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| SPOTLIGHT | | Tropical
beaches and jungle, Wildlife, natural heritage and sun-kissed islands. |
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Colombia lies at the gateway to South America
and must have been a transit point for the first inhabitants who migrated from
North and Central America. The pre-columbian cultures of Colombia have been little
investigated as almost none of them left behind spectacular monuments. However,
their art reveals a high degree of craftsmanship and their goldwork is the best
in the whole continent, both for the techniques used and for the artistic design.
Among, the most outstanding cultures were the Tayrona, Sinú, Muisca, Quimbaya,
Tolima, Calima,Tierradentro, San Agustín, Nariño, and Tumaco. Three
important archeological sites were built by some of these cultures: San Agustín,
Tierradentro and Ciudad Perdida.
Colombia stretches over approximately
1,140,000 sq. km, roughly equal to the area of Portugal, Spain, and France put
together. Colombia occupies the northwestern end of South America, and is the
only country there with coasts on both the Pacific (1350 km long), and the Atlantic
(over 1600 km.) Three Andean ranges run north and south through the western half
of the country (about 45% of the total territory.) The eastern part is a vast
lowland which can be generally divided into two regions: a huge open savannah
on the north, and the amazon in the south (400,000 sq. km aprox.)
Colombia is a country of geographical contrasts and extremes. As well as the features
mentioned, it has such curiosities as the desert of La Guajira, the peninsula
in the most norh-eastern tip of the country; the jungle of the pacific coast which
holds one of the world's rainfall records; and finally the Serranía de
la Macarena, an isolated mountain formation about 120 km. long, rising abruptly
from the eastern plains to some 2500 meters. Colombia also has several small islands.
The major ones are the archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia in the
Caribbean Sea, the Islas del Rosario and San Bernardo along the Caribeean coast,
and Gorgona and Malpelo in the Pacific Ocean.
Architecture
Pre-Hispanic structures include underground tombs in the National Archeological
Park of Tierradentro and the religious monuments in the San Agustin Archeological
Park.
Cartagena, built by the Spanish in the sixteenth century, is a
World Heritage site, comprising the Port, Fortresses and Monuments.
Santa
Cruz de Mompox, another early Spanish city on the World Heritage list, was built
along the banks of the Magdalena river.
Population
The population
of Colombia was estimated at 42,954,279 in 2005.
Languages
Spanish is the official language in Colombia. There are also a number of indigenous
languages spoken.
Religion
The majority of people in Colombia
are Christians; ninety percent are Roman Catholic.
Food
Soups
and stews are popular in Colombia. A traditional stew is ajiaco made with chicken,
potatoes, cream, capers and avocado or corn.
Meat or fish are part of
the main course; seafood is plentiful on the Caribbean coast. Pasta, rice, breadfruit,
cassava, red beans, lentils, plantains and tomatoes are available.
A
number of recipes make use of banana leaves; for example, cheese wrapped in banana
leaves. Tortillas, made from maize and wrapped around a filling, are another favourite
meal.
Rice is often used in desserts. One such recipe is for a sweet
rice dish cooked in coconut milk. A number of exotic fruits are grown.
Drinks include Colombian coffee, carbonated drinks, local wine and rum.
Colombia Facts
Pico Cristobal Colon and Pico Simon Bolivar are the
highest points in Colombia (5,775 m).
The largest group of religious
monuments and megalithic sculptures in South America can be found in the San Agustin
Archeological Park in Colombia.
The Gold Museum in Bogota houses many
pre-Hispanic items made from gold and silver.
Indigenous people known
as the "Muisca" lived in the region before the arrival of the Spanish.
Lake Guatavita, high in the Andes, was a ritual centre of the Muisca.
During a ceremony performed by the Muisca, a chief was covered with gold
powder before diving into Lake Guatavita. The story of this ritual gave rise to
the legend of El Dorado (the Guilded One).
In the 1530s Spain founded
Santa Fe de Bogota, now the capital city of Bogota.
Colombia became part
of the Spanish Vice Royalty of Peru (created in 1542).
In 1718 Bogota
was made the capital of the Vice Royalty of Nueva Granada which included Ecuador
and Venezuela.
Colombia was ruled by the Spanish for almost three hundred
years.
In the early sixteenth century Africans were brought to Colombia
to replace the indigenous labour. Africans worked on sugar plantations, in the
gold mines and on cattle ranches.
Colombia was freed from Spanish rule
in 1819 by patriots led by Simon de Bolivar.
Following liberation from
the Spanish, Colombia became part of the Republic of Gran Colombia (Colombia,
Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela).
Gran Colombia dissolved in 1830 and Colombia
and Panama formed the state of Nueva Granada.
Slavery was abolished in
Colombia in 1849.
An estimated one hundred and twenty thousand people
died in the civil war known as "The War of the Thousand Days" (1899-1903).
Panama became independent in 1903.
Between 1948 and 1957 over a
quarter of a million people lost their lives in civil war in Colombia.
One hundred and one people were killed in 1985 when guerrillas forced their way
into the Palace of Justice.
In 1993 Pablo Escobar, the Colombian drug
cartel leader, was shot and killed.
An estimated twenty-three thousand
people and fifteen thousand animals died when the Nevado del Ruiz volcano erupted
in 1985.
In 1999 hundreds of people were killed in an earthquake in Colombia.
Cities near the epicenter were Armenia, Calarca and Pereira.
Manuel Elkin
Patarroyo is a Colombian who developed the vaccine for malaria. He donated the
rights for the vaccine to the World Health Organization. |
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Top Beaches |  |
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Carmel Beach | | Carmel Beach, for one,
is a tranquil cove of blue water bordered by soft white sand and cypress-covered
cliffs (the tides are deceptively strong and dangerous, so be careful if you chance
a swim). | | |
| Hermosa
Beach | | Have fun with volleyball, paddleball
or beach ball, while creating a golden tan or toning up. Surfboarding, skateboarding
or boogey boarding are all here. | | |
| Long
Beach | | As you drive along the coast
of Long Beach, don't be fooled by the sight of the bright pastel islands just
off shore; far from natural, they're actually oil-drilling platforms in disguise. |
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| Surfrider
Beach | | Surfrider Beach here was the
surfing capital of the world in the 1950s and early 1960s, as seen in the Beach
Blanket Bingo movies of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon (the surf is at its
best in late summer). | | |
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Malibu | | Malibu, at the top of the bay
twenty miles north of Santa Monica, is a whole other world, its beach-colony houses
owned by those famous enough to need privacy and rich enough to afford it. |
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Zuma Beach | | Five miles along the coast
from Malibu Pier, Zuma Beach is the largest and most crowded of the Los Angeles
County beaches. | | |
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Point Dume State Beach | | Adjacent Point
Dume State Beach, below the imposing promontory of Point Dume, is a lot more relaxed. |
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| Pismo
Beach | | Just outside San Luis Obispo,
on Pismo's 23-mile stretch of prime beachfront, flip-flops are the shoes of choice
and surf wear is the dominant fashion. It's all about beach life here, so bring
your bathing suit, your board, and a good book. | |
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Ocean Beach | | Ocean Beach, six miles
northwest of downtown, rivals Pacific Beach in its surfing and party atmosphere,
although Ocean Beach has a more down-to-earth, bohemian feel, and is replete with
excellent secondhand music shops. | | |
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La Jolla | | A more pretentious air prevails
in La Jolla, an elegant beach community just to the north that mystery writer
Raymond Chandler once described as "a nice place - for old people and their
parents." | | | |
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