Join the new world

*Due to RL this and probably the next articles won’t be on time but I am trying to make them as quik as posbile. I am sorry for that.

General information

Population : 49.7 mil people (29th in the World, 2nd in South America)
Total Area : 1,141,748 km^2 (25th in the World, 4th in South America)
Official languages : Spanish
Official currency : Colombian peso(COP)
Capital : Bogotá
Population density : 40.74 people/km^2 (173rd in the World, 2nd in South America)
Top 5 biggest cities : Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Baranquilla, Cartagena


The Republic of Colombia is a presidential participatory democratic republic, located mostly in South America, with some territories in Central America. It is a highly biodiverse country, home to the largest selection of birds and orchids in the world, as well as plants, freshwater fish, amphibians and butterflies. At a worldwide level, Colombia is one of the biggest producers of coffee, and is THE largest producer of emeralds. It also gave the world many famous artists, such as Shakira, Juanes, Carlos Vives and many others.

Like most republics, power is separated into 3 branches: exectutive, legislative and judicial. Executive power is headed by the President of Colombia, who is also the Prime Minister, along with the Vice President and the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is represented by a bicameral Congress (Senate + House of Representatives). Judicial power is represented by four high courts : Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, Council of State and the Superior Council of Judicature.

Colombia is divided into 32 departments and one capital district, which is treated as a department (Bogotá also serves as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca). Departments are subdivided into municipalities, each of which is assigned a municipal seat, and municipalities are in turn subdivided into corregimientos in rural areas and into comunas in urban areas. Each department has a local government with a governor and assembly directly elected to four-year terms, and each municipality is headed by a mayor and council. There is a popularly elected local administrative board in each of the corregimientos or comunas.

In addition to the capital four other cities have been designated districts (in effect special municipalities), on the basis of special distinguishing features. These are Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta and Buenaventura. Some departments have local administrative subdivisions, where towns have a large concentration of population and municipalities are near each other (for example in Antioquia and Cundinamarca). Where departments have a low population (for example Amazonas, Vaupés and Vichada), special administrative divisions are employed, such as "department corregimientos", which are a hybrid of a municipality and a corregimiento.











National sport : Tejo

Football





National animal : Andean condor(Gallus gallus domesticus)


National plant : Christmas orchid (Cattleya trianae)



National Instruments : Colombian tiple







The significance of the 20th of July

On July 20, 1810, a historic riot occurred in the province of Nueva Granada in Santafé de Bogotá: the vase of Llorente. Its name is due ,in reality, because of the denial of the loan of a vase by a Spanish merchant to a "criollo" (descendants of Spanish immigrants in America). This may sound absurd, but it did happen, and it led to the establishement of the Junta of Santa Fe, which was the beginning of the uprising of the "criollos" to power against the power of Spain, materialized through the Viceroy.










Time to talk about some of Colombia’s mythical figure !

El Mohán

The mohán is everyone’s favourite monster. Although his description does vary from place to place, he is usually a huge creature, covered in hair with long, claw-like nails. He sometimes has red eyes and gold teeth and is fond of mischief. Fisherman say the mohán capsizes boats and steals bait and hooks. Washerwomen claim he bewitches girls with music and tricks. He is also said to guard ancient treasures in his underground palace and his appearance heralds the arrival of floods, earthquakes and plagues. The mohán is sometimes known as “Poira” and his story is most commonly told in Tolima.


La Patasola


The patasola (One-Legged Woman) lives in dense jungle and is especially feared by miners, hunters, farmers, hikers and loggers – not least for the pace with which she moves through the jungle on just one leg. Some say the patasola appears as a beauty who entices men into her lair then traps them as an ugly, wild-eyed woman. Others say she attracts men by screaming for help before transforming into a murderous, blood-sucking beast. Men supposedly tell the story of the patasola to frighten their wives into being faithful and also instill a wariness of the jungle. It is thought the story originated in Tolima.


La Llorona


The llorona (Wailer) is a wandering woman who carries a child through the streets. She’s muddy, wild-eyed and dressed in rags and never shows her face. Some legends say she screams for aid, but anyone who carries the infant inherits the curse to become the new llorona. The spirit is said to stalk lonely places and appear to anyone plotting mischief. Some say she was a jealous woman who killed the child’s mother in rage. Others that she was a desperate wife who killed herself, and a child she had with her lover, when she heard her errant husband was returning from war. The story of the wailing woman is particularly popular in eastern Colombia, in the region known as Los Llanos.


La Madre Monte


Madre monte (Mother Mountain) is a stout, elegant woman who wears moss and leaves and a green hat that conceals her face. She lives in dense jungle and supposedly bathes in rivers, causing flooding and heavy storms. Madre monte haunts those who steal others people’s land and casts plagues on cattle owners who usurp fields or ignore boundaries. She also dislikes unfaithful spouses, vagabonds and general mischief-makers and punishes them by placing insurmountable obstacles in their path when they walk through the jungle. They eventually fall asleep with exhaustion and do not wake for hours.






Top 5 places visited by tourists


Cartagena












Fought over by various countries, Cartagena was one of the most heavily fortified cities in South America; these fortifications can still be seen today. Travelers should take time to wander through the colorful old town, with its colonial architecture that includes museums, palaces and churches. “Bocagrande“, a long strip of hotel towers and condos fronting onto the beach, is also very popular with tourists.



Tayrona National Park








Tayrona National Park is a must-see place for travelers who enjoy nature and exploring old ruins. Located on the north Colombia coast, the park offers a variety of ecosystems, from swamps to scrublands to cloud forests. For many travelers, the park’s biggest attraction is its beaches, set in deep bays and shaded with coconut palms. In fact, Tayrona beaches are among Colombia’s most beautiful. The park is also popular with birdwatchers who come to see the Andean condor, a threatened species. The park takes its name from the Tayronas, a native people, who left their mark on a number of archaeological sites, including Pueblito Chairama.


Bogotá










Bogota, sometimes referred to as “the Athens of South America”, was first settled by indigenous peoples, though the founding date is generally set at 1538 by a Spanish explorer. Today, the city is one of the largest cities in South America and Colombia’s capital. Once considered a place to avoid, Bogota has cleaned up its act and is fast becoming one of the best places to visit in Colombia. Located at 2,640 meters (8,660 feet) in the Andes, Bogota has numerous attractions to entice visitors, including a planetarium, gold museum, botanical gardens, cultural events and a thriving nightlife. The city’s historic district can be found at La Candelaria, a pleasant quarter of cafés, churches and museums.



Villa de Leyva








Villa de Leyva may be a small town less than a four-hour drive from Bogota, but its Plaza Mayor is one of the biggest town squares in South America. At one time people were executed on this immense square, which is now used as a gathering place for celebrations and festivals, such as the onion beauty pageant. Its architecture reflects Spanish and Moorish influences; indeed, the Villa de Leyva has been compared to Andalucía because of the white buildings with wooden trim and balconies. Museums honor famous people who fought for Colombian independence. The first distillery in the region is located here.



Medellín









Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Medellín was considered one of the most dangerous cities in the world, home to Colombia’s infamous cocaine cartel. But when drug lord Pablo Escobar was snuffed out in 1993, Medellín began to bury its troubled past and rebounded tremendously. These days, the increasing number of tourist who come here find an inviting, modern city with one of the country’s best climates. Located in the Andes in the narrow Aburra Valley, the city sports temperatures averaging 24°C/72°F throughout the year, making any time a good time to visit. Medellin is also a very colorful city because of its gorgeous flowers; the city celebrates its flower festival for 12 days every August.





Top 3 locations suggested by the locals


San Agustin










San Agustin is a laidback little town surrounded by awesome landscapes and the remains of a forgotten civilization. One of the most intriguing ancient sites in Colombia, the archeological park of San Agustin is home to more than 500 monoliths, statues, petroglyphs and sarcophagi. Most of the stone carvings at San Agustin were created between 100 A.D. and 1200 A.D. They include representations of human figures, smiling and sneering monsters as well as animals such as snakes, birds and jaguars. The pre-Incan culture that built the stone carvings is surrounded by mystery. No one knows their actual name. Most of what is known about this society comes from the interpretation of the carved statues and other ruins.


Zona Cafetera








Travelers who love their java will definitely want to visit Zona Cafetera (Eje Cafetero) where almost half of Colombia’s coffee crop is grown on the slopes of the Andes. Visitors can learn more about coffee at El Parque del Café, a park that has a botanical garden with coffee plants and an amusement park. The Zone has a gold museum featuring pre-Columbian artifacts. The tower at the Catedral de Manizales offers stunning views of one of the region’s main cities. Visitors can also take a dip in thermal springs at Santa Rosa and San Vincente. The region also is a good place to hike in the Andes.




Baranquilla











Barranquilla is the epicenter of the Carnival,a four-day festival of food, music, dance and beautiful party people. For the other 361 days of the year, the fourth-largest city in Colombia offers plenty of opportunities to pursue a balance of epic nightlife and historic sightseeing. The churches alone are their own festivals of architecture, and the impressive Museum of the Caribbean is a great source of political, cultural and social context.






Inventions Colombia gave to the world!


*LASIK eye surgery!
*by Jose Barraquer, 1950s


*Hakim valve- shunt for treating hydrocephaly!
*by Salomon Hakim in 1966


*The first pacemaker with internal electrodes!
*Alberto Vejarano Laverde and Jorge Reynolds Pombo, 1958


*Kangaroo care/Skin-to-skin care!
*Edgar Rey Sanabria, 1978


*Sophrology - a relaxation technique based on yoga!
*Alfonso Caycedo Lozano, 1960







Famous people from Colombia


Shakira - Colombian singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she began performing in school, demonstrating Latin American, Arabic, and rock and roll influences and belly dancing abilities. Shakira's first studio albums, Magia and Peligro, failed to attain commercial success in the 1990s; however, she rose to prominence in Latin America with her major-label debut, Pies Descalzos (1996), and her fourth album, Dónde Están los Ladrones? (199😎. As of 2001, she had sold over 10 million albums alone in Latin America.

Shakira entered the English-language market with her fifth album, Laundry Service in 2001. Its lead single, "Whenever, Wherever", became one of the most successful singles of 2002. Her success was solidified with her sixth and seventh albums Fijación Oral, Volumen Uno and Oral Fixation, Volume Two (2005), the latter of which spawned the best selling single of the 2000s, "Hips Don't Lie".[8][9] Shakira's eighth and ninth albums, She Wolf (2009) and Sale el Sol (2010), received critical praise. Her official song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)", became the biggest-selling World Cup song of all time with 10 million downloads.With over 1.8 billion views, it is one of the most viewed music videos on YouTube. She has four of the twenty top-selling hits of the 2000s, more than any other artist.




([iborn 1977[/i])



Gabriel García Márquez - Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo or Gabito throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century and one of the best in the Spanish language, he was awarded the 1972 Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. He pursued a self-directed education that resulted in his leaving law school for a career in journalism. From early on, he showed no inhibitions in his criticism of Colombian and foreign politics. In 1958, he married Mercedes Barcha; they had two sons, Rodrigo and Gonzalo.

García Márquez started as a journalist, and wrote many acclaimed non-fiction works and short stories, but is best known for his novels, such as One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), The Autumn of the Patriarch (1975), and Love in the Time of Cholera (1985). His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style known as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations. Some of his works are set in the fictional village of Macondo (mainly inspired by his birthplace, Aracataca), and most of them explore the theme of solitude.



(1927 - 2014)


Pablo Escobar - Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist. His cartel supplied an estimated 80% of the cocaine smuggled into the United States at the height of his career, turning over US $21.9 billion a year in personal income. He was often called "The King of Cocaine" and was the wealthiest criminal in history, with an estimated known net worth of US $30 billion by the early 1990s (equivalent to about $56 billion as of 2017) making him one of the richest men in the world in his prime.

Escobar was born in Rionegro, Colombia and grew up in nearby Medellín. He studied briefly at Universidad Autónoma Latinoamericana of Medellin but left without a degree; he began to engage in criminal activity that involved selling contraband cigarettes and fake lottery tickets, and he participated in motor vehicle theft. In the 1970s, he began to work for various contraband smugglers, often kidnapping and holding people for ransom before beginning to distribute powder cocaine himself, as well as establishing the first smuggling routes into the United States in 1975. His infiltration to the drug market of the U.S. expanded exponentially due to the rising demand for cocaine and, by the 1980s, it was estimated that 70 to 80 tons of cocaine were being shipped from Colombia to the U.S. monthly. His drug network was commonly known as the Medellín Cartel, which often competed with rival cartels domestically and abroad, resulting in massacres and the murders of police officers, judges, locals, and prominent politicians.

In 1982, Escobar was elected as an alternate member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia as part of the Liberal Alternative movement. Through this, he was responsible for the construction of houses and football fields in western Colombia, which gained him notable popularity among the locals of the towns that he frequented. However, Colombia became the murder capital of the world, and Escobar was vilified by the Colombian and American governments. In 1993, Escobar was shot and killed in his hometown by Colombian National Police, one day after his 44th birthday.



(1949 - 1993)



Carlos Valderrama - also known as El Pibe ("The Kid"), is a Colombian former footballer who played as a midfielder. A creative playmaker, known for his precise passing, technical skills, and elegance on the ball, he is regarded as one of the best Colombian and South American footballers of all time, and by some as Colombia's greatest player ever; his distinctive hairstyle, as well as talent and skilful playing style made him one of South America's elite and most recognisable footballers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He won the South American Footballer of the Year award in 1987 and 1993, and in 1999, he was also named one of the top 100 players of the 20th century by World Soccer. In 2004, he was included in the FIFA 100, a list of the 125 "greatest living footballers" chosen by Pelé to celebrate the 100th anniversary of FIFA.


(born 1961)


Fernando Botero - Colombian figurative artist and sculptor. Born in Medellín, his signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political criticism or humor, depending on the piece. He is considered the most recognized and quoted living artist from Latin America, and his art can be found in highly visible places around the world, such as Park Avenue in New York City and the Champs-Élysées in Paris.


(born 1932)








Traditional food


Bandeja paisa



The quintessential Colombian dish with origins in the state of Antioquia. It's a platter with a combination of red beans, a fried egg, avocado, fried plantains, chicharron, rice, ground beef, and pork sausage. Food combinations vary greatly, but this is what typically comes in the platter.

Tamales



There are many variations of tamales in Colombia, but they all have something in common and that is that Colombian Tamales are all wrapped in banana leaves.


Sancocho Trifásico



A delicious three meat soup with a variety of ingredients.


Cazuela de Mariscos



A rich and flavorful seafood stew.

Arroz Atollado



A medley of chicken, rice, pork, potatoes vegetables and spices from the Valle del Cauca region.


Caldo de Costilla



A soup featuring beef ribs, herbs, and spices.

Chuleta Valluna



This pork milanese is one of the most popular dishes in Colombian Restaurants. This Chuleta Valluna is a traditional dish from El Valle department of Colombia

Lechona Tolimense



This is a traditional dish, originally from the Tolima department of Colombia and is often served on special occasions. This popular dish consists of a whole pork stuffed with rice, peas, potatoes and spices, cooked in a brick oven for about ten to twelve hours.


Sudado de Pollo



This chicken stew is one of the most popular dishes in Colombian homes. It’s delicious served with white rice on the side which soaks up the flavorful sauce




Traditional desserts

Obleas



A thin waffle-like wafer with arequipe (dulce de leche) in the middle. Essentially an amazing dessert sandwich.


Cholados Colombianos



This dessert is a cross between a frozen dessert, fruit cocktail, and a drink, and derives from El Valle region of Colombia. It is made with crushed ice, fresh fruit, condensed milk, passion fruit (maracuyá) and Colombian blackberry (mora) syrup and is topped with shredded coconut and a maraschino cherry. It makes a wonderful summer dessert!


Natilla



This is a sweet custard that is traditionally served during Colombian Christmas gatherings. There are many variations of this dish throughout the country.


Merengón de Fresas



This a traditional Colombian based meringue dessert. The classic Merengón is filled with whipped cream and guanabana, a popular Colombian fruit. There are other variations of this dessert as well that are filled with various fresh fruits, such as strawberries, peaches and Colombian blackberries (mora).


Enyucado



This is a traditional recipe from The Atlantic coast of Colombia. It is a cake made with shredded yuca, cheese, coconut and star anis seeds and is sweet with a wonderful texture.

Flan de Coco



Coconut Flan is very popular on the Coast of Colombia.




Traditional drinks

Coffee

Colombia is the world’s 3rd highest coffee producer.


Aguardiente



Also known as “Firewater”, is a strong alcoholic drink made from anise and sugar cane.

Rum







Interesting facts about Colombia


1.It is mandatory for radio and public television in Colombia to play the national anthem every day at 6 am and 6 pm.
2.Not lazy, but fun loving: Colombia, with 18 national holidays, came second in the “countries with the most national holidays” list. In case you are wondering who could top that, it’s India (21).
3.Bogota, the capital of Colombia, is a mecca for street artists. The government not only tolerates graffiti but also encourages and sponsors street art.
4.Colombia hosts the world’s largest theater festival, the Iberoamericana.
5.Coffee is gulped down like water. While Colombian kids are given a nice coffee milkshake, they grow up to go pure black.
6.Colombia started off as the Viceroyalty of New Granada, but soon broke up to become the Republic of Colombia. It still broke down into the Nueva Granada and then into United States of Colombia. But finally, in 1886, the Republic of Colombia came into being.
7.Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, at 13,000 m, is the world’s highest coastal mountain range. Incidentally, it’s on the run, and has moved more than a thousand miles in the last 170 million years.
8.Colombia is the world’s leading producer of Emeralds. The finest quality emerald, a green gemstone, is found only in Colombia. The country has more than 150 mines churning out high-quality emeralds.
9.Colombia is the third largest exporter of coffee in the world after Brazil and Vietnam.
10.The theme of most children’s games, El Dorado, is actually a mythical city in ancient Colombia. Legend has it that a king used to spray himself with gold powder and then jump off from a golden boat into a lake in order to appease an undersea god.




My 5 words when I hear about Colombia:
#Shakira,#Coffee,#Emerald,#Escobar,#Falcao

What are your 5?





Special thanks to jhonatan94 and I will leave you with the national motto :








I leave you with some Colombian memes:


















Waiting for feedback , comments , opinions and if there is anyone that thinks I missed something , I could do something better or just wants to help me with this project , PM me !

Special thanks to Kariky for the spacers !!




Hope you enjoyed and see you next time!

P.S. Article 64/74!







P.S.2. Don't forget to push the flags !