1983 Edition

Agriculture

main crops — coffee, rice, corn, sugarcane, marijuana, coca, plantains, bananas, cotton, tobacco

Airfields

625 total, 619 usable; 57 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,660 m; 8 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 94 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

President, bicameral legislature (Parliament — Senate, House of Representatives), judiciary

Army of Colombia, Colombian Air Force, National Navy

Budget

(1982) revenues $3.9 billion; expenditures $5.3 billion

Capital

Bogota

Civil air

1 13 major transport aircraft

Communists

10,000-12,000 members est.

Crude steel

391,000 metric tons produced (1980/81 est.), 14 kg per capita

Elections

every fourth year; last presidential election held in May 1982; last congressional election March 1982; municipal and departmental elections every two years, next scheduled for March 1984 Political parties and leaders: Liberal Party — leadership currently undergoing changes, with light congressmen sharing plural leadership; two main dissident factions are headed by Luis Carlos Galan and Alberto Santofimio; official group leadership supplemented by Luis Carlos Galan, who heads a new faction within the party; Conservative Party — Alvaro Gomez Hurtado and Misael Pastrana Borrero head the two principal wings united behind current President Belisario Betancur, who leads a small faction

Electric power

7,520,000 kW capacity (1983); 24.0 billion kWh produced(1983), 870 kWh per capita

Exports

$3.2 billion (f.o.b., 1982); coffee, fuel oil, cotton, tobacco, sugar, textiles, cattle and hides, bananas, fresh cut flowers

Fiscal year

calendar year Communications

Fishing

catch 68,525 metric tons 1981

GNP

$40 million (1983 est.; in current dollars), $1,435 per capita (1983; in current dollars); 68% private consumption, 28% gross investment 8% public consumption, (1981); growth rate 1% (1983)

Government leader

Belisario BETANCUR Cuartas, President

Highways

75,450 km total; 9,350 km paved, 66,100 km earth and gravel surfaces

Imports

$5.5 billion (c.i.f., 1982); transportation equipment, machinery, industrial metals and raw materials, chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, fuels, fertilizers, paper and paper products, foodstuffs and beverages

Inland waterways

14,300 km, navigable by river boats

Legal system

based on Spanish law; religious courts regulate marriage and divorce; constitution decreed in 1886, amendments codified in 1946 and 1968; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Major industries

textiles, food processing, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, metal products, and cement

Major trade partners

exports — 25% US, 17% FRG, 10% Venezuela, 4% Japan, 3% Netherlands; imports — 38% US, 12% Japan, 6% Venezuela, 5% FRG, 2% France, 1.8% UK, 1% Ecuador (1982)

Member of

FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB — InterAmerican Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, LAIA and Andean Sub-Regional Group, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO Economy

Military budget

estimated for fiscal year ending 31 December 1983, $468.1 million; about 10.3% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 7,270,000; 5,154,000 fit for military service; about 349,000 reach military age (18) annually

Monetary conversion rate

84.25 pesos= US$1 (31 October 1983)

National holiday

Independence Day, 30 July

Official name

Republic of Colombia

Other political or pressure groups

Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieira White; Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (PCC/ML), Maoist orientation

Pipelines

crude oil, 3,585 km; refined products, 1,350 km; natural gas, 830 km; natural gas liquids, 125 km

Political subdivisions

22 departments, 3 Intendancies, 5 Commissariats, Bogota Special District

Ports

6 major (Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, Covenas, Santa Marta, and Tumaco)

Railroads

3,403 km, all 0.914-meter gauge, single track

Suffrage

age 18 and over

Telecommunications

nationwide radio-relay system; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station with 2 antennas and 8 domestic satellite stations; 1.62 million telephones (6.0 per 100 popl.); 375 AM, 130 FM, and 85 TV stations Comoros Defense Forces

Type

republic; executive branch dominates government structure

Voting strength

(1982 presidential election) Belisario Betancur 46.8%, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen 40.7%, Luis Carlos Galan 11.1%, Gerardo Molina 1.2%, other 1.2%; 49% abstention