You are here -> Colombia / About Colombia
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| "the only risk is wanting to stay !" (slogan of colombia's tourism campaign) unfortunately the international press sometimes tends to write typical yellow press information about colombia, they prefer an article about a "kidnapped german dog" (which actually was a lost german sheppard) over the information that colombia was selected to host the world economic forum in 2010. we will tell you some facts about what colombia has to offer to its visitors that will hopefully surprise and inspire you. any suggestions ? -> contact us ! |
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- the first cities founded on the continent of america are santa marta (1525) and cartagena de indias (1533) - both located on colombias carribean coast. - the word colombia is named after christopher columbus, the explorer who discovered america in 1492. - the "castillo san felipe" in cartagena is the oldest and biggest fortress on the american continent. - colombia was the first democracy in latin america. |
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- being the 26th largest nation in the world, colombia´s total landmass is roughly 1,140,000 km2 (440,156 sq mi), which is slightly less than twice the size of texas or france. - colombia has the 3rd largest population in latin america (around 44 mio) and is in the top 30 of the world most populated countries. - colombia has the second largest Spanish speaking population (after Mexico) in the world. - the highest peak is the pico cristobal colon at 5.775m. it is the highest coastal mountain in the world. - bogota the third largest city in latina america after buenos aires and sao paolo. it is also the 3rd highest (after la paz/bolivia 3.760m and quito/ecuador 2.850m) capital of the world with 2.640m above sea level. it is ranked in the 20 biggest cities in the world without its urban region and in the 30 biggest cities in the world including its urban region. - colombia is the first country to have a harvard graduate as president (juan manuel santos 2010-2014). - the royal spanish academy (RAE) declared the spanish language spoken in colombia as the most original/correct. - according to the new economic foundation happy planet index, colombia has the fourth happiest population of the World. - colombia is not as criminal as you might think, find below the world wide crime statistics (registered crimes in total): # 36 Colombia: 214,192 (45.400.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 0,47%) -- Other countries: # 1 USA: 11,877,218 (312.598.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 3,80%) # 2 England: 6,523,706 (51.446.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 12,68%) # 3 Germany: 6,507,394 (81.880.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 7,94%) # 4 France: 3,771,850 (65.822.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 5,73%) # 5 Russia: 2,952,370 (142.905.200 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 2,06%) # 8 Canada: 2,516,918 (34.647.000 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 7,26%) # 9 Italy: 2,231,550 (60.681.500 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 3,68%) # 18 Spain: 923,271 (46.030.100 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 2,01%) # 31 Switzerland: 307,631 (7.866.500 citizens, this represents a crime rate of 3,91%) |
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- colombia is no. 3 in the world for biodiversity which is 14% of the world´s biodiversity on land space (colombia's land space is only 0,7% of the worlds land space) which makes it no.1 country for biodiversity per km2 - a small introduction into colombia's great biodiversity: -- no. 1 in orchid species (over 3.500), roses (over 50 species, more than 60% global exportation), palm trees (over 235 species) and birds (over 1.800 species). -- no. 2 in plants (over 35.000), freshwater fishes, butterflies (over 3.000) and amphibians (over 600) -- no. 3 in reptile (over 475) and primate species -- no. 4 in mammal species - reforestation powerhouse potential: a tree in colombia grows three times faster than in chile which is a leader in this industry and nine times faster than in canada. - colombia is very green - 81,5% of its energy comes from hydropower and 18% from thermal power. no nuclear or coal plants ! - colombia is ranked no. 27 in the ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE INDEX 2012 which ranks 132 countries on 25 performance indicators tracked across ten policy categories covering both environmental public health and ecosystem vitality. - colombia´s CO2 footprint is only 70 mio tons per year (1,6 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 0,23% of the world´s CO2 emission -- 1. China 7710 mio tons per year (5,83 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 25,4% of the world´s CO2 emission, -- 2. USA 5424 mio tons per year (17,67 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 17,2% of the world´s CO2 emission, -- 3. INDIA 1602 mio tons per year (1,38 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 5,3% of the world´s CO2 emission, -- 4. RUSSIA 1572 mio tons per year (11,23 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 5,2% of the world´s CO2 emission, -- 5. Japan 1098 mio tons per year (8,64 Ton per 100.000 habitants) 3,6% of the world´s CO2 emission -- WORLD: 30398 mio tons per year // TOP 5 makes a total of 56,7% of the world´s CO2 emission - source - colombia was the first country to sign the nagoya protocol on biodiversity at an environmental conference at the UN headquarters in new york and was also leader in the elaboration of the famous cartagena protocol for biosafety. - colombia provides 95% of the world's emeralds. |
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- 70 years of continuous positive economic growth (only exception 1999) - oil is colombia's top export product by the end of 2010 there were 1.9 billions barrels of proven oil (estimated 37 billions) reserves in colombia, by the end of 2012 the production in colombia will reach around 1 mio barrel per day. - colombia is the world´s no. 2 exotic flower producer (50% of the flowers sold in the u.s. are from colombia). - colombia is the world´s no. 2 blackberry (the fruit) producer. - colombia is the world´s no. 3 (after brazil and vietnam) coffee producer in the world, providing 12 percent of the world's coffee. - colombia is the world´s no. 3 banana producer. - colombia is the world´s no. 4 coal producer. - colombia is the world´s no. 4 nickel producer. - colombia is the world´s no. 4 palm oil producer. - colombia is the world´s no. 4 in drinking water supplies. - colombia has the largest gold resources in latin america. - colombia has quality manufacturing: 70-85% of children´s polo shirts in the world are made in colombia and it is also the largest producer of adidas sportswear in the world. - 2011: moody's investor service and fitch ratings, two of the world's top credit-ratings agencies, recognized colombia's positive economic performance and impeccable debt payment, improving the country's rating to the investment grade of BBB-minus. the new rating follows standard & poor's similar upgrade of colombia. - the main colombian airline is avianca (founded dec. 1919) and it is the second oldest airline (oldest airline is KLM founded oct. 1919) in the world. |
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- famous colombians: gabriel garcia marquez: literature nobel prize winner and the most read novelist in the world. |
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