Sunday, September 10, 2006

Colombia, an exciting country

Colombia has an extension of over one million square kilometers and has borders with Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and Ecuador. The capital is Bogota located at 2,600 meters of altitude in the Andes mountains.

The Colombian coast extends on both side of the country. On the Caribbean with 1610 km and the Pacific with 1290 km. The mineral resources of this country are important and varied. Colombia is the largest producer of emeralds in the world. It has important reserves of both oil and natural gas, coal, gold, silver, iron, platinum and salt.

With its 33 million inhabitants, more than half of the population is concentrated in the Andean region , at altitudes between 800 and 3000 m above sea level.

The President of the Republic heads the Executive branch. In an historical Colombian presidential elections, President Alvaro Uribe was recently re-elected immediately by direct popular vote, with an impressive 62.1% of support from the electorate and will govern until 2010.

Rich in natural resources and well positioned among the south American oil market, it suffers from a negative image represented by the drug cartels, such as the Cali Cartel. Thus, the "underground" economy is, in effect, very important. On the other hand coffee is vital to the country's economy, both by the extension of cultivated land and the income it generates from exports.

Colombia is the second largest producer of Coffee in the world after Brazil and is the largest producer of the Arabica blend. Colombian also grow sugar cane, rice, banana,
tobacco, tapioca, corn and cotton.

Colombia is proud of its great celebrities and idols in the different areas, which have granted international fame and recognition to the country, such Nobel award winner writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the painter Fernando Botero, singers as Shakira, Carlos Vives , Juanes and Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya.
By Dania Roberta Acevedo

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