COLOMBIA. Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year.

COLOMBIA

Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year insurgent campaign to overthrow the Colombian Government escalated during the 1990s, undergirded in part by funds from the drug trade. Although the violence is deadly and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence, the movement lacks the military strength or popular support necessary to overthrow the government. An anti-insurgent army of paramilitaries has grown to several thousand strong in recent years, challenging the insurgents for control of territory and the drug trade, and also the government's ability to exert its dominion over rural areas. While Bogota steps up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

LOCATION

Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea,

between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and

Panama

CLIMATE

tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands

GOVERNMENTAL FACTS

• Country name: Republic of Colombia

• Government type: republic; executive branch dominates government structure

• Capital: Bogota • Independence: 20 July 1810

(from Spain)

Sites & Cities to see

• Bogota• Cartagena• Ciudad Perdida• Parque Nacional Tayrona• Santuario de las Lajas• Medellin

Bogota

• The city of Bogotá has a great variety of touristic places, with a combination of colonial buildings and skyscrapers.Points of interest in the city include:

La Candelaria zone, with several museums, cultural scenery and art exhibitions.La Plaza de Bolívar, surrounded by government buildings representing several styles and eras.

Bogota The list of museums can be headed with the

famous Gold Museum which is a testimony to native Indian culture. The Religious Art Museum has an exhibit of La Lechuga, where you can see 1,486 emeralds encrusted in gold. There is also the National Museum, El 20 de Julio or Casa del Florero, the Museum of Modern Art, the Mint and la Quinta de Bolívar.

Numerous art galleries display and sell the works of both Colombian and international contemporary artists.

If you like bull fighting you can go to the Plaza de Toros de Santamaria

Cartagena

• Hot, sultry, filled with the sounds of music and bright with color and tradition, Cartagena de Indias has been an important port on the Caribbean since it was founded in 1533. Gold and silver left the port bound for Europe, pirates looted the city, and a walled fort grew to protect both shipping and the slave trade.

• Now, Cartagena still draws interest, but from tourists who come to enjoy the history, the sights, the weather and nightlife. Plan to stay several days, to enjoy the colonial period, the modern city and the fashionable seaside resort of Colombia's second port.

Cartagena• Casa de Marqués Valdehoyos, on Calle Factoría, is a

good place to begin your explorations of the old city. This house exemplifies old Cartagena, and the tourist office inside offers maps and information

• Museo de Oro y Arqueloguía on the Plaza Bolivar, has a good collection of gold and pottery of the Sinú culture. Also on the plaza, the Palacio de la Inquisicíon is a fine example of colonial architecture. Behind the charming facade, a museum displays instruments of torture from the Spanish Inquisition, pre-Columbian, colonial and independence-era art. .

• Cartagena's Cathedral, with its massive exterior, simple interior and fortress appearance was begun in 1575, partially demolished by Sir Walter Drake's cannons, and completed in 1602.

• Iglesia de Santo Domingo on Calle Santo Domingo, which is little changed from colonial days, is the oldest church in the city, and like the cathedral, was built to resist invaders.

Cartagena• Las Bóvedas are

dungeons initially built for military purposes and now house boutiques and tourist shops.

• Castillo de San Felipe de Barajas is the largest of a series of fortresses built to protect the city from pirates. A must-see is the tunnel system meant to facilitate supply and evacuation of the fortress.

Parque Nacional Toyrona

• Parque Nacional Tayrona is a scenic mix of white sand beaches (rough currents make swimming dangerous,) coral reefs, jungle slopes, and the steep peaks of the world's highest coastal range. Popular with trekkers, hikers and campers, the park also has an ancient Tayrona village, called Pueblito, under excavation.

Cuidad Perdida• 'Ciudad Perdida' ("Lost City") is an archaeological site of an ancient

city in Sierra Nevada, Colombia. It might have been founded as early as 5th century BC.

• Ciudad Perdida was discovered in 1972 when group of local treasure looters found a series of stone steps rising up the mountainside and followed them to an abandoned city. They named it "Green Hell". When its gold figurines and ceramic urns begun to appear in the local black market, authorities revealed the site in 1975.

• Members of local tribes - the Arhuaco, the Kogi and the Assario - have stated that they had visited it regularly but kept quiet about it. To them is it Teyuna, the heart of a network of villages inhabited by their forebears, the Tairona. It was probably the region's political and manufacturing center on the Buritaca River and may have housed 2000 - 8000 people. It was apparently abandoned during the Spanish conquest.

• Ciudad Perdida consists of series of 169 terraces carved into the mountainside, net of tiled roads and small circular plazas. Entrance to the city is a climb of some 12.000 stone steps through dense jungle.

Santuario De Las Lajas

• Set in a stunning gorge over the Guáitara river, Las Lajas Cathedral, is located in the town of Ipiales, Nariño and is visited by thousands of tourists and the faithful.

Medillin

• Medellín is known as the industrial capital of Colombia. The metropolitan area of Medellin lies within the Aburrá Valley at an altitude of 1,538 meters and is bisected by the Medellín River which flows northward. North of the valley are the towns of Bello, Copacabana, Girardota and Barbosa. To the south of the valley lie Itagui, Envigado, Sabaneta, La Estrella and Caldas.

• Medellín is Colombia's second largest city, it is a commercial flower growing region, particularly orchids,

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