhé, and Paraná de Jacurapá rivers. The river flows through the Solimões-Japurá moist forests ecoregion. List of the major tributaries of the Içá–Putumayo (from the mouth upwards): In the late 19th century, the Içá was navigated by the French explorer Jules Crevaux (1847–1882). He ascended it in a steamship drawing 1.8 meters (6 ft) of water, and running day and night. He reached Cuembí , 1,300 km (800 mi) above its mouth, without finding
4865-665: The Llanos Orientales and went over the Cordillera Oriental in a search for El Dorado , 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. The conquistadors made frequent alliances with the enemies of different indigenous communities. Indigenous allies were crucial to conquest, as well as to creating and maintaining empire. Indigenous peoples in Colombia experienced
5004-654: The Magdalena River Valley. A site including eight miles (13 km) of pictographs that is under study at Serranía de la Lindosa was revealed in November 2020. Their age is suggested as being 12,500 years old (c. 10,480 B.C.) by the anthropologists working on the site, because of extinct fauna depicted. It was during the earliest known human occupation of the area. Between 5000 and 1000 BCE, hunter-gatherer tribes transitioned to agrarian societies; fixed settlements were established, and pottery appeared. Beginning in
5143-691: The Pacific Coastal region; the Caribbean coastal region; the Llanos (plains); the Amazon rainforest region; to the insular area , comprising islands in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It shares its maritime limits with Costa Rica , Nicaragua , Honduras , Jamaica , Haiti , and the Dominican Republic . Colombia is bordered to the northwest by Panama , to the east by Venezuela and Brazil, and to
5282-501: 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). When Venezuela, Ecuador, and Cundinamarca came to exist as independent states, the former Department of Cundinamarca adopted the name " Republic of New Granada ". New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the Granadine Confederation . In 1863
5421-556: The Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board and the government on neutral territory in Caracas , Venezuela and Tlaxcala , Mexico. However, the war did not stop, and armed attacks by both sides continued. The negotiation process was broken off in 1993 after no agreement was reached. The Coordinating Board disappeared not long after that time, and guerrilla groups continued their activities independently. Before
5560-776: The Supreme Court which deals with penal and civil matters, the Council of State , which has special responsibility for administrative law and also provides legal advice to the executive, the Constitutional Court , responsible for assuring the integrity of the Colombian constitution, and the Superior Council of Judicature , responsible for auditing the judicial branch. Colombia operates a system of civil law , which since 1991 has been applied through an adversarial system . Despite
5699-478: The United Nations . One month later, FARC announced its reformation as a legal political party , in accordance with the terms of the peace deal. However, about 2,000 to 2,500 FARC dissidents still take on FARC's original doctrine and continue with drug trafficking, though far smaller than the group at its peak. A small faction of FARC leaders announced a return to armed activity on 29 August 2019, stating that
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5838-585: The barrios discussing social problems, building support for the UP, and determining the sociopolitical stance of the urban peasantry. The UP performed better in elections than any other leftist party in Colombia's history. In 1986, UP candidates won 350 local council seats, 23 deputy positions in departmental assemblies, 9 seats in the House, and 6 seats in the Senate. The 1986 presidential candidate, Jaime Pardo Leal , won 4.6% of
5977-561: The megadiverse countries in biodiversity , ranking first in bird species . Colombia is the country with the planet's highest biodiversity, having the highest rate of species by area as well as the largest number of endemisms (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) of any country. About 10% of the species of the Earth live in Colombia, including over 1,900 species of bird, more than in Europe and North America combined. Colombia has 10% of
6116-664: The nationalization of foreign businesses, Colombian banks, and transportation, and greater public access to mass media . While many members of the UP were involved with the FARC–EP, the large majority of them were not and came from a wide variety of backgrounds such as labor unions and socialist parties such as the PCC. In the cities, the FARC–EP began integrating itself with the UP and forming Juntas Patrióticas (or "solidarity cells") – small groups of people associated with labor unions, student activist groups, and peasant leagues, who traveled into
6255-477: The "coca boom" allowed them to expand into an irregular army, which would then stage large-scale attacks on Colombian troops. They also began sending fighters to Vietnam and the Soviet Union for advanced military training. They also planned to move closer to middle-sized cities, as opposed to only remote rural areas, and closer to areas rich in natural resources, in order to create a strong economic infrastructure. It
6394-425: The 1200s, Malayo-Polynesians and Native Americans in Colombia made contact, thereby spreading Native American genetics from Precolonial Colombia to some Pacific Ocean islands. Alonso de Ojeda (who had sailed with Columbus) reached the Guajira Peninsula in 1499. Spanish explorers, led by Rodrigo de Bastidas , made the first exploration of the Caribbean coast in 1500. Christopher Columbus navigated near
6533-426: 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 1989–1994. The United States has been heavily involved in the conflict since its beginnings, when in the early 1960s the U.S. government encouraged
6672-611: The 1st millennium BCE, groups of Amerindians including the Muisca , Zenú , Quimbaya , and Tairona developed the political system of cacicazgos with a pyramidal structure of power headed by caciques . The Muisca inhabited mainly the area of what is now the Departments of Boyacá and Cundinamarca high plateau ( Altiplano Cundiboyacense ) where they formed the Muisca Confederation . They farmed maize, potato, quinoa, and cotton, and traded gold, emeralds , blankets, ceramic handicrafts, coca and especially rock salt with neighboring nations. The Tairona inhabited northern Colombia in
6811-417: The 2000 film Proof of Life starring Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe . Over this period in Colombia, the cultivation of different drugs expanded and there were widespread coca farmers' marches. These marches brought to a halt several major arteries in southern Colombia. Government officials said that FARC-EP had forced the protesters to participate. According to social anthropologist María Clemencia Ramírez,
6950-438: The Caribbean in 1502. In 1508, Vasco Núñez de Balboa accompanied an expedition to the territory through the region of Gulf of Urabá and they founded the town of Santa María la Antigua del Darién in 1510, the first stable settlement on the continent. Santa Marta was founded in 1525, and Cartagena in 1533. Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada led an expedition to the interior in April 1536, and christened
7089-490: The Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party agreed to create the National Front , 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
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#17329306297127228-461: The Colombian Declaration of Independence, issued on 20 July 1810, the day that is now celebrated as the nation's Independence Day. This movement followed the independence of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) in 1804, which provided some support to an eventual leader of this rebellion: Simón Bolívar . Francisco de Paula Santander also would play a decisive role. A movement was initiated by Antonio Nariño , who opposed Spanish centralism and led
7367-442: The Colombian government continued its negotiations with the FARC–EP and other armed groups, some of which were successful. Some of the groups which demobilized at this time include the EPL , the ERP , the Quintín Lame Armed Movement, and the M-19 . On 10 August 1990, senior leader Jacobo Arenas, an ideological leader and founder of FARC–EP, died of a heart attack at the Casa Verde compound in Colombia's eastern mountains. Towards
7506-445: The Colombian government did not respect peace agreements, a position Colombian officials disagreed with. The Colombian government responded with preemptive strikes, killing FARC members planning to lead rearmament activities. In October of 2023, the Colombian government engaged in peace talks with the FARC splinter group and agreed to a ceasefire. In January, both sides agreed to extend the ceasefire to June 2024. As of February 2024,
7645-443: The Colombian government effected a policy of Accelerated Economic Development (AED), the agribusiness plan of Lauchlin Currie , a Canadian-born U.S. economist who owned ranching land in Colombia. The plan promoted industrial farming that would produce great yields of agricultural and animal products for worldwide exportation, while the Colombian government would provide subsidies to large-scale private farms. The AED policy came at
7784-511: The Colombian military recruited civilians into "civil defense" groups which worked alongside the military in its counter-insurgency campaign, as well as in civilian intelligence networks to gather information on guerrilla activity. Doug Stokes argues that it was not until the early part of the 1980s that the Colombian government attempted to move away from the counterinsurgency strategy represented by Plan Lazo and Yarborough's 1962 recommendations. The Colombian government began attacking many of
7923-478: 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 are some of the international actors that have contributed to the violence of the conflict. Beginning in the mid-1970s Colombian drug cartels became major producers, processors and exporters of illegal drugs , primarily marijuana and cocaine . On 4 July 1991,
8062-525: The Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental they reach 5,000 m (16,404 ft). At 2,600 m (8,530 ft), Bogotá is the highest city of its size in the world. The main rivers of Colombia are Magdalena, Cauca, Guaviare , Atrato , Meta , Putumayo and Caquetá . 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. The climate of Colombia
8201-428: The Ecuadorian side of the border by Colombian military forces , sparking the 2008 Andean diplomatic crisis . In November 2019, scientists from the Field Museum worked with partners from Colombia and Peru to perform a three-week "rapid inventory" of almost 7 million acres around the Putumayo, one of the few Amazonian rivers that remains undammed, documenting 1,706 species. The goal of these fast surveys of remote areas
8340-449: The FARC between August 2002 and their collective demobilization in 2017, despite potentially severe punishment, including execution, for attempted desertion in the FARC. FARC made 239 attacks on the energy infrastructure; however, they showed signs of fatigue. By 2014, the FARC were not seeking to engage in outright combat with the army, instead concentrating on small-scale ambushes against isolated army units. Meanwhile, from 2008 to 2017,
8479-436: The FARC opted to attack police patrols with home-made mortars, sniper rifles, and explosives, as they were not considered strong enough to engage police units directly. This followed the trend of the 1990s during the strengthening of Colombian government forces . In June 2016, the FARC signed a ceasefire accord with the President of Colombia , Juan Manuel Santos in Havana . This accord was seen as an historic step to ending
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#17329306297128618-476: The FARC–EP forces was high; in 2007, the FARC said they were an armed force of 18,000 men and women; in 2010, the Colombian military calculated that FARC forces consisted of about 13,800 members, 50 percent of whom were armed guerrilla combatants; and in 2011 the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos , said that FARC–EP forces comprised fewer than 10,000 members. The Colombian Ministry of Defense reported 19,504 deserters , or individually demobilized members, from
8757-444: The FARC–EP were funded by kidnap and ransom , illegal mining , extortion , and taxation of various forms of economic activity, and the production and distribution of illegal drugs . They are only one actor in a complex conflict where atrocities have been committed by the state, right-wing paramilitaries, and left-wing guerrillas not limited to FARC, such as ELN, M-19, and others. Colombia's National Centre for Historical Memory ,
8896-517: The FARC–EP, along with a large number of other leftist and communist groups, formed a political party known as the Union Patriótica ("Patriotic Union", UP). The UP sought political reforms (known as Apertura Democratica ) such as constitutional reform , more democratic local elections, political decentralization, and ending the domination of Colombian politics by the Liberal and Conservative parties. They also pursued socioeconomic reforms such land redistribution , greater health and education spending,
9035-468: The IRA over the three's return to Ireland adding that the Irish government would consider any request from the Colombian authorities for their extradition . Colombian vice-president Francisco Santos Calderón did not rule out allowing them to serve their sentences in Ireland. For most of the period between 2002 and 2005, the FARC-EP was in a strategic withdrawal due to the increasing military and police actions of new president Álvaro Uribe , which led to
9174-407: The Igara-Paraná tributary of the Putumayo River to the Japurá River. Arana's production network mainly relied on the labor of enslaved indigenous people, who suffered from widespread human rights abuses. These abuses were first publicized in 1909 within the British press by the American engineer Walter Hardenburg , who had been briefly imprisoned by Arana's private police force in 1907 while visiting
9313-400: The Liberal–Conservative bipartisan system lasted until 1990. The 16-year extension of the bipartisan power-sharing agreement permitted the Liberal and Conservative elites to consolidate their socioeconomic control of Colombian society, and to strengthen the military to suppress political reform and radical politics proposing alternative forms of government for Colombia. During the 1960s,
9452-480: The PCC's attempts at organizing peasants were met with violent repression by the Colombian government and the landowning class. U.S. military intelligence estimated that in 1962, the size of the PCC had grown to 8,000 to 10,000 active members, and an additional 28,000 supporters. In 1961, a guerrilla leader and long-time PCC organizer named Manuel Marulanda Vélez declared an independent "Republic of Marquetalia". The Lleras government attempted unsuccessfully to attack
9591-426: The Philippines, the source of Asian products like silk and porcelain which was in demand in the Americas. Illegal trade between Peruvians, Filipinos, and Mexicans continued in secret, as smuggled Asian goods ended up in Córdoba, Colombia , the distribution center for illegal Asian imports, due to the collusion between these peoples against the authorities in Spain. They settled and traded with each other while disobeying
9730-431: The Spanish Crown. To protect the indigenous peoples, several forms of land ownership and regulation were established by the Spanish colonial authorities: resguardos , encomiendas and haciendas . However, secret anti-Spanish discontentment was already brewing for Colombians since Spain prohibited direct trade between the Viceroyalty of Peru , which included Colombia, and the Viceroyalty of New Spain , which included
9869-408: The Venezuelan-born Simón Bolívar , 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. During the Independence War, between 250 and 400 thousand people (12–20% of the pre-war population) died. The territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the Republic of Colombia , organized as
10008-656: The area (especially the Panama Canal construction and control) led to the separation of the Department of Panama 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 role in the creation of Panama, and Colombia recognized Panama under the terms of the Thomson–Urrutia Treaty . Colombia and Peru went to war because of territory disputes far in
10147-471: The armed conflict and to satisfy victims' right to justice . During his visit to Colombia, Pope Francis paid tribute to the victims of the conflict. In June 2018, Iván Duque , the candidate of the right-wing Democratic Center party, won the presidential election . On 7 August 2018, he was sworn in as the new President of Colombia to succeed Juan Manuel Santos. Colombia's relations with Venezuela have fluctuated due to ideological differences between
10286-453: The atmosphere, here, is tense, and it seems a revolution may be brewing. The countryside is in open revolt, and the army is powerless to suppress it." In 1948, in the aftermath of the assassination of the populist politician Jorge Eliécer Gaitán , there occurred a decade of large-scale political violence throughout Colombia, which was a Conservative – Liberal civil war that killed more than 200,000 people. In Colombian history and culture,
10425-577: The atrocities of the PAC, for which he received a knighthood . Casement's reports later formed much of the basis for the 1987 book Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man by the anthropologist Michael Taussig , which analyzed how the acts of terror committed by British capitalists along the Putumayo River in Colombia had created a distinct "space of death." Today, the river is a major transport route. Almost
10564-658: The bipartisan political forces, occasionally igniting very bloody civil wars, the most significant being the Thousand Days' War (1899–1902), in which between 100 and 180 thousand Colombians lost their lives when the Liberal Party , supported by Venezuela , Ecuador , Nicaragua , and Guatemala rebelled against the Nationalist government and took control of Santander , ultimately being defeated in 1902 by nationalist forces. The United States of America's intentions to influence
10703-513: The break off of dialogue, a letter written by a group of Colombian intellectuals (among whom were Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez ) to the Simón Bolívar Guerrilla Coordinating Board was released denouncing the approach taken by the FARC–EP and the dire consequences that it was having for the country. In the early 1990s, the FARC–EP had between 7,000 and 10,000 fighters, organized into 70 fronts spread throughout
10842-491: The capture or desertion of many fighters and medium-level commanders. Uribe ran for office on an anti-FARC-EP platform and was determined to defeat FARC-EP in a bid to create "confidence" in the country. Uribe's own father had been killed by FARC-EP in an attempted kidnapping in 1983. In 2002 and 2003, FARC broke up 10 large ranches in Meta, an eastern Colombian province, and distributed the land to local subsistence farmers. During
10981-661: 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 Medellín , Manizales , Pereira , and Armenia ; and the Cordillera Oriental , extending northeast to the Guajira Peninsula and including Bogotá, Bucaramanga , and Cúcuta . Peaks in the Cordillera Occidental exceed 4,700 m (15,420 ft), and in
11120-559: The city, but, after achieving initial inroads, devastating outbreaks of disease crippled their numbers, and the British were forced to withdraw. The battle became one of Spain's most decisive victories in the conflict, and secured Spanish dominance in the Caribbean until the Seven Years' War . The 18th-century priest, botanist, and mathematician José Celestino Mutis was delegated by Viceroy Antonio Caballero y Góngora to conduct an inventory of
11259-440: The communist groups in the early 1960s, attempting to re-assimilate the territories under the control of the national government. FARC was formed in 1964 by Manuel Marulanda Vélez and other PCC members, after a military attack on the community of Marquetalia . 16,000 Colombian troops attacked the community, which only had 48 armed fighters. Marulanda and 47 others fought against government forces at Marquetalia and then escaped into
11398-472: The communities to drive out the guerrillas, due to fears that "a Cuban-style revolutionary situation might develop". After the failed attacks, several army outposts were set up in the area. In October 1959, the United States sent a "Special Survey Team" composed of counterinsurgency experts to investigate Colombia's internal security situation. Among other policy recommendations the US team advised that "to shield
11537-542: The countries that emerged after the dissolution of Gran Colombia , the other two being Ecuador and Venezuela. Colombia was the first constitutional government in South America, and the Liberal and Conservative 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. Internal political and territorial divisions led to
11676-406: The country's legitimate president. In January 2020, Colombia rejected Maduro's proposal that the two countries restore diplomatic relations. Protests started on 28 April 2021 when the government proposed a tax bill that would greatly expand the range of the 19 percent value-added tax . The 19 June 2022 election run-off vote ended in a win for former guerrilla, Gustavo Petro , taking 50.47% of
11815-586: The country's tallest peaks ( Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar ), and the La Guajira Desert . By contrast the narrow and discontinuous Pacific coastal lowlands , backed by the Serranía de Baudó mountains, are sparsely populated and covered in dense vegetation. The principal Pacific port is Buenaventura . Part of the Ring of Fire , a region of the world subject to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions , in
11954-549: The country. From 1996 to 1998 they inflicted a series of strikes on the Colombian Army, including a three-day offensive in Mitú ( Vaupés department ), taking a large number of soldiers prisoner. On 23 September 1994, the FARC kidnapped American agricultural scientist Thomas Hargrove and held him captive for 11 months. After his release, Hargrove wrote a book about his ordeal which inspired
12093-491: The country. In Colombia there are 32 terrestrial biomes and 314 types of ecosystems . Protected areas and the "National Park System" cover an area of about 14,268,224 hectares (142,682.24 km ) and account for 12.77% of the Colombian territory. Compared to neighboring countries, rates of deforestation in Colombia are still relatively low. Colombia had a 2018 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.26/10, ranking it 25th globally out of 172 countries. Colombia
12232-692: The deal was unsuccessful. Afterward, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal in November 2016, which the Colombian congress approved. In 2016, President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize . 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 Special Jurisdiction of Peace has been created to investigate, clarify, prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and grave breaches of international humanitarian law which occurred during
12371-474: The demilitarised zone. Shortly after the end of talks, the FARC-EP kidnapped Oxygen Green Party presidential candidate Íngrid Betancourt , who was travelling in Colombian territory. Betancourt was rescued by the Colombian government on 2 July 2008 (see Operation Jaque below). On 24 April 2002, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on International Relations published the findings of its investigation into IRA activities in Colombia. Their report alleged
12510-451: 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 "Confederación Granadina" ( Granadine Confederation ). After a two-year civil war in 1863, the United States of Colombia was created, which became known as the Republic of Colombia in 1886. Internal divisions remained between
12649-587: The districts through which he passed " New Kingdom of Granada ". In August 1538, he provisionally founded its capital near the Muisca cacicazgo of Muyquytá , and named it "Santa Fe". The name soon acquired a suffix and was called Santa Fe de Bogotá. Two other notable journeys by early conquistadors to the interior took place in the same period. Sebastián de Belalcázar , conqueror of Quito , traveled north and founded Cali , in 1536, and Popayán , in 1537; from 1536 to 1539, German conquistador Nikolaus Federmann crossed
12788-594: The end of 1990, the Colombian army, with no advance warning and while negotiations were still ongoing with the group, attacked and seized four linked bases. The last of these a compound known as Casa Verde, which housed the National Secretariat of the FARC–EP, was seized on 15 December 1990. The Colombian government argued that the attack was caused by the FARC–EP's lack of commitment to the process, demonstrated by continuing its criminal activities and FARC attacks in November. On 3 June 1991, dialogue resumed between
12927-462: The entire length of the river is navigated by boats . Cattle farming, along with the rubber trade, is also a major industry on the banks of the Içá. Rubber and balatá (a substance very much like gutta-percha , to the point where it is often called gutta-balatá ) from the Içá area are shipped to Manaus , Brazil. On March 1, 2008, Raúl Reyes and 14 of his fellow Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia guerrilla companions were killed while on
13066-476: The exercise of government power by presenting a joint National Front candidate to each election and restricting the participation of other political movements. The pact was ratified as a constitutional amendment by a national plebiscite on 1 December 1957 and was supported by the Church as well as Colombia's business leaders. The initial power-sharing agreement was effective until 1974; nonetheless, with modifications,
13205-458: The expedition as the astronomer Francisco José de Caldas , the scientist Francisco Antonio Zea , the zoologist Jorge Tadeo Lozano and the painter Salvador Rizo . Rebellions against Spanish rule had occurred in the empire since the advent of conquest and colonization, 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
13344-486: The expense of the small-scale family farms that only yielded food supplies for local consumption. Based on a legalistic interpretation of what constituted "efficient use" of the land, thousands of peasants were forcefully evicted from their farms and migrated to the cities, where they became part of the industrial labor pool. In 1961, the dispossession of farmland had produced 40,000 landless families and by 1969 their numbers amounted to 400,000 throughout Colombia. By 1970,
13483-518: The first two years of the Uribe administration, several FARC-EP fronts, most notably in Cundinamarca and Antioquia , were broken by the government's military operations. On 5 May 2003, the FARC assassinated the governor of Antioquia, Guillermo Gaviria Correa , his advisor for peace, former defence minister Gilberto Echeverri Mejía , and eight soldiers. The FARC had kidnapped Mr. Gaviria and Mr. Echeverri
13622-496: The forced Spanish monopoly. The Viceroyalty of New Granada was established in 1717, then temporarily removed, and then re-established in 1739. Its capital was Santa Fé de Bogotá. This Viceroyalty included some other provinces of northwestern South America that had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Viceroyalties of New Spain or Peru and correspond mainly to today's Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Bogotá became one of
13761-611: The illicit narcotics industry in Latin America and Central Asia, has noted similarities in the reliance on the drug trade by both the FARC-EP and the Taliban . In his thesis, Labrousse asserts that the FARC-EP leadership, like that of the Taliban, explicitly bans the use of drugs by its membership and within the local population, but vigorously advocates for legalization of drug trafficking as a tool to finance its military objectives. In both cases,
13900-401: The insurgency groups manage to garner significant political support of farmers who serve to benefit from the illicit drug trade, prompting grassroots mobilization, political activism, and agitation to demand legalization by the government. In March 1999 members of a local FARC contingent killed three United States–based indigenous rights activists, who were working with the U'Wa people to build
14039-410: The interests of both Colombian and US authorities against 'interventionist' charges any special aid given for internal security was to be sterile and covert in nature". In February 1962, three years after the 1959 "US Special Survey Team", a Fort Bragg top-level U.S. Special Warfare team headed by Special Warfare Center commander General William P. Yarborough , visited Colombia for a second survey. In
14178-575: 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 (in the southwestern departments of Cauca and Nariño ), these are divided into three branches known as cordilleras (mountain ranges): the Cordillera Occidental , running adjacent to the Pacific coast and including
14317-711: The isolated mountain range of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta . The Quimbaya inhabited regions of the Cauca River Valley between the Western and Central Ranges 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. During
14456-502: The kidnapping of several political figures, Pastrana ended the peace talks on 21 February 2002 and ordered the armed forces to start retaking the FARC-EP controlled zone, beginning at midnight. A 48-hour respite that had been previously agreed to with the rebel group was not respected as the government argued that it had already been granted during an earlier crisis in January, when most of the more prominent FARC-EP commanders had apparently left
14595-629: The killings are known as La Violencia (The Violence, 1948–58); most of the people killed were peasants and laborers in rural Colombia. In 1957–1958, the political leadership of the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party agreed to establish a bipartisan political system known as the National Front (Frente Nacional, 1958–74). The Liberal and the Conservative parties agreed to alternate in
14734-516: The land around the Putumayo became a major rubber -producing region, where Julio César Arana's Peruvian Amazon Company maintained a production network centered on the nearby city of Iquitos . His enterprise on the Putumayo was divided into two agencies, El Encanto one of which was on the Cara Paraná tributary and the other was La Chorrera on the Igara-Paraná. The latter's territory extended from
14873-516: The legislative branch and the judicial branch. As the head of the executive branch, the President of Colombia serves as both head of state and head of government , followed by the Vice President and the Council of Ministers . The president is elected by popular vote to serve a single four-year term (In 2015, Colombia's Congress approved the repeal of a 2004 constitutional amendment that changed
15012-517: The men with FARC-EP in an isolated jungle area, where they were thought to have spent five weeks. They could have spent up to 20 years in gaol if the allegations were proved. During October 2001, a key witness in the case against the three Irish republicans disappeared. This came as Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams admitted one of the men was the party's representative in Cuba. The missing witness,
15151-614: The mid-16th century, they had colonized much of present-day Colombia, and established the New Kingdom of Granada , with Santa Fé de Bogotá as its capital. Independence from the Spanish Empire was achieved in 1819, with what is now Colombia emerging as the United Provinces of New Granada . The new polity experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before becoming
15290-421: The mountains along with the other fighters. These 48 men formed the core of FARC, which later grew in size to hundreds of fighters. In 1982, FARC–EP held its Seventh Guerrilla Conference, which called for a major shift in FARC's strategy. FARC had historically been doing most of its fighting in rural areas and was limited to small-scale confrontations with Colombian military forces. By 1982, increased income from
15429-408: The name was again changed, this time to United States of Colombia , before finally adopting its present name – the Republic of Colombia – in 1886. To refer to this country, the Colombian government uses the terms Colombia and República de Colombia . Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human civilization from Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to
15568-472: The national vote. Since 1986, thousands of members of the UP and other leftist parties were murdered (estimates range from 4,000 to 6,000). In 1987, the President of the UP, Jaime Pardo, was murdered. In 1989 a single large landholder had over 400 UP members murdered. Over 70% of all Colombian presidential candidates in 1990—and 100% of those from center-left parties—were assassinated. During this period,
15707-608: The nature of New Granada. Started in 1783, this became known as the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada . It classified plants and wildlife, and founded the first astronomical observatory in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá. In July 1801 the Prussian scientist Alexander von Humboldt reached Santa Fe de Bogotá where he met with Mutis. In addition, historical figures in the process of independence in New Granada emerged from
15846-420: The one-term limit for presidents to a two-term limit). At the provincial level executive power is vested in department governors , municipal mayors and local administrators for smaller administrative subdivisions, such as corregimientos or comunas . All regional elections are held one year and five months after the presidential election. The legislative branch of government is represented nationally by
15985-550: The opposition against the Viceroyalty . Cartagena became independent in November 1811. In 1811, the United Provinces of New Granada were proclaimed, headed by Camilo Torres Tenorio . The emergence of two distinct ideological currents among the patriots ( federalism and centralism ) gave rise to a period of instability called the Patria Boba . Shortly after the Napoleonic Wars ended, Ferdinand VII , recently restored to
16124-513: The police and military members they held captive (whom they considered to be prisoners of war) through exchanges with the government for imprisoned FARC-EP members. During the duration of the DMZ negotiations, a small humanitarian exchange took place. The group demanded a demilitarised zone including two towns (Florida and Pradera) in the strategic region of Valle del Cauca, where much of the current military action against them has taken place. This region
16263-410: The principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with Lima and Mexico City , though it remained less developed compared to those two cities in several economic and logistical ways. Great Britain declared war on Spain in 1739, and the city of Cartagena quickly became a top target for the British. A massive British expeditionary force was dispatched to capture
16402-470: The region; Hardenburg later published his book The Putumayo: The Devil's Paradise in 1913. In response to Hardenburg's exposé, the British government sent the consul Roger Casement (who had previously publicized Belgian atrocities in the rubber business of the Congo Free State ) to investigate the matter; between 1910 and 1911, Casement subsequently wrote a series of condemnatory reports criticizing
16541-507: The regions of El Abra and Tequendama in Cundinamarca . The oldest pottery discovered in the Americas, found in San Jacinto , dates to 5000–4000 BCE. Indigenous people inhabited the territory that is now Colombia by 12,500 BCE. Nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes at the El Abra, Tibitó and Tequendama sites near present-day Bogotá traded with one another and with other cultures from
16680-499: The relationship between the guerrillas and the marches was ambivalent: FARC-EP promoted the 1996 protests as part of their participatory democracy policies yet also exercised authoritarianism , which led to tensions and negotiations with peasant leaders, but the cocalero movement brought proposals on behalf of the coca growers and defended its own interests. French sociologist Alain Labrousse, who has conducted extensive research on
16819-566: 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. It lies between latitudes 12°N and 4°S and between longitudes 67° and 79°W . East of the Andes lies the savanna of the Llanos , part of the Orinoco River basin, and in the far southeast, the jungle of
16958-590: The subsequent displacement of 80 individuals in San Carlos, Antioquia. In early February 2005, a series of small-scale actions by the FARC-EP around the southwestern departments of Colombia, resulted in an estimated 40 casualties. The FARC–EP, in response to government military operations in the south and in the southeast, displaced its military centre of gravity towards the Nariño , Putumayo and Cauca departments. The FARC-EP originally said that they would only release
17097-424: The throne in Spain, unexpectedly decided to send military forces to retake most of northern South America. The viceroyalty was restored under the command of Juan de Sámano , whose regime punished those who participated in the patriotic movements, ignoring the political nuances of the juntas . The retribution stoked renewed rebellion, which, combined with a weakened Spain, made possible a successful rebellion led by
17236-780: The two 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 should be peaceful. Colombia proposed the idea of the Sustainable Development Goals and a final document was adopted by the United Nations. In February 2019, Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia after Colombian President Ivan Duque had helped Venezuelan opposition politicians deliver humanitarian aid to their country. Colombia recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as
17375-632: The two leading political parties, which subsequently ignited after the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 1948. The ensuing riots in Bogotá, known as El Bogotazo , spread throughout the country and claimed the lives of at least 180,000 Colombians. Colombia entered the Korean War when Laureano Gómez was elected president. It was the only Latin American country to join
17514-509: The vast majority of former FARC members have honored the 2016 peace agreement. However, in August 2024 the government announced an end to a ceasefire with the smaller dissident FARC faction the Estado Mayor Central, EMC, who reject the 2016 peace deal. "There is more repression of individual freedom here, than in any country we've been to; the police patrol the streets, carrying rifles, and demand your papers every few minutes ...
17653-400: The vote against the second most popular candidate, Antanas Mockus . A second round was required since no candidate received over the 50% winning threshold of votes. Santos won re-election with nearly 51% of the vote in second-round elections on 15 June 2014, beating right-wing rival Óscar Iván Zuluaga , who won 45%. In 2018, Iván Duque won in the second round of the election with 54% of
17792-432: The vote compared to 47.27% for independent candidate Rodolfo Hernández . The single-term limit for the country's presidency prevented President Iván Duque from seeking re-election. On 7 August 2022, Petro was sworn in, becoming the country's first leftist president. The geography of Colombia is characterized by its six main natural regions that present their unique characteristics, from the Andes mountain range region;
17931-573: The vote, against 42% for his left-wing rival, Gustavo Petro . His term as Colombia's president ran for four years, beginning on 7 August 2018. In 2022, Colombia elected Gustavo Petro, who became its first leftist leader, and Francia Marquez , who was the first black person elected as vice president. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia Governments: Governments: The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army (Spanish: Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia – Ejército del Pueblo , FARC–EP or FARC )
18070-417: 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 . The violence between the two political parties decreased first when Gustavo Rojas deposed the President of Colombia in a coup d'état and negotiated with the guerrillas, and then under the military junta of General Gabriel París . After Rojas' deposition,
18209-611: The war that has gone on for fifty years. On 25 August 2016, the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, announced that four years of negotiation had secured a peace deal with FARC and that a national referendum would take place on 2 October . The referendum failed with 50.24% voting against. On November 24, 2016, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised peace deal , which the Colombian Congress approved on 30 November. On 27 June 2017, FARC ceased to be an armed group, disarming itself and handing over its weapons to
18348-401: The working class. These groups began networking together to present a defensive front against the state-supported violence of large landholders. Members organized strikes, protests, seizures of land, and organized communist-controlled "self-defense communities" in southern Colombia that were able to resist state military forces, while providing for the subsistence needs of the populace. Many of
18487-691: The world and the second-highest level overall. Its territory encompasses Amazon rainforest , highlands , grasslands and deserts . It is the only country in South America with coastlines (and islands) along both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Colombia is a key member of major global and regional organizations including the UN , the WTO , the OECD , the OAS , the Pacific Alliance and
18626-421: The world's mammals species, 14% of the amphibian species and 18% of the bird species of the world. As for plants, the country has between 40,000 and 45,000 plant species , equivalent to 10 or 20% of total global species, which is even more remarkable given that Colombia is considered a country of intermediate size. Colombia is the second most biodiverse country in the world, lagging only after Brazil which
18765-466: Was a Marxist–Leninist guerrilla group involved in the continuing Colombian conflict starting in 1964. The FARC-EP was officially founded in 1966 from peasant self-defense groups formed from 1948 during the "Violencia" as a peasant force promoting a political line of agrarianism and anti-imperialism . They are known to employ a variety of military tactics , in addition to more unconventional methods, including terrorism . The operations of
18904-554: Was almost universal, which increased the rates of preventable disease and infant mortality. Communists were active throughout rural and urban Colombia in the period immediately following World War I . The Colombian Communist Party ( Partido Comunista Colombiano , PCC) was formally accredited by the Comintern in 1930. The PCC began establishing "peasant leagues" in rural areas and "popular fronts" in urban areas, calling for improved living and working conditions, education, and rights for
19043-408: Was also at this conference that FARC added the initials "EP", for " Ejército del Pueblo " or "People's Army", to the organization's name. In the early 1980s, President Belisario Betancur began discussing the possibility of peace talks with the guerrillas. This resulted in the 1984 La Uribe Agreement, which called for a cease-fire , which ended up lasting from 1984 to 1987. In 1985, members of
19182-519: Was created by a royal decree, and New Granada was ruled by the Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá , which at that time comprised the provinces of Santa Marta, Rio de San Juan, Popayán, Guayana and Cartagena. But important decisions were taken from the colony to Spain by the Council of the Indies . In the 16th century, European slave traders had begun to bring enslaved Africans to the Americas. Spain
19321-553: Was the only European power that did not establish factories in Africa to purchase slaves; the Spanish Empire instead relied on the asiento system, awarding merchants from other European nations the license to trade enslaved peoples to their overseas territories. This system brought Africans to Colombia, although many spoke out against the institution. The indigenous peoples could not be enslaved because they were legally subjects of
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