The Republic Of Colombia

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The Republic of Colombia is the fourth largest country in South

America. It is located

at the north-western tip of the continent. Its neighbors are Brazil and

Venezuela to the east,

Panama to the north-west, and Ecuador and Peru to the south. Colombia

is the only South

American country that's coast is on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean

Sea. There are eight

islands under Colombian rule, and they are San Andres, Providencia, San

Bernado, Islas del

Rosario, Isla Fuerte, Gorgona, Gorgonilla, and Malpelo.

Colombia's terrain is about 45% mountainous. The major mountain chain

is the

Andes, which is the longest and second highest mountain chain in the

world. The are three

mountain ranges in Colombia that form the Andes. These are known as

Cordilleras, which

means range. The Cordillera Occidental is 680 miles long and is about

6,500 ft. high. This

range is on the western area that stretches from the equator to the

Caribbean Sea. The

Cordillera Oriental is the longest range, at 750 miles long, and 8,530

ft. high and it cuts from

northern Colombia to southern Colombia. The Cordillera Central is

located in the center of

the country and is 689 miles long and 10,827 ft. high making it the

highest cordillera. The

highest mountain point in Colombia is the Sierra Nevada at 19,055 ft.

high. There are lots of

volcanoes in Colombia. The Cumbal is 17,500 ft. high, the Chiles is

16,900 ft. high, the

Purace is 17,060 ft. high, and the Pan de Azucar is 16,840 ft. high.

The eastern region of Colombia is a grassy lowland. 1/6 of Colombia is

uninhabited glacier

land, and 1/5 is high plateau.

Colombia has many rivers. The most important river is the Magdalena

which is 965

miles long and flows north to the Caribbean Sea. Others are the Meta,

the Amazon, the

Guaviare, and the Putamayo. There aren't many lakes in Colombia. The

largest lake in

Colombia is Lake Cocha and is not very important.

If it wasn't for the Andes mountain location, Colombia would have an

extremely high

climate since it is near the equator. However, Colombia's climate is

strictly related to the

altitude of the land and varies greatly from section to section. The

hot region of Colombia has

an average temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and are from sea level

to three thousand

feet. This area is along the Pacific coast and in the eastern jungle

region. Regions ...

... middle of paper ...

...uela and Colombia were united to form

the Greater

Colombian Confederation. Simon Bolivar was President. In 1830, the

Confederation ended

because Venezuela wanted independence.

Today, Colombia is a parliamentary republic with presidential elections

held every

four years. The congress holds sessions every year between July and

December and consists

of two houses the Chamber of Deputies, which has 131 elected members,

and the Senate

with 63 members. The President appoints cabinet members and cheifs of

administrations.

Colombia is divided into 23 departments, and the president appoints a

governer to head each

department. The current president is Cesar Gaviria Trujillo.

Colombia's population today is approximately 34,296,000. 95% of these

people are

Roman Catholic. The capital, Bogota has an estimated 4,921,00 people,

and the second

largest city, Cali, has 1,624,00 people. After Mexico and Brazil,

Colombia is the third most

populolus country in Latin America.3 About one half of the population

today is mestizo, a

mixture of Indian and European descent.4 Europeans are about one fifth

of the population,

and and there are some blacks, and about 400 Indian tribes.

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