1. REPUBLICA DE COLOMBIA
IMPORTANCE OF COLOMBIA
Alejandro Restrepo
Geology 400
05/02/2013

3. MAPS OF COLOMBIA
COLOMBIA
COLOMBIA WITH RELEVANCE TO
“SPANISH AMERICA”

4. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
 Located in Northern South America
 Borders Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, and
Brazil
 Only South American country with coastlines on both
the Pacific and Atlantic ocean
 Area comparative : slightly less than twice the size of
Texas
 Very Tropical climate
 Rich in natural resources (petroleum, coal, iron, gold,
natural gas, emeralds, copper)
 Tropical climate (equatorial country)

5. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY
 Prior to Spanish colonization, Colombia was
inhabited by local Native Indian tribes
 1525 begins Spanish Colonization
 Exploited for its massive amounts of gold and other
natural resources
 Originally named Vice Royalty of Nueva
Granada
 Later became Gran Colombia (Ecuador,
Venezuela, Panama, Colombia)
 Bogota uprising 20 de Julio, 1810

6. SIMON BOLIVAR : THE LIBERATOR
 1819 secured Independence for Gran
Colombia
 Slowly, but surely Gran Colombia breaks
apart forming individual countries

7. EL BOGOTAZO Y LA VIOLENCIA
 Fast forward to 1900’s
 Colombia has been torn by political violence and
social inequality
 April 9th, 1948 popular leftist Jorge Eliezer
Gaitan was murdered in Bogota
 El Bogotazo – massive riots after the death of Gaitan
 3000 to 5000 injured or dead in 10 hours of riots
 Effects of El Bogotazo spread throughout
Colombia, therefore receiving the title “La
Violencia”

8. EL BOGOTAZO

9. EL PUEBLO QUERIA MAS!
The outcome of the death of Jorge Eliezer Gaitain

10. HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=T0LY31
W84VC
Small clip of some pictures of El Bogotazo

11. MODERN DAY COLOMBIA
 Despite the political upheaval and violence
that has consistently tormented the country,
Colombia and its people continue to come
together, economically and socially

12. ECONOMY
 Colombia has a free market economy, very
similar to that of the US
 Major American and foreign investment
 Colombia is becoming more and more a
capitalistic society and economy with free trade
agreements with neighboring countries and the
US
 Having two coastlines gives Colombia a huge
maritime opportunity for trade, opening up its
options for more trade with countries on both
sides of the world

13. ECONOMY CONT.
 In recent years Colombia has had a an aggressive
expansion of its economy
 Aggressive free trade with the US and China
 Colombia-US Free Trade Agreement, also with Mexico, EU,
Japan…
 Market friendly economic prices have led to…
 GDP has grown at a level of more than 4% over the
last few years
 Over a decade of strong performance
 This due to foreign investment and US aid
 Relies heavily on oil export (Ecopetrol)
 According to heritage.org, Colombia has the 37th
freeist economy in the world

14. ECONOMIC ISSUES
 Relies heavily on oil export (Ecopetrol)
 Also relies on many other commodities
 In order to maximize business, Colombia needs
to adjust to the commodities boom
 Important reforms need to be enacted
 Income inequality needs to be reduced
 Income inequality largely driven by unemployment
and informality
 Boost productivity and sustain growth
 Government policies should be adjusted to promote
productivity across the economy

15. 2013 INDEX OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM
SLOWLY BUT SURELY…
 Gradual increase over time

16. MAJOR CITIES
 One interesting feature about Colombia is
that its two most important cities, the capital,
Bogota and Medellin are not near the coast
 Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Barranquilla
are also very important coastal cities
 A lot of trade comes in and out of these cites, to
include de Port of Buenaventua and Tumaco
 http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/COL.php
 Map of Colombian ports both scattered on the Atlantic
and Pacific

17. BOGOTA
 Capital and largest city of Colombia
 7.3 million people as of 2010
 Amongst the 30 largest cities in the world
 Center of administrative, economic and
political influence in Colombia

18. MEDELLIN : CUIDAD DE ETERNA PRIMERVA
 Located in “El Valle de Aburra”
 Capital of the Department of Antioquia
 Northern Andes Mountains
 Second largest city in Colombia
 Population of 2.7 million
 3.5 million in the metropolitan area
 Metropolitan area consists of 9 cities
 Medellin, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella, Caldas,
Copacabana, Giradota, Barbosa
 WSJ named it the world most innovative city

19. MEDELLIN CONT.
 Civic spaces
 Rich culture
 Increased mobility amongst its citizens
 Metro, MetroPlus, MetroCable, highway and
tunnel systems through and around the
mountains
 “The Urban Land Institute said Medellin had seen
one of the most remarkable urban turnarounds in
modern history.” -BBC

20. MODERNIZATION IN MEDELLIN

21. MODERNIZATION CONT.

22. SANTA MARTA Y CARTAGENA
 These coastal cities have been driving Colombian
tourism sky high
 Not only are commodities a big part of the GDP, but
these tropical areas are the destination of many
wealthy Latin Americans, Europeans, and now
American spring breakers

23. PUERTO DE BUENAVENTUA

24. PUERTO DE BUENAVENTURA
 Key Colombian hub to connect it to the rest
of the world
 Import/export capital of Colombia
 Colombia’s busiest and most important port,
located on the Pacific, outside of the city of
Cali
 Not only a key port used by the Colombian
government, but also by drug smugglers to
launder money

26. NEGATIVE IMAGE/CONNATATION
 Drug violence has consistently given
Colombia a negative image
 Drug Cartels since the 1970’s have had
enormous power and influence
 Medellin and Cali Cartel during the 80’s and
early 90’s
 Guerilla and Paramilitary forces FARC, ELN,
AUC now control the billion dollar cocaine
trade

27. DRUG TRADE…
 Colombian ports are not only used for legal reasons, but
also for the drug trade (both Pacific and Atlantic ocean)

28. DRUG TRADE LEADS TO VIOLENCE
 Colombia, no matter were you go is plagued by
lower class violence
 While traveling in Medellin in December, there was a
massacre in Medellin between rival gangs, 9 were
found dead, including two models
 Guerillas use violent force in order to continue
to produce cocaine in mountainous areas
 Fighting for control and legalization of the drug
business
 Ex president Alvaro Uribe dramatically reduced
the influence of both drug cartels and guerilla
forces

29. NOT EVERY THING ABOUT COLOMBIA IS
NEGATIVE!
 “We already knew Colombians were people with a lot of flavor,
delicious dishes and high-spirited, so for many it won’t come as a
surprise that being happy and hopeful would also be one of their
greatest characteristics.” - Huffington Post
 Colombia took first place on the “Global Barometer of Hope and
Happiness”
 Study of 54 countries, 55,718 men and women responded to the
question “As far as you are concerned, do you personally feel happy,
unhappy, or neither happy nor unhappy about your life?”
 Twice as happy as the global average
 Colombian, whether in poverty or rich, find ways to remain happy,
optimistic, and enjoy their everyday lives
 Here is 21 reasons why Colombia is the happiest country in the
world
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/reasons-colombia-happiest-
country_n_2490813.html

30. TO CONLUDE
 Although the negative image exists and will
be extremely tough to get rid of that negative
stigma, Colombia continues to move forward,
no matter what the past may dictate. Not only
did I chose to do this topic because I am
Colombian, but to also raise awareness of
what kind of country Colombia is. Colombia
is moving forward economically, politically,
and most important socially.

31. WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS

32. WORKS CITED
 CIA World Fact Book. "Central Intelligence Agency." CIA. Central
Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2013.
 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. "Colombia." Infoplease.
Infoplease, 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
 OECD. "Newsroom - Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development." Newsroom - Organisation for Economic Co-
operation and Development. OECD, 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 01 May
2013.
 Ramos, Zuania. "Colombia Was Happiest Country In The World
By The End Of 2012, Survey Finds." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Jan. 2013. Web. 02 May 2013.
 "Colombia Official Travel Guide." Colombia Travel: Official Guide.
N.p., n.d. Web. 02 May 2013.
 W, T. "Why Is Less Cocaine Coming From Colombia?" The
Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 01
May 2013.