History UsefulNotes / Colombia

* '''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 singing the Lord's Prayer backwards. Also, most (if not all) of Creator/GabrielGarciaMarquez works, set in this region.

** Magdalena: Has Santa Marta as its capital: Santa Marta easily has the most beautiful beaches in Latin America: one has to visit Taganga and Playa Blanca to witness that... In the 80s, there were the Rodadero, but now as the city grows, the Rodadero became an unclean place. Fortunately, [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing they're working for a solution]].

** Arauca: Has a promising oil and cattle rising industry. Its capital is Arauca (yes, the very same name)
** Casanare: Once part of Boyaca Department and a Special Commisary, now it's a Department and like all Orinoco Region is dedicated to agroindustry and oil extraction. Its capital is Yopal
** Meta: The main Llano department. Has a growing oil, and agricultural industry (See a pattern here?). Its capital is Villavicencio (known as Villao -its short/familiar name-)

* '''Pacific Region''': Formed by the Pacific Coast, some Departments of the Andean Region have coasts in the Pacific (Cauca, Cauca Valley and Nariño). Its most important cities are Quibdó, Tumaco and Buenaventura. The Pacific Region has one of the most important biodiversity reserves on the planet (being only behind the Amazon Rainforest)

** President: Iván Duque Márquez
** Vice President: Marta Lucía Ramírez
** President of the Congress: Lidio García Turbay
** President of the Supreme Court: José Luis Barceló

* '''Highest points:''' Pico Cristóbal Colón (5700 m/18,701 ft) and Pico Simón Bolívar (5700 m/18,701 ft) (23rd[[note]]shared by both mountains[[/note]])

Currently led by Iván Duque, the state is a stable pro-American democracy and usually faces tensions with its neighbors because of this. Its notorious conflict with FARC has been finally terminated thanks to strong military response from the government of Santos' predecessor, Álvaro Uribe, Santos himself and FARC has gone from being an irregular army to a political party not taken seriously enough. Unfortunately, many of those in FARC take cover in neighboring countries with "affinity" to its "ideology" (in theory communism, but in RealLife they just used to kidnap people and hold them for ransom like any other criminal group, thing that doesn't hold true anymore).

** 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 surefire Flame War, so the Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment applies on this one.)

** Bolívar: Named after [[RedBaron the Liberator]], 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 [[Administrivia/RuleofCautiousEditingJudgment 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.

* '''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 -[[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and we'll leave it like that]]. For now.-

* '''Highest points:''' Pico Cristóbal Colón (5700 m/18,701 ft) and Pico Simón Bolívar (5700 m/18,701 ft) (41st[[note]]shared by both mountains[[/note]])

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' CO

** 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.

* '''Area:''' 1,141,748 sq km (440,831 sq mi) (25th)

* '''Area:''' 1,141,748 km (440,831 sq mi) (25th)

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The Republic of Colombia is one of the few countries in the world bordering two oceans.

** 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 surefire Flame War, so the RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies on this one.)

** Bolívar: Named after [[RedBaron the Liberator]], 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.

* '''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 -[[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and we'll leave it like that]]. For now.-

* '''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 Creator/GabrielGarciaMarquez works, set in this region.
** 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 [[ThreateningShark 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?)

Currently led by Juan Manuel Santos, the state is a stable pro-American democracy and usually faces tensions with its neighbors because of this. Its notorious conflict with FARC has been finally terminated thanks to strong military response from the government of Santos' predecessor, Álvaro Uribe, Santos himself and FARC has gone from being an irregular army to a political party not taken seriously enough. Unfortunately, many of those in FARC take cover in neighboring countries with "affinity" to its "ideology" (in theory communism, but in RealLife they just used to kidnap people and hold them for ransom like any other criminal group, thing that doesn't hold true anymore).

Currently led by Juan Manuel Santos, the state is a stable pro-American democracy and usually faces tensions with its neighbors because of this. Its notorious conflict with FARC has been finally terminated thanks to strong military response from the government of Santos' predecessor, Álvaro Uribe, Ans Santos himself and FARC has gone from being an irregular army to a political party not taken seriously enough. Unfortunately, many of those in FARC take cover in neighboring countries with "affinity" to its "ideology" (in theory communism, but in RealLife they just used to kidnap people and hold them for ransom like any other criminal group, thing that doesn't hold true anymore).

[[AC:Film]]
* ''Film/EmbraceOfTheSerpent''

[[AC: Literature]]
* The novels of Creator/GabrielGarciaMarquez
** ''Literature/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude'' (1967)
** ''Literature/TheAutumnOfThePatriarch'' (1975)
** ''Literature/ChronicleOfADeathForetold'' (1981)
** ''Literature/LoveInTheTimeOfCholera'' (1985)


[[AC: Live-Action Television]]
* ColombianSeries

[[AC:Music]]
* Several Music/{{Shakira}} hits
** ''Music/DondeEstanLosLadrones''
** "Music/HipsDontLie"

* Sofía Vergara? Born in Barranquilla, started her career on a Pepsi TV ad, and now stars in Series/ModernFamily.

** 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[[note]]Was not the last, but the most important of all[[/note]]. Its capital is Tunja, but has LOTS of towns and cities that you can visit, as Duitama, Sogamoso, Nobsa, and so on...

Currently led by Juan Manuel Santos, the state is a stable pro-American democracy and usually faces tensions with its neighbors because of this. The ongoing conflict with FARC has greatly diminished thanks to strong military response from the government of Santos' predecessor, Álvaro Uribe, 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 neighboring 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 [[CrapsackWorld hellhole wallowing in drugs and bloodshed]], 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". The drugs trade is still active, though it's diminishing and more and more of the trade is moving to Mexico due in part to government crackdowns.

Most notorious for its drug production, kidnappings and an ongoing dispute with the Marxist ''Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia'', or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- better known as FARC.

* ''Series/YoSoyBettyLaFea'', the most famous Latin American SoapOpera in the world, Americanized as ''Series/UglyBetty''

* Pablo Escobar: the world's most notorious drug lord. Appearing a lot in fiction himself and an inspiration for other fictional drug lords, he was killed in 1993.

[[folder:Cocina de Colombia y otras maravillas (Colombian Cuisine)]]
As mentioned above, since so many people came here from different parts of the world, or even inhabited it since long ago, it affects many aspects of the Colombian lifestyle, cuisine being one of them.
[[/folder]]

Neighboring countries also known it for their experimental {{Soap Opera}}s. You must know the most famous one: YoSoyBettyLaFea, americanized as ''Series/UglyBetty''.

Neighboring countries also known it for their experimental {{Soap Opera}}s. You must know the most famous one: YoSoyBettyLaFea, americanized as UglyBetty.

Somehow, as mentioned above, too many people came here 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.