Colombia detailed geographic map

Colombia, in the northwest corner of the continent, is South  America's fourth-largest country. In the north, it faces the Caribbean  Sea. an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west.  Colombia has three main regions, including the northern part of the  Andes Mountains. Coastal plains lie to the north and west. The southeast  contains forested plains, which arc drained by tributaries of the  Orinoco and Amazon rivers.    

The country was the heart of the Spanish colony of New Granada,  which also included Venezuela. Ecuador, and Panama in Central America.  It achieved independence in 1819.

Coffee is Colombia's leading export crop. Other exports include  oil. chemicals, wood and fish products, textiles, and coal. Agriculture  employs 27 percent of the people. Cattle are raised, and crops include  bananas, cotton, rice, and sugarcane.    

Area: 1,138.914 sq km (439,737 sq miles) Highest point: Cristbbal Colon, 5,775 m (18,947 ft)    

Population: 37,541,000    

Capital and largest city: Bogota (pop 5.026,000)    

Other large cities: Cali (pop 1.719.000).    

Medellin (pop 1.621,000)    

Official language: Spanish    

Religions: Christianity (Roman Catholic 95%). other 5°.    

Government: Republic Currency: Peso    

Statues and other carvings were made by the Chibcha people, who  founded a major civilization in the Andes region. Spanish inraders  conquered the Chibcha between 1536 and 1538. Spain introduced Roman  Catholicism and ruled the country until 1819. when Simon Bolivar's ar  defeated Spanish forces i a battle.    

Bogota, capital of Colombia, stands on a high plateau surrounded  by mountains in the eastern Andes. The Spanish conquerors of the  Chibcha founded the city in 1538. The Andes region is the home of about  three-quarters of the population of Colombia.    

Jaguars once lived all over South America. Now they are found  only in the most isolated areas of forest and in national parks. They  arc the largest of the wild cats found in the Americas, but overhunting  and deforestation threaten their sun ival.    

Emeralds were once traded by the Chibcha people. Today. Colombia  produces about four-fifths of the world's emeralds. Colombia also  produces coal. gold, oil and natural gas. and salt, which is used in the  country's large chemical industry.    

Coca is a native plant of Colombia. The leaves of some types of  coca are used to make cocaine, a drug that is illegally exported to the  United States and other countries. The cocaine trade brings great wealth  to the drug dealers as well as violence and hardship.