Colombia
Name
| Official name | Republic of Colombia — República de Colombia |
|---|---|
| Former names | Gran Colombia (1819–1830); Republic of New Granada (1831–1858); Granadine Confederation (1858–1863); United States of Colombia (1863–1886) |
| Demonym | Colombian; colombiano, colombiana |
| Meaning of the name | For Christopher Columbus — Colón — coined by Francisco de Miranda in the 1790s for the lands of the New World; the republic took it in 1819 |
| Motto | "Libertad y Orden" — liberty and order; on the coat of arms |
Quick facts
| Capital | Bogotá, Distrito Capital — founded 6 August 1538; at 2,640 m; about 8 million, 11 million in its region |
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| Largest cities | Bogotá; Medellín, about 2.6 million; Cali, about 2.3 million; Barranquilla; Cartagena; Cúcuta; Bucaramanga |
| Official language | Spanish — Castilian; some 65 Indigenous languages official in their territories; English on San Andrés and Providencia |
| Currency | Colombian peso — ISO code COP, $; about 4,000 to the U.S. dollar |
| Time zone | Colombia Time, UTC−5, all year |
| Calling code | +57 |
| Internet domain | .co |
| ISO 3166 codes | CO · COL · 170 |
| Vehicle registration code | CO |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 110 V, 60 Hz; plug types A and B |
| Independence | Declared 20 July 1810 — the national day; won at the Battle of Boyacá, 7 August 1819 |
| National days | 20 July, Independence Day; 7 August, the Battle of Boyacá; 12 October, the Day of Diversity; the Carnival of Barranquilla before Lent |
| Constitution | 4 July 1991 — the Constitution of 1991, replacing that of 1886; amended some 60 times, including the ban on re-election of 2015 |
| Population | 48,258,494 at the census of 2018; about 53 million (DANE, 2025 est.) |
| Area | 1,138,910 km² (439,736 sq mi) — land 1,038,700 km², water 100,210 km²; the fourth-largest in South America |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | A horizontal tricolor of yellow, blue and red, the yellow twice the width of the others — the gold of the land, the two seas, and the blood of the patriots; the colors of Miranda's flag of 1806 and of Gran Colombia, in the present form since 26 November 1861.Flag of Colombia |
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| Coat of arms | A shield of the pomegranate of Granada, the two cornucopias, the Phrygian cap of liberty and the Isthmus of Panama between two seas, under the Andean condor bearing the motto, between four flags — adopted 9 May 1834 |
| National anthem | "Himno Nacional de la República de Colombia" — words by Rafael Núñez, music by Oreste Sindici, first sung 1887; official by the law of 28 October 1920 |
| National motto | "Libertad y Orden" |
| National colors | Yellow, blue and red |
| National bird | The Andean condor — on the arms; the largest flying bird by wingspan |
| National flower | The orchid Cattleya trianae — the May flower, named for the botanist José Jerónimo Triana; declared 1936 |
| National tree | The Quindío wax palm, Ceroxylon quindiuense — the tallest palm in the world, up to 60 m; declared by the law of 1985 |
| National sport | Tejo — declared by the law of 2000; football the passion |
| National dish | Bandeja paisa; ajiaco of Bogotá; sancocho; the arepa; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms and anthem are fixed by law; the flower, tree and sport by law; the bird by the arms; the dishes widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The northwest corner of South America — on the Caribbean and the Pacific, at the isthmus to Central America; the Andes, the Llanos and the Amazon |
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| Land borders | 6,672 km (4,146 mi) with five countries |
| Border with Venezuela | 2,341 km (1,455 mi) |
| Border with Brazil | 1,790 km (1,112 mi) |
| Border with Peru | 1,494 km (928 mi) |
| Border with Ecuador | 708 km (440 mi) |
| Border with Panama | 339 km (211 mi) — the Darién Gap, the one break in the Pan-American Highway |
| Coastline | 3,208 km (1,993 mi) — 1,760 km on the Caribbean, 1,448 km on the Pacific; the only South American country with both |
| Highest point | Pico Cristóbal Colón, 5,730 m (18,799 ft), in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta — the highest coastal mountain range on earth |
| Lowest point | The Pacific and the Caribbean, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 593 m (1,946 ft) |
| Major rivers | The Magdalena, 1,528 km, the river of the nation, and its tributary the Cauca; the Atrato; the Meta and the Guaviare to the Orinoco; the Caquetá and the Putumayo to the Amazon; the Amazon itself for 116 km at Leticia |
| The Andes | Three cordilleras — Occidental, Central and Oriental — dividing the country; the Nevado del Ruiz, whose eruption buried Armero in 1985; the páramos, the high moors that hold the water |
| Terrain | The Caribbean lowlands; the Pacific Chocó, among the wettest places on earth; the three cordilleras and their valleys, where most Colombians live; the Llanos of the east; the Amazon of the south — more than half the land, a few percent of the people |
| Climate | Tropical, by altitude — hot on the coasts and plains, temperate in the valleys, cold on the plateaus, frozen on the peaks; no seasons but the rains |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes and volcanoes on the Pacific belt — Armero 1985, about 23,000 dead; floods and landslides in the rains; La Niña and El Niño |
| Natural resources | Oil, coal, natural gas, nickel, gold, emeralds — the largest producer in the world — copper, iron ore, hydropower |
| Biodiversity | The second most biodiverse country on earth after Brazil, and the most per square kilometer — the most bird species, about 1,950; the most orchids, about 4,300; the most butterflies; about 10% of the world's species |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 39%; forest about 53% |
| National parks | 60 protected areas — Chiribiquete, the largest in the tropics at 4.3 million ha; Tayrona; Los Nevados; Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta; Amacayacu; Gorgona; Caño Cristales in the Serranía de la Macarena |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 9 — the port, fortresses and monuments of Cartagena (1984); Los Katíos National Park (1994); the historic center of Mompox (1995); San Agustín (1995); Tierradentro (1995); Malpelo Island (2006); the Coffee Cultural Landscape (2011); the Qhapaq Ñan (2014, shared); Chiribiquete National Park (2018) |
| Administrative divisions | 32 departments and the Capital District of Bogotá; about 1,100 municipalities |
People
| Population | 48,258,494 (census of 2018); about 53 million (2025 est.) |
|---|---|
| Population density | About 46 per km² (120 per sq mi) — the Andean region and the coasts dense, the east nearly empty |
| Population growth | About 0.5% a year |
| Median age | About 32 years |
| Life expectancy | About 77 years |
| Fertility rate | About 1.6 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 82% |
| Adult literacy | About 96% |
| Ethnic groups | Mestizo and white about 87%; Afro-Colombian about 7%, on the coasts; Indigenous about 4% — some 115 peoples, the Wayuu the largest; Raizal, Palenquero and Roma |
| Migrants | About 2.8 million Venezuelans since 2015 — the largest such community anywhere; some 7 million Colombians displaced within the country by the conflict over the decades |
| Languages | Spanish by 99%; Wayuunaiki, Nasa Yuwe, Emberá and some 65 Indigenous languages; Creole English on San Andrés; Palenquero at San Basilio |
| Religion | Roman Catholic about 70%; Protestant and evangelical about 17%; no religion about 10% |
| Human Development Index | 0.788 (2023 data, 2025 report) — high; 91st of 193 |
| Sport | Football — Los Cafeteros at six World Cups; cycling — Egan Bernal's Tour de France of 2019 and Nairo Quintana; Mariana Pajón's two BMX golds; Caterine Ibargüen; tejo the national game; the Barranquilla Carnival |
| Diaspora | About 5 million abroad — in Venezuela, the United States, Spain, Ecuador and Chile |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary presidential republic under the Constitution of 1991 — the president head of state and government, elected for a single four-year term; no re-election since the amendment of 2015 |
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| President | Abelardo de la Espriella (Defenders of the Homeland), since 7 August 2026 — the 36th; a criminal-defense lawyer and businessman, born 31 July 1978, in his first public office; "El Tigre" |
| Vice President | José Manuel Restrepo, since 7 August 2026 |
| The 2026 election | The first round of 31 May 2026: de la Espriella 43.75%, Iván Cepeda (Historic Pact) 40.90%, Paloma Valencia (Democratic Center) 6.92%, Sergio Fajardo 4.26% — turnout 57.9%; the runoff of 21 June 2026: de la Espriella 49.66%, Cepeda 48.70% — 12,960,166 to 12,708,312, a margin of 251,854 on a turnout of 63.6%, the highest in a runoff; certified by the National Electoral Council 25 June after a brief challenge |
| The inauguration | At Cali on 7 August 2026 — the third held outside Bogotá, the first since 1898 |
| Predecessor | Gustavo Petro (Historic Pact), 2022–2026 — the first left-wing president, a former guerrilla of the M-19 |
| Congress | The Senate — 108 members, elected nationally for four years on 8 March 2026, the Historic Pact the largest party, then the Democratic Center and the Liberals; the Chamber of Representatives — 188 members by department |
| The next election | Due in May 2030 |
| Legal system | Civil law; the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Council of State |
| Departments | 32, each with an elected governor and assembly; Bogotá with an elected mayor |
| The conflict | The FARC demobilized under the peace accord of 24 November 2016 — which won Juan Manuel Santos the Nobel Peace Prize — but the ELN, the FARC dissidents of the Estado Mayor Central and the Segunda Marquetalia, and the Clan del Golfo remain in arms; Petro's "total peace" talks stalled; the Catatumbo offensive of January 2025 displaced tens of thousands; the new government promises force |
| The United States | The closest partner for decades, strained in 2025 — the U.S. decertified Colombia's counternarcotics effort in September 2025 and revoked Petro's visa; the new government has sought closer ties |
| Coca and cocaine | The largest producer of cocaine in the world — coca on some 250,000 hectares by the UN's count |
| United Nations | A founding member, 5 November 1945 |
| Memberships | The OAS, the Pacific Alliance, the Andean Community, the OECD (2020), the WTO; a NATO global partner since 2017; the Belt and Road plan signed with China in 2025 |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$430 billion (2025, IMF) — the fourth-largest in Latin America |
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| GDP per capita | About US$8,000 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$22,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 2–2.5% a year (2024–25) |
| Economy by sector | Services about 58%, industry about 25%, agriculture about 7% |
| Currency | Colombian peso (COP) |
| Oil and coal | Ecopetrol, the state oil company, the largest firm; oil and coal together about half of exports — Cerrejón the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America; the exploration ban of the Petro years reversed in 2026 |
| Coffee | The third-largest producer in the world and the largest of washed arabica — about 13 million bags; the Federación Nacional de Cafeteros and Juan Valdez since 1959 |
| Flowers and fruit | The second-largest exporter of cut flowers, from the savanna of Bogotá; bananas, avocados, sugar, palm oil |
| Emeralds and gold | The largest producer of emeralds in the world, from Muzo and Chivor; gold, much of it illegal |
| Public finances | A deficit that doubled in the Petro years; the fiscal rule suspended in 2025; the new government's promise to cut spending |
| Income classification | Upper-middle income (World Bank); an OECD member since 2020 |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airport | El Dorado International, Bogotá — the busiest airport in South America by passengers and the busiest in Latin America by cargo; Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Barranquilla |
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| Airline | Avianca, the flag carrier — founded 5 December 1919 as SCADTA, the oldest airline in the Americas and the second-oldest in the world |
| Main ports | Cartagena, the largest on the Caribbean; Buenaventura on the Pacific, the busiest; Barranquilla; Santa Marta |
| Railways | About 2,000 km (1,250 mi) in use, most of it the Cerrejón coal line; the Medellín Metro, opened 1995, the country's only metro; the Bogotá Metro under construction |
| Roads | About 206,000 km (128,000 mi); the fourth-generation concession highways since 2014; the TransMilenio bus system of Bogotá |
| Rivers | The Magdalena navigable to Barrancabermeja; the Ciclovía of Bogotá, the world's largest weekly street closure for bicycles, since 1974 |
History in dates
| c. 3300 BC | The San Jacinto pottery — among the oldest in the Americas |
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| 1st–8th century | The statues of San Agustín |
| c. 1500 | The Muisca of the highlands — the ceremony of El Dorado at Lake Guatavita |
| 1499 | Alonso de Ojeda reaches the coast |
| 1533 | Cartagena founded, 1 June |
| 1538 | Bogotá founded, 6 August |
| 1717 | The Viceroyalty of New Granada |
| 1810 | The cry of independence in Bogotá, 20 July |
| 1819 | The Battle of Boyacá, 7 August; Gran Colombia proclaimed at Angostura, 17 December |
| 1830 | Gran Colombia dissolves; Bolívar dies at Santa Marta, 17 December |
| 1886 | The Constitution of 1886 and the Republic of Colombia |
| 1899–1902 | The Thousand Days' War |
| 1903 | Panama secedes, 3 November |
| 1948 | The Bogotazo, 9 April — La Violencia to 1958 |
| 1964 | The FARC founded |
| 1985 | The Palace of Justice siege, 6 November; the Armero disaster, 13 November |
| 1991 | The new Constitution, 4 July |
| 1993 | Pablo Escobar killed in Medellín, 2 December |
| 2016 | The peace accord with the FARC, 24 November; the Nobel Peace Prize to Santos |
| 2022 | Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president, 7 August |
| 2026 | Abelardo de la Espriella elected, 21 June; inaugurated at Cali, 7 August |
Records & firsts
| The most bird species | About 1,950 — a fifth of the world's |
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| The most orchids | About 4,300 species |
| The largest emerald producer | Muzo and Chivor |
| The tallest palm | The Quindío wax palm, up to 60 m |
| The highest coastal mountains | The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, 5,730 m from the sea |
| Two oceans | The only South American country on both the Caribbean and the Pacific |
| The oldest airline in the Americas | Avianca, 1919 |
| The river of five colors | Caño Cristales, in the Macarena |
| A Nobel in letters | Gabriel García Márquez, 1982 — One Hundred Years of Solitude |
| The narrowest election | The runoff of 2026, by 0.96 points |
| The Ciclovía | Bogotá's Sunday closure of 120 km of streets since 1974 — copied by cities worldwide |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of Colombia?
The Republic of Colombia — República de Colombia — since the Constitution of 1886; before that the United States of Colombia, the Granadine Confederation and the Republic of New Granada, and from 1819 to 1830 the Gran Colombia of Simón Bolívar with Venezuela and Ecuador. The name honors Christopher Columbus — Cristóbal Colón — and was coined by Francisco de Miranda for the whole of Spanish America.
What is the capital of Colombia?
Bogotá — Santa Fe de Bogotá, founded by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada on 6 August 1538 — on a high plateau of the eastern cordillera at 2,640 m, one of the highest capitals in the world, with about 8 million people in the city and 11 million in its region. Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla and Cartagena are the next cities; the new president was sworn in at Cali in 2026, the third inauguration ever held outside the capital.
How big is Colombia, and how many people live there?
About 1,138,910 km² (439,736 sq mi) — the fourth-largest country in South America, nearly twice the size of Texas — the only one on the continent with coasts on both the Caribbean and the Pacific. The census of 2018 counted 48,258,494 people; DANE, the statistics office, estimates about 53 million for 2025, the third-largest population in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico, with some 2.8 million Venezuelan migrants among them.
What are the highest and lowest points of Colombia?
Pico Cristóbal Colón, 5,730 m (18,799 ft), in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta — the highest coastal mountain range in the world, rising from the Caribbean within 42 km — and its twin Pico Simón Bolívar; and the two oceans. The Andes split into three cordilleras in Colombia; east of them lie the Llanos and the Amazon, which together cover more than half the country and hold a few percent of its people.
What currency does Colombia use?
The Colombian peso (ISO code COP, $), issued by the Banco de la República, at about 4,000 to the U.S. dollar. Clocks keep Colombia Time, UTC−5, all year, with no daylight saving.
Who governs Colombia?
President Abelardo de la Espriella, the 36th, in office since 7 August 2026 for a single four-year term — a criminal-defense lawyer and political outsider who calls himself "the Tiger," elected in the runoff of 21 June 2026 with 49.66 percent against 48.70 for Iván Cepeda of the governing Historic Pact, a margin of some 250,000 votes on a record turnout, the narrowest in Colombian history. José Manuel Restrepo is vice president. He succeeded Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president, whose term ended on 7 August 2026. Colombian presidents may not be re-elected; the next election is due in 2030.
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