BASIC DATA

Land area	1141,748 sq Km
Population	44.7 million (2002)
Main cities	Bogotá (capital), Medellín, Cali , Barranquilla
Climate	Tropical on coast, temperate on plateaux.
Weather in Bogotá (altitude 2,560 metres)	Hottest month, March, 9-21º C; coldest months, July an d August, 8-19º C (average monthly minimum and maximum); Driest month, February, 51mm average rainfall; wettest month, October, 160mm average rainfall
Language	Spanish (official) many indigenous tribal languages
Measures	Metric system. The following special weights and measures are also used: Libra = 0.5kg Carga = 125 Kg. Arriba = 12.5 Kg. vara = 79.8 cm Quintal = 50 Kg. cuadra = 80 meters Saco = 62.5 Kg. fanegada 0.64 ha
Currency	Peso (Ps) = 100 centavos.
Time	5 hours behind GMT
Public holidays	January 1st, January 12th, March 22th, April 8th (Mandry Thursday), April 8th (Good Friday), May 1st, May 24th, June 14th, June 21st, July 5th, July 20th (National Day), August 7th, August 16th, October 18th, November 1st, November 15th, December 8th, December 25th
Foreign Direct Investment	2.034 (US$ million)
Foreign Direct Investment	2,48 (% of GDP)

GEOGRAPHY

Colombia lies at the north-west corner of South America, sharing frontiers with Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. It has a surface are of 440,00 square miles, the fourth largest in the continent after Brazil, Argentina and Peru. It has 1,800 miles of coast, 1,000 on the Caribbean and 800 on the Pacific. There are also the island, the most important being the San Andres and Providencia archipelago, some 450 miles away, the Islas del Rosario and San Bernardo, also in the Caribbean; and Gorgona, Gorgonilla and Malpelo in the Pacific. Territorial waters around the coasts and islands give Colombia some more distant neighbours, such as Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The Andes Mountains split into the Central and Western ranges just inside the southern border of the country, and a little further up there is a further split to the Easter Range. The country is thus naturally divided into large regions:
The Andes region contains most of the population, with major cities such as Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Popayán, Pasto, Tunja, Manizales, Pereira, Armenia, Cúcuta, Bucaramanga, Neiva and Ibagué.

The Caribbean region, with coastal plains stretching far inland, with cities such as Cartagena, Santa Matrta, Barranquilla, Riohacha, Valledupar, Sincelejo and Monteria - and the islands of San Andrés and Providencia, San Bernardo and other islands and cays.

The Pacific region, with a wild coast lines with jungles and mangroves, with Quibdo, the ports of Buenaventura and Tumaco and the islands of Gorgona , Gorgonilla and Malpelo.

Orinoquia to the East, centred on Villavicencio; and the jungle region of Amazonia, with the river-port of Leticia, capital of the Department of Amazonas.

The are other mountain massifs such as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, with among the highest peaks in the country, Cristobal Colon and Simon Bolivar, some 19,000 ft. high; La Macarena in the Department of Meta to the east and the Baudó range of hills running parallel to the Pacific coast.

Colombia is rich in water, its many rivers offering great potential for power generation, transport and recreation. The Magdalena, which rises in a tiny lake of the same name in southern Huila, is the main river in the system, flowing nearly 1,000 miles between the Central and Eastern ranges of the Andes to the Caribbean, at Bocas de Ceniza near Barranquilla. This waterway, once known as "Rio Grande de la Magdalena" is full of history, for long the main transport route in the country and the backbone of its development. The Cauca runs between the Central and Western ranges, rising in the Sotara paramo in Cauca and flowing 650 miles up into the Magdalena. The Amazon is the border with Brazil and Peru over a stretch of 70 miles, at some points 1-1/2 miles wide. The Orinoco is the border with Venezuela for 150 miles. Other rivers, great and small, flow down from the mountains, forming a vast network which irrigates the valleys and the plains.


CLIMATE

Colombia is in the Equatorial zone, but the high Andes give it a varied terrain, from humid jungles and tropical plains at sea level to the paramo and perpetual snows ore than 15,000 fts. Up. Climate therefore depends on altitude, wind, rain and moisture rather than seasons. The temperature fall about 6º C every 3,000ft of altitude, being around 30º C at sea level.

Colombia does not have seasons, and the climate of each region is quite stable all year round. There are minor variations, with a "summer" (Dry season) and a "winter" (rainy season). The dry season is usually in December-January and July-August, and the rains come in April-May and October-November - although this can vary considerably. Rainfall is also uneven, with the Chocó region in the north-west, where rainfall and humidity are among the highest in the world at one extreme, and the desert steppes, dry soils, thorny vegetation, high temperatures and low rainfall of the Guajira at the other.

The climate in the mountains falls into four main bands,; hot, sea level to 3,000ft.; temperate, 3,000-6,000ft.; cold, 6,000-9,000ft; and high paramo where the tallest peaks are covered in perpetual snow. Altitude controls not only the climate but also the agriculture of a given area, and production is amazingly varied.