Colombia

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Country summary

Capital

Bogota

Borders

Brazil 1,644 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,800 km, Venezuela 2,050 km

Government type

republic; executive branch dominates government structure

Population

43,677,372 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

1.219% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

74.07 years[1]

Unemployment

12% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

58[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

75[3]

Doing Business ranking

37[4]


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.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Peso (ISO code: COP)
  • Central bank discount rate: 3.5% (31 November 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 9.57% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $25.01 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $26.57 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1982-1987, April 1998[5]
  • 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)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 86 301 94 053 92 877 93 016 91 702 113 774 144 581 162 347 207 786 243 765
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 56.702 55.674 78.127 56.968 49.085 54.297
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 16.063 14.801 17.622 20.261 23.496 21.781 24.040 23.459
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 20.842 18.595 22.132 22.928 23.469 24.063 25.476 23.702
Debt to revenue (years) 3.218 2.748 3.325 2.615 2.042 2.315

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Colombia", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Colombia", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Colombia", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Colombia", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 357-358. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 36. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Colombia: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Colombia: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Colombia: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Colombia: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-28.

Links

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