1988 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1988 (Internet Archive)
Geography
Boundary disputes
none; maritime dispute with Venezuela; territorial dispute with Nicaragua over San Andres and Providencia Archipelago
Climate
tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands
Coastline
3,208 km total (1,448 km Pacific Ocean; 1,760 Caribbean Sea)
Comparative area
about the size of New Mexico and Texas combined
Continental shelf
200 meters or to depth of exploitation
Environment
highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; deforestation
Ethnic divisions
58% mestizo, 20% white, 14% mulatto, 4% black, 3% mixed blackIndian, 1% Indian
Extended economic zone
200 nm
Infant mortality rate
56/1,000 (1985); Indians about 233/1,000
Labor force
11 million (1986); 53% services, 26% agriculture, 21% industry (1981); 14% official unemployment (1985)
Land boundaries
6,342 km total
Land use
4% arable land; 2% permanent crops; 29% meadows and pastures; 49% forest and woodland; 16% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
Language
Spanish
Life expectancy
65 (1985); Indians about
Literacy
87.8% (1985 est.); Indians about 40%
Nationality
noun — Colombian(s); adjective— Colombian
Organized labor
900,000 members (1986), about 8 percent of labor force
Population
30,660,504 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.07%
Religion
95% Roman Catholic
Special notes
only South American country with coastlines on both Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea
Terrain
mixture of flat coastal lowlands, plains in east, central highlands, some high mountains
Territorial sea
12 nm
Total area
1,138,910 km2; land area: 1,038,700 km2
Total area
400 km Barranq San Felipe Providence. Malpelo, and San Andtes islands are not shown.
Government
Administrative divisions
23 departments, 4 intendancies, 5 commissariats, Bogota Special District
Branches
President, bicameral legislature (Congress — Senate, House of Representatives), judiciary
Capital
Bogota
Communists
18,000 members est., including Communist Party Youth Organization (JUCO)
Elections
every fourth year; presidential election held May 1986; congressional election held March 1986; municipal and departmental elections every two years, next elections scheduled 1988 Political parties and leaders: Liberal Party — Virgilio Barco Vargas, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen; New Liberal faction is headed by Luis Carlos Galan; Conservative Party — Alvaro Gomez Hurtado, Misael Pastrana Borrero; Belisario Betancur leads a small faction; Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieira White; Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (PCC/ML), Maoist orientation; Patriotic Union, (UP), political movement formed by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and PCC, Braulio Herrera (Jaime Pardo Leal was 1986 presidential candidate)
Government leader
Virgilio BARCO Vargas, President (since August 1986); term ends 1990
Legal system
based on Spanish law; religious courts regulate marriage and divorce; constitution decreed in 1886, with amendments codified in 1946 and 1968; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations
Member of
Contadora Group, FAO, G-77, GATT, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDE— Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, LAIA and Andean SubRegional Group, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO
National holiday
Independence Day, 20 July
Official name
Republic of Colombia
Other political or pressure groups
Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieira White; PCC/ML, Chinese Line Communist Party; Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's Patriotic Union Party (FARCUP)
Suffrage
age 18 and over
Type
republic; executive branch dominates government structure
Voting strength
(1986 presidential election) Virgilio Barco Vargas 59%, Alvaro Gomez Hurtado 36%, Jaime Pardo Leal 4%, others 1%
Economy
Agriculture
main crops — coffee, rice, corn, sugarcane, plantains, bananas, cotton, tobacco; an illegal producer of coca and cannabis for the international drug trade
Budget
revenues, $5. 1 billion; expenditures, $5.6 billion (1987 est.)
Crude steel
498,600 metric tons produced (1984), 18 kg per capita
Electric power
8,438,000 kW capacity; 29,580 million kWh produced, 990 kWh per capita (1986)
Exports
$3.6 billion (f.o.b., 1985); coffee, coal, fuel oil, cotton, tobacco, sugar, textiles, cattle and hides, bananas, fresh cut flowers
Fiscal year
calendar year
Fishing
catch 75,351 metric tons (1984)
GNP
$31 billion; $1,129 per capita (1986 est.); 73% private consumption, 19% gross investment, 11% public consumption (1984); growth rate 5% (1986); 21.0% inflation rate (1986)
Imports
$4.1 billion (c.i.f., 1985); transportation equipment, machinery, industrial metals and raw materials, chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, fuels, fertilizers, paper and paper products, foodstuffs, beverages
Major industries
textiles, food processing, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, metal products, cement; mining — gold, coal, emeralds, iron, nickel, silver, salt
Major trade partners
exports — 40% US, 14% FRG, 4% UK, 4% Netherlands, 4% Japan, 3% Italy; imports— 33% US, 11% Japan, 8% Venezuela, 7% FRG, 4% France, 3% Canada, 3% UK, 3% Spain, 3% Brazil, 3% Italy (1985)
Monetary conversion rate
212.56 pesos=US$l (November 1986)
Natural resources
petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds Colombia (continued) Comoros
Communications
Airfields
636 total, 620 usable; 65 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways over 3,659 m; 10 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 96 with runways 1,220-2,439 m
Branches
Army (Ejercito Nacional), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea de Colombia), Navy (Armada Nacional)
Civil air
106 major transport aircraft
Highways
75,450 km total; 9,350 km paved, 66,100 km earth and gravel surfaces
Inland waterways
14,300 km, navigable by river boats
Military budget
for fiscal year ending 1987, $340.3 million; 7% of the central government budget
Military manpower
males 15-49, 8,049,000; 5,483,000 fit for military service; 364,000 reach military age (18) annually
Pipelines
crude oil, 3,585 km; refined products, 1,350 km; natural gas, 830 km; natural gas liquids, 125 km
Ports
6 major (Barranquilla, Buenaventura, Cartagena, San Andres, Santa Marta, Tumaco)
Railroads
3,563 km, all 0.914-meter gauge, single track
Telecommunications
nationwide radiorelay system; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station with 2 antennas and 1 1 domestic satellite stations; 1.89 million telephones (6.5 per 100 popl.); 404 AM, 85 TV stations Defense Forces