Republic of Colombia

National name: República de Colombia

President: Alvaro Uribe (2002)

Area: 439,733 sq mi (1,138,910 sq km)

Population (2005 est.): 42,954,279 (growth rate: 1.5%); birth rate: 20.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 21.0/1000; life expectancy: 71.7; density per sq mi: 98

Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Santafé de Bogotá, 6,837,800

Other large cities: Cali, 2,283,200; Medellín, 1,957,800; Barranquilla, 1,330,400; Cartagena, 901,500

Monetary unit: Colombian Peso

Language: Spanish

Ethnicity/race: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1%

Religion: Roman Catholic 90%

Literacy rate: 93% (2003 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $281.1 billion; per capita $6,600. Real growth rate: 3.6%. Inflation: 5.9%. Unemployment: 13.6%. Arable land: 2%. Agriculture: coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp. Labor force: 20.7 million; services 46%, agriculture 30%, industry 24% (1990). Industries: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower. Exports: $15.5 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers. Imports: $15.34 billion (f.o.b., 2004 est.): iindustrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity. Major trading partners: U.S., Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, China, Japan, Germany (2003).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 5,433,565 (Dec. 1997); mobile cellular: 1,800,229 (Dec. 1998). Radio broadcast stations: AM 454, FM 34, shortwave 27 (1999). Radios: 21 million (1997). Television broadcast stations: 60 (includes seven low-power stations) (1997). Televisions: 4.59 million (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 18 (2000). Internet users: 1.15 million (2002).

Transportation: Railways: total: 3,304 km (2002). Highways: total: 110,000 km; paved: 26,000 km; unpaved: 84,000 km (2000). Waterways: 18,140 km, navigable by river boats (April 1996). Ports and harbors: Bahia de Portete, Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Leticia, Puerto Bolivar, San Andres, Santa Marta, Tumaco, Turbo. Airports: 1,050 (2002).

International disputes: Nicaragua filed a claim against Honduras in 1999 and against Colombia in 2001 at the ICJ over disputed maritime boundary involving 50,000 sq km in the Caribbean Sea, including the Archipelago de San Andres y Providencia and Quita Sueno Bank; maritime boundary dispute with Venezuela in the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian drug activities penetrate Peruvian border area.