History UsefulNotes / Colombia

** Bolívar: Named after [[RedBaron the Liberator]], [[{{Badass}} Simón Bolívar]], this Department is famous for its capital: Cartagena de Indias, or La Heroica, which is a beach paradise (or its remnants --that's a serious TearJerker for some of us.) and has some of the best touristic places you can ever visit. Cartagena became famous for a convention (The Americas' Summit) which uncovered some serious situations [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement between the Secret Service and a young girl. And we'll leave it at that.]]. But this is not exclusive for modern times. As you can see, Cartagena was called "La Heroica"[[note]]Means "Heroic City"[[/note]] because had to fight two sieges: one in 1741 against Vernon (under the command of notorious Badass [[HandicappedBadass Blas de Lezo]]) and another one, in 1815 against the Spaniards. In the case that Cartagena fell to one of these sieges, Colombia would have never existed.

** Caquetá: One of the main Departments of this Region, Caquetá has industries like wood and rubber as its main means of subsistance, and also benefits from the eco-tourism. Also, has its share of violence and its mainly famous for having the original Distension Zone in the municipality of San Vicente del Caguán (Ask ANY Colombian about this and there's a sure Flame War, so this troper will apply the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement on this one.)

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<<|UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica|>>

* Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll: just known as {{Shakira}} by most people, you'll have almost certainly heard one of her songs. Actually a quarter Lebanese (which somewhat explains the [[BellyDancer belly-dancing]]).

* '''Caribbean (Caribe) Region''': Named after the Caribbean Sea, this region is known not only for their peoples' idiosincracy, but for their particularities and unique gastronomy. Has also the Cartagena Oil Refinery Complex, which is also known as "the other refinery". Their most famous cities are Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Barranquilla. Valledupar is famous for the colombian very own music genre Vallenato, which gains its name for the common adjective of their people: vallenatos[[note]]the true adjective for them is "valduparenses". But only [[SmallReferencePools few people knows that.]][[/note]], and also, for the legend of ''[[WanderingMinstrel Francisco el Hombre]]'', which defeated the Devil with an [[MagicMusic accordion]] and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome singing the Lord/'s Prayer backwards]]. Also, most (if not all) of GabrielGarciaMarquez works, set in this region.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Colombia-map_6727.gif

* Aren't we forgetting that guy, you know, the old one... who won a Nobel Prize and is recognized as one of the most important Latin American writers ever... the author of ''Literature/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude''... GabrielGarciaMarquez.
* How we can forget Sofía Vergara? Born in Barranquilla, started her career on a Pepsi TV ad, and now stars in Series/ModernFamily.

* How we can forget Sofía Vergara? Born in Barranquilla, started her career on a Pepsi TV ad, and now stars in ModernFamily

* Juan Pablo Montoya. Former FormulaOne driver, he decided to switch to NASCAR racing and has had some success there, too.

Subject to SpellMyNameWithAnS: often misspelled as 'Col'''u'''mbia'. Usually by Americans, as they're used to seeing that spelling associated with places in their own country (for example, the city of Columbia is the state capital of South Carolina. Also by Canadians, for the same reason, and by loads of Europeans, because the name of the country is spelt differently, but always with a 'u' instead of an 'o', in German, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian.

Subject to SpellMyNameWithAnS: often misspelled as 'Col'''u'''mbia'. Usually by Americans, as they're used to seeing that spelling associated with places in their own country. Also by Canadians, for the same reason, and by loads of Europeans, because the name of the country is spelt differently, but always with a 'u' instead of an 'o', in German, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian.

Somehow, as too many people has come to Colombia from different places of the world, and even inhabited here since long time ago, that fact would affect too many aspects of Colombian lifestyle, being the cuisine one of them.

** Arauca
** Casanare
** Meta
** Vichada

** Chocó

Subject to SpellMyNameWithAnS: often misspelled as 'Col'''u'''mbia'. Usually by Americans, as they're used to seeing that spelling associated with places in their own country.

** Antioquia: One of the most developed Departments of Colombia. Has a big influence in Colombian industries. When you hear about Antioquia, you hear about textiles, the ''arrieros'' and the ''bandeja paisa''. Their peoples call themselves ''paisas''[[hottip:*:they share this name with the inhabitants of the Coffee Axis, which call themselves ''paisas'' also. More info below]]. Its capital is Medellín, which is famous for the Flower Fair (Feria de las Flores) and the ''Silletas''. And the first Metro line in Colombia. Medellín was recently named the most productive city in Colombia, and that's mainly because of the famous laboriosity of their peoples. Medellín had also the Medellin Cartel but since Pablo Escobar was killed, they prefer to go on and show the positive side of the city.
** Boyacá: An industrial and culinary symbol of Colombia, in the Pantano de Vargas (Vargas' Swamp) was fought the definitive battle for the Colombian Independence movement, the Battle of Boyacá[[hottip:*:Was not the last, but the most important of all]]. Its capital is Tunja, but has LOTS of towns and cities that you can visit, as Duitama, Sogamoso, Nobsa, and so on...
** Caldas: One of the Departments of the Coffee Axis[[hottip:*:With Risaralda and Quindío]]. Is formed with what's left from the Greater Caldas (Gran Caldas, a.k.a. Viejo Caldas --Old Caldas). Its capital is Manizales. Curiosly, in Caldas (and in the rest of the Coffee Axis), there's a time to take coffee --almost as the British Spot of Tea.

** Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley): Another of the most industrialized Departments in Colombia. Part of this Department belongs to the Coffee Axis, but the other part is famous for another crop: sugar! Cauca Valley (or The Valley, as some call it[[hottip:*:If you live in the Caribbean Region, there's another totally different Valley you'll call like this.]]), this Department has a very advanced highway network that allows the Cane Trains (Trenes Cañeros) to go freely between the Ingenios (sugar refineries and/or factories). Musically speaking, the preferred genre for the vallunos (common and official adjective for them) is Salsa. Salsa is so famous there that the entire Department celebrates it in the Salsódromo, at the capital, Santiago de Cali (or Cali for short). Cali is the third most famous city in Colombia. Long ago was associated with beautiful girls, drugs and all the excentricities that the latter brought, but now, with the Cartels of Cali and North of the Valley gone and forgotten, their people clings to their desire to live and natural happiness and to the tourism that the Cali Fair (Feria de Cali) brings.
* '''Caribbean (Caribe) Region''': Named after the Caribbean Sea, this region is known not only for their peoples' idiosincracy, but for their particularities and unique gastronomy. Has also the Cartagena Oil Refinery Complex, which is also known as "the other refinery". Their most famous cities are Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Barranquilla. Valledupar is famous for the colombian very own music genre Vallenato, which gains its name for the common adjective of their people: vallenatos[[hottip:*:the true adjective for them is "valduparenses". But only [[SmallReferencePools few people knows that.]], and also, for the legend of ''[[WanderingMinstrel Francisco el Hombre]]'', which defeated the Devil with an [[MagicMusic accordion]] and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome singing the Lord/'s Prayer backwards]]. Also, most (if not all) of GabrielGarciaMarquez works, set in this region.

** Bolívar: Named after [[RedBaron the Liberator]], [[{{Badass}} Simón Bolívar]], this Department is famous for its capital: Cartagena de Indias, or La Heroica, which is a beach paradise (or its remnants --that's a serious TearJerker for some of us.) and has some of the best touristic places you can ever visit. Cartagena became famous for a convention (The Americas' Summit) which uncovered some serious situations [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement between the Secret Service and a young girl. And we'll leave it at that.]]. But this is not exclusive for modern times. As you can see, Cartagena was called "La Heroica"[[hottip:*:Means "Heroic City"]] because had to fight two sieges: one in 1741 against Vernon (under the command of notorious Badass [[HandicappedBadass Blas de Lezo]]) and another one, in 1815 against the Spaniards. In the case that Cartagena fell to one of these sieges, Colombia would have never existed.
** Cesar: Remember [[WanderingMinstrel Francisco El Hombre]] ? He comes from there. Or more exactly, from Valledupar, the capital of this Department. Valledupar is called "The Valley" by the people from the Caribbean Region (which is the reason why some people will ask you "Cuál Valle?[[hottip:*:That means "which valley" in Spanish]]" if you want to see Cane trains in Cali or want to hear some Vallenato here. Of course, the main production is agriculture and cattle raising.

** Bolívar: Named after [[BadassNickname the Liberator]], [[{{Badass}} Simón Bolívar]], this Department is famous for its capital: Cartagena de Indias, or La Heroica, which is a beach paradise (or its remnants --that's a serious TearJerker for some of us.) and has some of the best touristic places you can ever visit. Cartagena became famous for a convention (The Americas' Summit) which uncovered some serious situations [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement between the Secret Service and a young girl. And we'll leave it at that.]]. But this is not exclusive for modern times. As you can see, Cartagena was called "La Heroica"[[hottip:*:Means "Heroic City"]] because had to fight two sieges: one in 1741 against Vernon (under the command of notorious Badass [[HandicappedBadass Blas de Lezo]]) and another one, in 1815 against the Spaniards. In the case that Cartagena fell to one of these sieges, Colombia would have never existed.

** Bolívar: Named after [[BadassNickname the Liberator]], [[Badass Simón Bolívar]], this Department is famous for its capital: Cartagena de Indias, or La Heroica, which is a beach paradise (or its remnants --that's a serious TearJerker for some of us.) and has some of the best touristic places you can ever visit. Cartagena became famous for a convention (The Americas' Summit) which uncovered some serious situations [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement between the Secret Service and a young girl. And we'll leave it at that.]]. But this is not exclusive for modern times. As you can see, Cartagena was called "La Heroica"[[hottip:*:Means "Heroic City"]] because had to fight two sieges: one in 1741 against Vernon (under the command of notorious Badass [[HandicappedBadass Blas de Lezo]]) and another one, in 1815 against the Spaniards. In the case that Cartagena fell to one of these sieges, Colombia would have never existed.

* '''Insular Region''': The Islands, originally part of each region, now form the Insular Region, which is famous for tourism and various ecosystems. It is famous also, for the San Andres and Providence Islands, which are the only places in Colombia where English is a native language (Spanish is taught also in the schools). As of today, there's a hussle with a treaty between Nicaragua and Colombia -and we'll leave it like that. For now.-

** Atlántico (Atlantic Department): Its capital is Barranquilla. There are lots of reasons to go there on vacation, mind you... starting with the Carnival of Barranquilla, the most famous celebration in Colombia and one of the most famous in the world. During the Carnival Barranquilla becomes "the greatest party ever thrown", which means that in every corner of the city, you can dance, drink and have fun!. Barranquilla has also some other curious phenomena, as the Arroyos, for example. When Barranquilla was found, someone forgot to amplify the aqueducts. And then started to rain... some streets of the city become ferocious rivers and even, ALL activity in the city suddenly stops. One has to see that to believe it. And of course, there are the only Coastal soccer team in the A Division, the Junior of Barranquilla, also known as [[EverythingsWorseWithSharks Sharks]]. Another place to go visit is Puerto Colombia, which has the first Seacoast Port ever in Colombian history ([[CrowningMomentofAwesome The cement used to build this majestic engineering masterpiece had to be brought from Portland, United States]]). Puerto Colombia brought also the first Jewish and Lebanese migrants to Colombia. After that, another wave of Italian immigrants came to stay here. That's why in the Caribbean Region you can see surnames like Mebarak, Ripoll, Basile, Parodi, and so on. (In short: Remember Shakira?)

* Aren't we forgetting that guy, you know, the old one... who won a Nobel Prize and is recognized as one of the most important Latin American writer ever... the author of ''OneHundredYearsOfSolitude''... GabrielGarciaMarquez.

Most notorious for its drug production, kidnappings and on-going thing with FARC.

* And coffee. [[MustHaveCaffeine You can't forget the coffee.]]

Currently led by Juan Manuel Santos, the state is a stable pro-American democracy and usually faces tensions with its neighbours because of this. The ongoing conflict with FARC has greatly diminished thanks to strong military response from Uribe's (former president) goverment, and FARC has gone from being an irregular army to little more than a criminal threat. Unfortunately, many of those in FARC take cover in neighbouring countries with "affinity" to its "ideology" (in theory communism, but in RealLife they just kidnap people and hold them for ransom like any other criminal group).

It's usually painted like a [[BlatantLies drug- and violence-ridden hellhole]], which couldn't be farther from the truth. Since 2005 the country has progressively gotten better, so much The Economist has written over it in a couple of "Gotten Better countries". Unfortunately, the drug trade is still active, though it's diminishing and more and more of the trade is moving to Mexico.

Colombian society is riddled with contrasts. Life in the city is widely different from life in the country and its geography (the Andes divides in three chains and crosses the whole country) contributes to the way it's society is divided. Bogotá D.C. (D.C. stands for "Distrito Capital[[hottip:*:spanish for Capital District]]") is Colombia's capital city and center of its goverment. Other important cities are Cartagena, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla.

Colombia, like most of Latin America, is highly Roman Catholic, to the point where you can be an atheist,but people will still assume you are Catholic.

[[AC: the colombian flag]]
http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/125px-Flag_of_Colombia_svg_6498.png

** Sucre
* '''Insular Region''': The Islands, originally part of each region, now form the Insular Region, which is famous for tourism and various ecosystems. It is famous also, for the San Andres and Providence Islands, which are the only places in Colombia where English is a native language (Spanish is taught also in the schools).
** San Andrés y Providencia (San Andres and Providence Islands)
** San Bernardo (in the Department of Sucre)
** Gorgona (in the Department of Cauca)
** Malpelo (in the Department of Cauca Valley)

<<|UsefulNotes/LatinAmerica|>>

** Bolívar: Named after [[BadassNickname the Liberator]], [[Badass Simón Bolívar]], this Department is famous for its capital: Cartagena de Indias, or La Heroica, which is a beach paradise (or its remnants --that's a serious TearJerker for some of us.) and has some of the best touristic places you can ever visit. Cartagena became famous for a convention (The Americas' Summit) which uncovered some serious situations [[RuleofCautiousEditingJudgement between the Secret Service and a young girl. And we'll leave it at that.]]

** Córdoba: Has Montería as its capitol, but their most famous municipalities are Lorica, San Pelayo, and others. San Pelayo is famous for having the Donkey Festival (Festival del Burro), [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOntheTin a celebration regarding donkeys]]. It is famous, also, for being the land of the Porro
** Magdalena

** Atlántico (Atlantic Department)
** Bolívar
** Cesar
** Córdoba

[[folder:Los 32 Departamentos de Colombia y sus regiones (Spanish for "The 32 Departments of Colombia and their regions", Administrative Division)]]

** Amazonas (Amazon Department):
** Caquetá
** Guainía
** Putumayo
** Vaupés

** Antioquia: One of the most developed Departments of Colombia. Has a big influence in Colombian industries. When you hear about Antioquia, you hear about textiles, the ''arrieros'' and the ''bandeja paisa''. Their peoples call themselves ''paisas''[[hottip:*:they share this name with the inhabitants of the Coffee Axis, which call themselves ''paisas'' also. More info below]]. Its capital is Medellín, which is famous for the Flower Fair (Feria de las Flores) and the ''Silletas''. And the first Metro line in Colombia.

** Tolima
** Valle del Cauca (Cauca Valley)

*** Bogotá, D.C.: Simply to say, The South American Athens, The Colombian Metropolis, and seat of all the political power in Colombia, originally was a city in Cundinamarca but its special legislation as a District allows it to be managed as a Department. Most people from the rest of Colombia calls this city "the Freezer", because of the shivering cold --for Colombian standards, go figure.

** Norte de Santander (North Santander): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The north of the original Sovereign State of Santander, its capital is Cúcuta, and they're also known as "toches", because they employ that word for lots of applications. North Santander is famous for the Hayacas, which are smaller tamales, and hail from Venezuela and the Sierra of Perijá. The binational commerce is the main economy activity for this Department.

** Santander: The south part of the original Sovereign State of Santander, also known as "pingos", because they use the word "pingo" for a lot of situations. Except on some cities, like Barrancabermeja, which has a mixture of American, French, Dutch, Caribbean and of course Santanderean descent. The mentioned city has one of the two Oil Refineries of the country, and is known as "Colombia's Oil Capital", or also "The Warm Hug of Colombia", because of the toppling heat. Its capital is Bucaramanga, which is famous for being an entire Metropolitan Zone, formed by the municipalities of Floridablanca, Bucaramanga and Girón. Another cities of interest are Vélez (land of the Guava Bocadillo, a candy made of guava), Lebrija (land of the Pineapples), Barichara (the White City, holding one of the oldest structures known in Colombia since the Colonial age)