Columbia Climate Essay, Research Paper
The climate, however, varies with the elevation. The low regions along the
coast and the deep Pat??a and Magdalena river valleys are torrid, with mean annual temperatures
of 75?̊ to 80?̊ F. From about 1500 to 7500 ft the climate is subtropical, and from about 7500 to
10,000 ft it is temperate. Above about 10,000 ft is the cold-climate zone, where temperatures
range from 0?̊ to 55?̊ F. The average January and July temperatures in Bogot?? are 58?̊ F and
57?̊ F, respectively. The averages for the same months in Barranquilla are 80?̊ F and 82?̊ F.
Throughout the year, three-month periods of rain and dry weather alternate. Along the Pacific
coast precipitation is heavy. At Bogot?? the annual rainfall averages about 40 in, and in
Barranquilla it averages about 32 in. Dry weather prevails on the slopes of the Eastern Cordillera.
Government Colombia has a Republican form of government. Colombia has a president who is
elected by popular vote. He is chosen by any man or woman 18 years or older. The president can
serve one four year term. He appoints a cabinet which has to be approved by congress. Congress
is composed of a House of Representatives (199 members) and a Senate (112 members). Land
Area The total land area of the country is 440,831 sq. mi. The capital and largest city is Bogota.
Population Characteristics, Religion, and Language The population of Colombia (1993 estimate)
was 34,942,767, giving the country an overall population density of about 79 per sq. mi. About
95 percent of the people are Roman Catholics. Small Protestant and Jewish minorities exist. The
official language of Colombia is Spanish. The racial makeup of the Colombian population is
diversified. About half the people are mestizo (of mixed Spanish and Native American ancestry),
about 20 percent are of unmixed European ancestry, and about 14 percent are mulatto (of mixed
black and white ancestry). The remaining 8 percent is made up of blacks, Native Americans, and
people of mixed race. History In 1538 Spanish conquistadors founded New Granada. In 1717
Bogota became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada which consisted of present-day
Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. In 1819 Simon Bolivar defeated Spanish troops
near Bogota and became the first president of the new republic of Gran Colombia. Currency The
basic unit of currency is the Colombian peso (829 pesos equal U.S.$1; 1994). Natural Resources
The mineral resources of the country are varied and extensive. Colombia is the major world
source of emeralds. Other significant reserves include petroleum and natural gas, coal, gold,
silver, iron ore, salt, platinum, and some uranium. Compulsive Age Of Education There isn’t a
standard age for the beginning of education for the Colombian child. All that is required is five
years of education for each student. 85% of all Colombian children over age 15 can read and
write. To make a comparison, in the United States schooling begins at age 5 and is mandatory to
age 16. ————————————————————–
Colombia, in the northwestern part of South America, is the only country on that continent that
borders both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It is nearly equal in size to the combined areas of
California and Texas. Colombia is bordered by Panama on the northwest, on the east by
Venezuela and Brazil, and on the southwest by Peru and Ecuador. Through the western half of
the country, three Andean ranges run north and south, merging into one at the Ecuadorean
border. The eastern half is a low, jungle-covered plain, drained by spurs of the Amazon and
Orinoco Rivers, inhabited mostly by isolated, tropical-forest Indian tribes. The fertile plateau and
valley of the eastern range are the most densely populated parts of the country.
Government
Republic.
History
Little is known about the various Indian tribes who inhabited Colombia before the Spanish
arrived. In 1510 Spaniards founded Darien, the first permanent European settlement on the
American mainland. In 1538 they established the colony of New Granada, the area’s name until
1861.
After a 14-year struggle, in which Sim??n Bol??var’s Venezuelan troops won the battle of
Boyac?? in Colombia on Aug. 7, 1819, independence was attained in 1824. Bol??var united
Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador in the Republic of Greater Colombia (1819??30),
but lost Venezuela and Ecuador to separatists. Two political parties dominated the region: the
Conservatives believed in a strong central government and a powerful church; the Liberals
believed in a decentralized government, strong regional power, and a less influential role for the
church. Bol??var was himself a Conservative, while his vice president, Francisco de Paula
Santander, was the founder of the Liberal Party.
Santander served as president between 1832 and 1836, a period of relative stability, but by 1840
civil war erupted. Other periods of Liberal dominance (1849??57 and 1861??80), which sought
to disestablish the Roman Catholic Church, were marked by insurrection. Nine different
governments followed, each rewriting the constitution. In 1861, the country was called the
United States of New Granada, in 1863 it became the United States of Colombia, and in 1885, it
became the Republic of Colombia. In 1899 a brutal civil war broke out, the War of a Thousand
Days, that lasted until 1902. The following year, Colombia lost its claims to Panama because it
refused to ratify the lease to the U.S. of the Canal Zone. Panama declared its independence in
1903 and went ahead with the creation of the U.S. deal.
The Conservatives held power until 1930, when revolutionary pressure put the Liberals back in
power. The Liberal administrations of Enrique Olaya Herrera and Alfonso L??pez (1930??38)
were marked by social reforms that failed to solve the country’s problems, and in 1946,
insurrection and banditry broke out, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives by 1958. Laureano
G??mez (1950??53); the army chief of staff, Gen. Gustavo Rojas Pinilla (1953??56); and a
military junta (1956??57) sought to curb disorder by repression.
The Liberals won a solid majority in 1982, but a party split enabled Belisario Betancur Cuartas,
the Conservative candidate, to win the presidency on May 31. After his inauguration, he ended
the state of siege that had existed almost continuously for 34 years. In an official war against
drug trafficking, Colombia became a public battleground with bombs, killings, and kidnappings.
In 1989 a leading presidential candidate, Luis Carlos Gal??n, was murdered. In an effort to quell
the terror, President Gaviria proposed lenient punishment in exchange for surrender by the
leading drug dealers. In addition, in 1991 the constitutional convention voted to ban extradition.
In July 1992 Pablo Escobar of the Medell??n drug cartel escaped from prison in an operation that
left six dead. He died the next year, but the Medell??n drug cartel continues to operate.
In the country’s closest presidential contest in 24 years, Ernesto Samper, the candidate of the
Liberal Party, won 50% of the vote in June 1994. Amid allegations of having accepted campaign
contributions from drug traffickers, Samper in May 1996 ordered emergency security measures
in southern Colombia to fight leftist rebels, but the House of Representatives absolved him of the
charges by a 111??43 vote. In 1997 a constitutional amendment that allowed for nonretroactive
extradition was passed. Civil unrest, intermittent guerrilla clashes, and drug wars continued
through 1999.
Republic of Colombia
National name: Rep??blica de Colombia
President: Andr??s Pastrana Arango (1998)
Area: 439,735 sq. mi. (1,138,910 sq. km)
Population (1999 est.): 39,309,422 (average annual rate of natural increase, 1.89%); birth rate:
24.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 24.3/1000; density per sq. mi.: 89
Capital and largest city (1993): Santaf?? de Bogot?? 4,945,448
Largest cities (1995 est.): Cali, 1,718,871; Medell??n, 1,621,356; Barranquilla, 1,064,255;
Cartagena, 745,689
Monetary unit: Peso
Language: Spanish
Ethnicity/race: mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Indian 3%,
Indian 1%
Religion: 95% Roman Catholic
Literacy rate: 87%
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1997 est.): $231.1 billion; $6,200 per capita. Real growth
rate: 3.1%. Inflation: 17.7%. Unemployment: 12.2%. Arable land: 4%. Agriculture: coffee,
cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables, forest
products, shrimp farming. Labor force: 16.8 million (1997 est.); services, 46% ; agriculture,
30%; industry, 24% (1990). Industry: 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. Exports: $11.4 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.):
petroleum, coffee, coal, bananas, fresh cut flowers. Imports: $13.5 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.):
industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products.
Major trading partners: U.S., EC, Brazil, Venezuela, Japan.