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bogota administrative divisions: 32 departments (departamentos. singular - departamento) and 1 capital district* (distrito capital); amazonas. antioquia. arauca. atlantico. distrito capital de bogota*. bolivar. boyaca. caldas. caqueta. casanare. cauca. cesar. choco. cordoba. cundinamarca. guainia. guaviare. huila. la guajira. magdalena. meta. narino. norte de santander. putumayo. quindio. risaralda. san andres y providencia. santander. sucre. tolima. valle del cauca. vaupes. vichada independence: 20 july 1810 (from spain) national holiday: independence day. 20 july (1810) constitution: 5 july 1991 legal system: based on spanish law; a new criminal code modeled after us procedures was enacted into law in 2004 and is gradually being implemented; judicial review of executive and legislative acts; accepts compulsory icj jurisdiction. with reservations suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president alvaro uribe velez (since 7 august 2002); vice president francisco santos (since 7 august 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: president alvaro uribe velez (since 7 august 2002); vice president francisco santos (since 7 august 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: cabinet consists of a coalition of the two dominant parties - the pl and psc - and independents elections: president and vice president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 26 may 2002 (next to be held may 2006) election results: president alvaro uribe velez received 53% of the vote; vice president francisco santos was elected on the same ticket legislative branch: bicameral congress or congreso consists of the senate or senado (102 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the house of representatives or camara de representantes (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: senate - last held 10 march 2002 (next to be held march 2006); house of representatives - last held 10 march 2002 (next to be held march 2006) election results: senate - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - pl 28. psc 13. independents and smaller parties (many aligned with conservatives) 61; house of representatives - percent of vote by party - na%; seats by party - pl 54. psc 21. independents and other parties 91 judicial branch: four roughly coequal. supreme judicial organs; supreme court of justice or corte suprema de justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the superior judicial council for eight-year terms); council of state (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the superior judicial council for eight-year terms); constitutional court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws. amendments to the constitution. and international treaties); superior judicial council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and congress for eight-year terms) political parties and leaders: colombian communist party or pcc [jaime caicedo]; conservative party or psc [carlos holguin sardi]; democratic pole or pdi [samuel moreno rojas]; liberal party or pl [cesar gaviria] note: colombia has about 60 formally recognized political parties. most of which do not have a presence in either house of congress political pressure groups and leaders: two largest insurgent groups active in colombia - revolutionary armed forces of colombia or farc and national liberation army or eln; largest illegal paramilitary group. a roughly organized umbrella group of disparate paramilitary forces. is united self-defense groups of colombia or auc international organization participation: bcie. can. cdb. csn. fao. g-3. g-15. g-24. g-77. iadb. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. iho. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. iso. itu. laes. laia. mercosur (associate). miga. nam. oas. opanal. opcw. pca. rg. un. unctad. unesco. unhcr. unido. upu. wcl. wco. wftu. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador andres pastrana chancery: 2118 leroy place nw. washington. dc 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-8338 fax: [1] (202) 232-8643 consulate(s) general: atlanta. beverly hills. boston. chicago. houston. miami. new orleans. new york. san francisco. san juan (puerto rico). and washington. dc diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador william b. wood embassy: calle 22d-bis. numbers 47-51. apartado aereo 3831 mailing address: carrera 45 #22d-45. bogota. d.c.. apo aa 34038 telephone: [57] (1) 315-0811 fax: [57] (1) 315-2197 flag description: three horizontal bands of yellow (top. double-width). blue. and red; similar to the flag of ecuador. which is longer and bears the ecuadorian coat of arms superimposed in the center economy - overview: colombia's economy has been on a recovery trend during the past two years despite a serious armed conflict. the economy continues to improve thanks to austere government budgets. focused efforts to reduce public debt levels. and an export-oriented growth focus. ongoing economic problems facing president uribe range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment. new exploration is needed to offset declining oil production. on the positive side. several international financial institutions have praised the economic reforms introduced by uribe. succeeded in reducing the public-sector deficit below 1.5% of gdp. the government's economic policy and democratic security strategy have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy. particularly within the business sector. coffee prices have recovered from previous lows as the colombian coffee industry pursues greater market shares in developed countries such as the united states. gdp (purchasing power parity): $303.1 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $100.9 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 4.3% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $7.100 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 12.5% industry: 34.3% services: 53.3% (2005 est.) labor force: 20.52 million (2005 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 22.7%. industry 18.7%. services 58.5% (2000 est.) unemployment rate: 11.8% (2005 est.) population below poverty line: 59% (2001 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 1% highest 10%: 44% (1999) distribution of family income - gini index: 57.1 (2003 est.) inflation rate (consumer prices): 5% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 20.2% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $46.82 billion expenditures: $48.77 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) public debt: 44.2% of gdp (2005 est.) agriculture - products: coffee. cut flowers. bananas. rice. tobacco. corn. sugarcane. cocoa beans. oilseed. vegetables; forest products; shrimp industries: textiles. food processing. oil. clothing and footwear. beverages. chemicals. cement; gold. coal. emeralds industrial production growth rate: 4.5% (2005 est.) electricity - production: 47.14 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 26% hydro: 72.7% nuclear: 0% other: 1.3% (2001) electricity - consumption: 42.85 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 1.082 billion kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 100 million kwh (2003) oil - production: 512.400 bbl/day (2005 est.) oil - consumption: 270.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2003) oil - imports: na (2003) oil - proved reserves: 1.436 billion bbl (2005 est.) natural gas - production: 6.354 billion cu m (2004 est.) natural gas - consumption: 6.219 billion cu m (2004 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.) natural gas - proved reserves: 127.4 billion cu m (2005) current account balance: $-917 million (2005 est.) exports: $23.06 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) exports - partners: us 42.1%. venezuela 9.7%. ecuador 6% (2004) imports: $20.42 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.) imports - partners: us 29.1%. venezuela 6.5%. china 6.4%. mexico 6.2%. brazil 5.8% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $14.18 billion (2005 est.) debt - external: $37.06 billion (30 june 2005 est.) economic aid - recipient: na currency (code): colombian peso (cop) currency code: cop exchange rates: colombian pesos per us dollar - 2.324.08 (2005). 2.628.61 (2004). 2.877.65 (2003). 2.504.24 (2002). 2.299.63 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 8.768.100 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 6.186.200 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: modern system in many respects domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system; domestic satellite system with 41 earth stations; fiber-optic network linking 50 cities international: country code - 57; satellite earth stations - 6 intelsat. 1 inmarsat; 3 fully digitalized international switching centers; 8 submarine cables radio broadcast stations: am 454. fm 34. shortwave 27 (1999) radios: 21 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 60 (includes seven low-power stations) (1997) televisions: 4.59 million (1997) internet country code: .co internet hosts: 115.158 (2003) internet service providers (isps): 18 (2000) internet users: 2.732.200 (2003) airports: 980 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 100 over 3.047 m: 2 2.438 to 3.047 m: 9 1.524 to 2.437 m: 38 914 to 1.523 m: 40 under 914 m: 11 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 881 over 3.047 m: 1 1.524 to 2.437 m: 35 914 to 1.523 m: 273 under 914 m: 572 (2005 est.) heliports: 2 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 4.360 km; oil 6.134 km; refined products 3.140 km (2004) railways: total: 3.304 km standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 3.154 km 0.914-m gauge (2004) roadways: total: 112.998 km paved: 26.000 km unpaved: 84.000 km (2000) waterways: 9.187 km (2004) merchant marine: total: 15 ships (1.000 grt or over) 35.427 grt/46.301 dwt by type: bulk carrier 1. cargo 11. liquefied gas 1. petroleum tanker 2 registered in other countries: 7 (2005) ports and terminals: barranquilla. buenaventura. cartagena. muelles el bosque. puerto bolivar. santa marta. turbo military branches: army (ejercito nacional). navy (armada nacional. includes naval aviation. marines. and coast guard). air force (fuerza aerea colombiana) military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - 24 months (2004) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 10.212.456 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 6.986.228 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 389.735 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $3.3 billion (fy01) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 3.4% (fy01) disputes - international: nicaragua filed a claim against honduras in 1999 and against colombia in 2001 at the icj over disputed maritime boundary involving 50.000 sq km in the caribbean sea. including the archipelago de san andres y providencia and quita sueno bank; dispute with venezuela over maritime boundary and los monjes islands near the gulf of venezuela; colombian-organized illegal narcotics. guerrilla. and paramilitary activities penetrate all of its neighbors' borders and have created a serious refugee crisis with over 300.000 persons having fled the country. mostly into neighboring states refugees and internally displaced persons: idps: 2.730.000 - 3.100.000 (conflict between government and farc; drug wars) (2004) illicit drugs: illicit producer of coca. opium poppy. and cannabis; world's leading coca cultivator (cultivation of coca in 2002 was 144.450 hectares. a 15% decline since 2001); potential production of opium between 2001 and 2002 declined by 25% to 91 metric tons; potential production of heroin declined to 11.3 metric tons; the world's largest processor of coca derivatives into cocaine; supplier of about 90% of the cocaine to the us market and the great majority of cocaine to other international drug markets; important supplier of heroin to the us market; active aerial eradication program; a significant portion of non-us narcotics proceeds are either laundered or invested in colombia through the black market peso exchange
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