Co·lom·bi·a  (kə-lŭm'bē-ə)   (click for larger image in new window) A country of northwest South America with coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Previously inhabited by the Chibchas, it was settled by the Spanish in 1530s and formed the nucleus of the viceroyalty of New Granada after 1740. The area gained its independence from Spain in 1821 under the leadership of Simón Bolívar, but the modern state of Colombia did not emerge until after Venezuela and Ecuador (1830) and later Panama (1903) had become separate nations. Bogotá is the capital and the largest city. Population: 44,400,000. Co·lom'bi·an adj. & n. |
Republic in northwestern South America, bordered by Panama to the northwest, Venezuela to the northeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south, and Brazil to the southeast. Its capital and largest city is Bogotá.
Note: Its major legal crop is coffee.
Note: Trafficking of marijuana and cocaine remains a problem in Colombia. With support from the United States, the Colombian government has attacked drug traffickers, but the country continues to be torn by civil war between left-wing and right-wing factions.
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