More than 50 years of war between the Colombiangovernment and the Marxist guerrilla forces ofFARC effectively came to an end in June 2016

when Pres. Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leaderRodrigo Londoño (“Timochenko”) signed a permanentcease-fire agreement, laying the groundwork for the finalpeace treaty that was to be agreed upon on August 24.The process was temporarily derailed, however, when vot-ers narrowly rejected the agreement in a referendum inOctober. A renegotiated deal was passed in lateNovember by the House ofRepresentatives and theSenate (both of which weredominated by Santos’s rul-ing coalition).

DemographyArea: 440,831 sq mi, 1,141,748 sq km.Population (2016): 48,961,000.Density (2016): persons per sq mi111.1, persons per sq km 42.9.

Sex distribution (2011): male 49.41%;female 50.59%.

Population projection: (2020)50,546,000; (2030) 53,511,000.

Major cities (20152): Bogotá7,878,783; Medellín 2,464,322;Cali 2,369,821; Barranquilla1,218,475; Cartagena1,001,755.

Urban-rural (2014):

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 population (2015): 16.5(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000 population (2015): 5.4(world avg. 8.1).

Natural increase rate per 1,000 population(2015): 11.1 (world avg. 11.4).

Life expectancy at birth (2015): male 72.3years; female 78.8 years.

Adult population (ages 15–49) living withHIV (2015): 0.5% (world avg. 0.8%).

Age breakdown (2015):

Ethnic composition (2006): Religious affiliation (2007):

Colombia

Official name: República de Colombia (Republicof Colombia).

Form of government: unitary, multiparty republicwith two legislative houses (Senate [102]; Houseof Representatives [166]).

Head of state and government: President JuanManuel Santos.

Capital: Bogotá.Official language: Spanish.Official religion: none1.Monetary unit: peso (Col$); valuation (Sept. 1,2016) 1 U.S.$ = Col$2,984; 1 £ = Col$3,968.

Population (20152)Departments population Departments population Departments population

Amazonas 76,243Antioquia 6,456,299Arauca 262,315Atlántico 2,460,863Bolívar 2,097,161Boyacá 1,276,407Caldas 987,991Caquetá 477,642Casanare 356,479Cauca 1,379,169Cesar 1,028,890Chocó 500,093Córdoba 1,709,644

Cundinamarca 2,680,041Guainía 41,482Guaviare 111,060Huila 1,154,777La Guajira 957,797Magdalena 1,259,822Meta 961,334Nariño 1,744,228Norte deSantander 1,355,787

Putumayo 345,204Quindío 565,310Risaralda 951,953

San Andrés y Providencia 76,442

Santander 2,061,079Sucre 851,515Tolima 1,408,272Valle del Cauca 4,613,684

Vaupés 43,665Vichada 71,974

Capital DistrictBogotá 7,878,783TOTAL 48,203,405

© 2017 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

World DataE N C Y C L O P Æ D I A

Britannica

National economyBudget (2012). Revenue: Col$148,185,000,000,000 (tax revenue 58.9%,of which income taxes 22.6%, taxes on goods and ser-vices 24.1%; nontax revenue 41.1%). Expenditures:Col$145,542,000,000,000 (grants 36.3%; social benefits12.2%; use of goods and services 12.0%; other 39.5%).

Population economically active (2014): total 24,103,800;participation rates: male 74.8%; female 54.1%; unem-ployed 9.1%, of which youth (ages 15–24) 15.7%.

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2013): sugarcane 34,876,333, plantains3,306,740, cassava 2,490,789, potatoes 2,129,319,bananas 2,098,625, rice 1,996,580, tomatoes 683,538,green coffee 653,160, pineapples 643,039, onions439,539, yams 363,036;7 livestock (number of live ani-mals; 2014) 24,205,969 cattle, 821,852 horses, 725,783 sheep; round-wood (2014) 12,145,000 cu m, of which fuelwood 68%; fisheries pro-duction (2012) 167,654 (from aquaculture 47%). Mining and quarry-ing (2013): nickel (metal content) 70,000; gold 55,745 kg; emeralds2,627,000 carats. Manufacturing (value added in U.S.$’000,000; 2005):processed food 3,471; petroleum products 2,873; medicines, fertilizers,soaps 1,956; beverages 1,813; iron and steel 1,120; cement, bricks, andceramics 1,042; plastics 858; clothing 836.9 Energy production (con-sumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2012) 60,805,000,000 (50,865,000,000),by source: fossil fuels 17.6%; renewable energy 82.4%, of whichhydroelectric 81.5%, biomass 0.8%, wind 0.1%; hard coal (metrictons; 2012) 89,000,000 ([2011] 6,530,000); crude petroleum (barrels;2012) 337,600,000 ([2011] 114,000,000); petroleum products (metrictons; 2012) 15,608,000 ([2011] 9,663,000); natural gas (cu m; 2012)12,586,000,000 ([2011] 10,180,000,000).

Gross national income (GNI; 2015): U.S.$344,093,000,000 (U.S.$7,130per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$13,520 per capita).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2014): U.S.$58,108,000,000.Average household size (March 2004): 3.8.Land use as % of total land area (2011): in temporary crops or left fal-low 1.4%, in permanent crops 1.6%, in pasture 34.5%, forest area54.4%.

Foreign trade8

Imports (2013): U.S.$59,381,000,000 (machinery andapparatus 26.5%, chemicals and chemical products16.9%, vehicles and related equipment 14.8%,metals and metal products 7.1%, food, beverages,and tobacco 6.0%, textiles and clothing 4.6%). Major import sources:

Exports (2013): U.S.$58,824,000,000 (petroleum andderivative products 55.2%, coal 11.4%, food, bev-erages, and tobacco 6.8%, metal products 6.8%,chemicals and chemical products 5.8%, coffee3.2%). Major export destinations:

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2015): route length 1,330 mi,2,140 km; passenger-km (2004) 25,000,000; metric

ton-km cargo (2006) 8,301,000,000. Roads(2015): total length 127,291 mi, 204,855km (paved [2000] 23%); passenger-km(2005) 157,000,00010; metric ton-km cargo(2006) 39,726,000,000. Vehicles (2009):cars 2,397,716; trucks and buses 823,074.

Education and healthLiteracy (2015): population age 15 and over lit-erate 94.7%; males literate 94.6%; females lit-erate 94.8%.

Health: physicians (2006) 51,095 (1 per 849 per-sons); hospital beds (2004) 50,824 (1 per 833persons); infant mortality rate (2015) 14.6;undernourished population (2006–08)4,100,000 (9% of total population based on theconsumption of a minimum daily requirementof 1,790 calories).

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November2015): 296,750 (army 79.9%, navy15.5%, air force 4.6%); paramilitary159,000. Military expenditure as per-centage of GDP (2015): 3.6%; percapita expenditure U.S.$211.

1The 1973 concordat with the Vatican declares that Roman Catholicism is of fundamental importance toColombia. 2Official projections. 3Preliminary. 4Taxes less subsidies on products. 5Unemployed. 6Detail does notadd to total given because of rounding. 7Also major producer of cut flowers (particularly roses and carnations).8Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 9Per the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia ranked first in the world in cocaproduction (about 96,000 hectares) in 2015. 10Buses only. 11Subscribers.

Internet resources for further information:• National Administrative Department of Statistics www.dane.gov.co• Banco de la República, Colombia www.banrep.gov.co

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force20133 2014

in value % of total labour % of labourCol$’000,000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry 39,541 5.6 3,666,700 15.2Mining 75,683 10.7 179,300 0.7Manufacturing 79,534 11.2 2,642,700 11.0Construction 61,209 8.6 1,308,300 5.4Public utilities 23,948 3.4 113,300 0.5Transp. and commun. 40,073 5.7 1,779,900 7.4Trade, hotels 80,488 11.4 6,043,900 25.1Finance, real estate 132,794 18.8 1,964,200 8.1Pub. admin., defense … … … …Services 112,798 16.0 4,386,200 18.2Other 61,1094 8.64 2,016,4005 8.45

TOTAL 707,177 100.0 24,103,8006 100.0

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2015 57,32711 1,15711

Landline 2015 7,109 144

Internet users 2009 20,789 455Broadband 2015 5,52511 11111

© 2017 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

World DataE N C Y C L O P Æ D I A

Britannica