Colombia is a country located in the northern part of South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama (The World Factbook). Colombia’s area is 1.14 million sq. km. (440,000 sq. mi.) and is about the size of California and Texas combined. Colombia is the fourth-largest country in South America. Colombia’s terrain is flat in the coastal areas, with extensive coastlines on the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, and it has three rugged parallel mountain chains, central highlands, and flat eastern grasslands. The climate tends to be tropical on the coast and eastern grasslands and cooler in the highlands (U.S. Department of State). Colombia’s natural resources include petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, and hydropower. Its natural hazards are that the highlands are subject to volcanic eruptions, occasional earthquakes, and periodic droughts. The volcano named Galeras is one of Colombia's most active volcanoes, having erupted in 2009 and 2010 causing major evacuations, it has been deemed a "Decade Volcano" by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior, worthy of study due to its explosive history and close proximity to human populations. Volcano Nevado del Ruiz located west of Bogota, erupted in 1985 producing lahars that killed 23,000 people, the volcano last erupted in 1991. And the volcano called Nevado del Huila, after 500 years of dormancy, it reawakened in 2007 and has experienced frequent eruptions since then. Other historically active volcanoes include Cumbal, Dona Juana, Nevado del Tolima, and Purace (The World Factbook). Colombia has a couple of environmental issues which are deforestation, soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides, and air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions. Colombia has 32 departments (also known as states) which are Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada and 1 capital district called Bogota. Colombia has many major cities which some are Medellin capital of Antioquia, Cali capital of Valle del Cauca, Barranquilla capital of Atlantico, Santa Marta capital of Magdalena, and Cartagena capital of Bolivar (The World Factbook). Colombia’s independence was on July 20th, 1810 from Spain. It legal system is a civil law system influenced by the Spanish and French civil codes. The Executive branch is as follows: Chief of State and Head of Government: President Juan Manuel Santos Calderon (since 7 August 2010), Vice President Angelino Garzon (since 7 August 2010). The Cabinet is appointed by the president. The elections for president and vice president are elected by popular vote for a four-year term and may be eligible for a second term. The last election was held on May 30th, 2010 with a runoff election on June 20th, 2010. The next election is to be held in May 2014. The Legislative branch ha a bicameral Congress that consists of the Senate with 102 seats and members are to be elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The Chamber of Representatives with 166 seats, and just like the Senate, members elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms. The Judicial branch has four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs the Supreme Court of Justice which is the highest court of criminal law and where judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms, the Council of State which is the highest court of administrative law and the judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms, the Constitutional Court which are the ones who guard integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties, Superior Judicial Council administer and discipline the civilian judiciary and resolve jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts and the members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms ( The Worlds Factbook). Colombia’s major political parties are the Colombian Conservative Party, Colombian Liberal Party, Social Party of National Unity, Radical Change, Alternative Democratic Pole, Party of National Integration, Green Party, and numerous smaller movements (US Department of the State). Colombia’s economy is based of the Industry Market (textiles, garments, footwear, chemicals, metal products, cement, plastic resins and manufactures, beverages, wood products, pharmaceuticals, machinery, electrical equipment), it’s Agriculture with products like coffee, bananas, cut flowers, cotton, sugarcane, livestock, rice, shrimp, tobacco, vegetables, corn, potatoes, soybeans, sorghum, cocoa beans, oilseed, its Services which include Government services, financial services, commerce, transportation and communication, construction and public works, utilities, its Mining, the Main products are coal, crude oil, gas, gold, and nickel, its
Trade from its Exports: petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, and cut flowers. Colombia’s major exporting markets are the United States, European Union, China, and Ecuador. It’s Imports: machinery/equipment, grains, chemicals, transportation equipment, mineral products, consumer products, paper products, oil and gas industry equipment, and electricity and their major suppliers are the United States, China, Mexico, Brazil, and Germany. Colombia’s currency is called the Colombian Peso. Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico. Sixty-one cities have a population of 100,000 or more; five cities have a population of more than 1 million. Most of Colombia’s population is concentrated around the northern and western departments. The nine eastern lowlands departments, constituting about 54% of Colombia's area, are sparsely populated. The ethnic and cultural diversity in Colombia reflects the indigenous, European (mainly Spanish), and African heritages of its inhabitants. Today, only about 3% of the people identify themselves as indigenous. Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups have faced challenges related to integration into mainstream Colombian society (US Department of State).
Around 37% of Colombians live below the poverty line, and the country continues to face large income disparities and inadequate social services. The history of the country, including decades of violence involving outlawed armed groups and drug cartels coupled with human rights violations, has complicated the advancement of government social programs to address these problems. Colombia continues to make progress in improving citizen security, which is an essential building block for stability and democracy. Colombia’s history during the pre-Columbian period, the area now known as Colombia was inhabited by indigenous societies ranging from hunters and nomadic farmers to the highly structured economy of the Chibchas, who are considered to have been one of the most developed indigenous groups in South America. Santa Marta, the first permanent Spanish settlement, was founded in 1525. The city of Santa Fe de Bogota was founded in 1538 and, in 1717, became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, which included what are now Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Bogota was one of three principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World. On July 20, 1810, the citizens of Bogota created the first representative council to defy Spanish authority. Full independence was proclaimed in 1813, and in 1819 the Republic of Greater Colombia was formed to include all the territory of the former Viceroyalty of New Granada. Simon Bolivar was elected its first president with Francisco de Paula Santander as vice president. Conflicts between followers of Bolivar and Santander led to the formation of two main political parties, Liberal and Conservative. Bolivar's supporters, who formed the nucleus of the Conservative Party, sought strong centralized government, alliance with the Roman Catholic Church, and a limited suffrage. Santander's followers, forerunners of the Liberals, wanted a decentralized government, state control over education and other civil matters, and broader voting rights. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each party held the presidency for roughly equal periods of time. Colombia maintained a tradition of civilian government and regular, free elections. Notwithstanding the country's commitment to democratic institutions, Colombia's history has been characterized by widespread and violent conflict. Two civil wars resulted from bitter rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties: The War of a Thousand Days in the years 1899 through 1903, which claimed an estimate of 100,000 lives, and La Violencia (the Violence) in the years of 1946 through 1957, which resulted in about 300,000 deaths (US Departments of State).
On August 7, 2010, Juan Manuel Santos was inaugurated as President of Colombia.
The Santos administration laid out an ambitious National Development Plan and has used a legislative majority to pass significant legislation, including a historic victims’ law that will benefit approximately 4 million Colombians over the next 10 years with reparations and land restitution. Santos reorganized the executive branch, including new ministries of justice, labor, and the environment and abolished the discredited Administrative Department of Security (DAS) and replaced it with a new civilian intelligence agency. Executive branch reform was mandated, including the redistribution of royalties from mineral and natural resources, fiscal reforms, and the implementation of more tools to improve citizen safety. To improve national policies going forward, Santos also created new presidential programs for Afro-Colombian and indigenous issues. Vice President Angelino Garzon, a respected former labor leader, coordinates human rights and labor right issues. He has promptly condemned human rights abuses and threats against unions. The Santos administration has also maintained positive trends in security consolidation. The Victims and Land Restitution Law, signed into law by Santos in June 2011, focuses on making reparations available to 4 million victims affected by the country’s ongoing civil conflict. This landmark law, the implementation of which began in January 2012, offers monetary compensation to the victims of human rights violations such as forced disappearance or homicide. It also offers monetary compensation or land restitution to people who lost their land as a result of the conflict. If the land is now uninhabitable because it is not secure or is now a natural park or other protected place, compensation will be made in the form of equivalent land in another part of the country. If land restitution does not fully compensate for the loss of land, a monetary award will be made. Victims and the families of these victims who were guerillas or paramilitaries will not be eligible for compensation, and it is unclear whether victims of criminal bands or state violence will be eligible for compensation. The law will continue to aid past and current victims through 2021 (US Department of State). Building on the “democratic security” agenda of the previous administration, President Santos campaigned on “democratic prosperity,” focusing on economic development, security, and poverty reduction. The Santos administration passed an employment and formalization law, which seeks to create 2.5 million jobs, formalize 500,000 informal jobs, and reduce annual unemployment to single digits, all by 2014. His legislation to reduce the deficit through fiscal discipline measures was passed in late 2011. Colombia’s flag description is three horizontal bands of yellow which is the top color and a double-width, blue, and red. The flag retains the three main colors of the banner of Gran Colombia, formerly the Viceroyalty of New Granada from the years 1819 to 1830 including roughly the modern nations of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador (Encyclopedia Britannica). Various interpretations of the colors exist and include: yellow for the gold in Colombia's land, blue for the seas on its shores, and red for the blood spilled in attaining its freedom. Alternatively, the colors have been described as representing more elemental concepts such as sovereignty and justice (yellow), loyalty and vigilance (blue), and valor and generosity (red) or simply the principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity (The World Factbook).

Works Cited
Bouvier, Virginia M. Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War. Washington: United States
Institute of Peace, 2009. Print

“Colombia.” State.gov. US Department of State, March 6th 2012. Web. June 7th 2012. “Gran Colombia” Britannica.com. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. June 11th 2012.

LaRosa, Michael J., and Mejia, Germán R. Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History.
Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012. Print.
“South America: Colombia.” Cia.gov. Central Intelligence Agency, May 8th 2012. Web. June 8TH 2012.