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 four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) heavily funded by the drug trade, escalated during the 1990s. The insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government and violence has been decreasing since about 2002, but insurgents continue attacks against civilians and large areas of the countryside are under guerrilla influence or are contested by security forces. More than 31,000 former paramilitaries had demobilized by the end of 2006 and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) as a formal organization had ceased to function. In the wake of the paramilitary demobilization, emerging criminal groups arose, whose members include some former paramilitaries. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its administrative departments. However, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Peso (ISO code: COP)
 * Central bank discount rate: 3.5% (31 November 2009)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 9.57% (31 December 2009)
 * Stock of money (M1): $25.01 billion (31 December 2009)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $26.57 billion (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1982-1987, April 1998
 * Public default: 1826-1845, 1850-1861, 1873, 1880-1896, 1900-1904, 1932-1934, 1935-1944 (external)
 * Years in inflation: 17.8% (share of years 1819-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)

Links

 * Colombia on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Colombia
 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile
 * In Colombia, New Gold Rush Fuels Old Conflict by Simon Romero, March 2011
 * 2009 Minerals Yearbook - Colombia (pdf) by the U.S. Geological Survey, December 2010