Colombia

The country I selected was Colombia located in South America. Colombia borders Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, Colombia is “twice the size of France” (Parsons, 2021). Its landscape is varied. The country is known for its mountain ranges, like the Andes Mountains, impressive river valleys, like the Magdalena and Cauca river valleys, and its slice of the tropical rainforest in the Amazon. Colombia’s proximity to the Equator makes the weather pretty hot year-round.

As far as demographics, the majority of Colombia’s population lives inland near the capital city of Bogota. The primary language spoken is Spanish, but there are many other languages that are spoken among various indigenous groups. According to the World Bank, the country is home to more than 50,300,000 people. Additionally, the majority of the population is between the ages of 15-29 (Parsons, 2021). The International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) has reported that 3.4% of the national population is indigenous, while the majority of the population is characterized as mestizo. Unfortunately, the country has been dealing with a high unemployment rate of about 15.4% (World Bank). The Encyclopedia notes that most Colombians are Catholics and that their religion has a lot of influence over politics. Some additional facts include that Colombia is the only country in the Americas named after Christopher Columbus (Parsons, 2021). And in recent years, the country has been caught up in drug trafficking and political corruption (Parsons, 2021). Ivan Duque Marquez is the current president of Colombia. The economy of Colombia has always been based around agriculture. Colombian coffee and fruit is a big export. However, the oil and natural gas industry in Colombia has proved to be very lucrative as well (Parsons, 2021).

Colombia was formerly a Spanish colony. In the 16th century, colonizers such as Francisco Pizzaro and Rodrigo de Bastidas sailed the coastline of the country. According to UC Berkeley professor, James Parsons, “[Colombia] is often referred to as the most Roman Catholic of the South American countries, and most of its people are proud of the relative purity of their Spanish language.”

While I was doing research for this report, I kept a special eye out for the idea of forced migration. In the IWGIA article that I read, it highlighted how “many indigenous peoples in the country continue to struggle with forced displacement and landlessness as a result of the long-term armed conflict in Colombia.” Along with this unfortunate finding, it has also been found that indigenous languages are dying in the country. Also, many Venezuelans have entered the country due to the financial crisis. This has caused more political unrest and controversy.

References

Colombia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://data.worldbank.org/country/CO.

Indigenous Peoples of Colombia. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://www.iwgia.org/en/colombia.html.

Parsons, J. J. (2021, March 23). Colombia. Retrieved March 27, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Colombia.

Vásquez, P. (2014). Indigenous Peoples and Natural Resource Development. In Oil Sparks in the

Amazon: Local Conflicts, Indigenous Populations, and Natural Resources (pp. 36-52). Athens; London: University of Georgia Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctt46n84z.7.

Read about Colombian Civil War here.

The US War on Drugs in Colombia