Colombia

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

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

• And coffee. 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 Real Life they just kidnap people and hold them for ransom like any other criminal group).

It's usually painted like a 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. is Colombia's capital city and center of its goverment. Other important cities are Cartagena, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla.

Subject to Spell My Name with an "S": often misspelled as 'Columbia'. Usually by Americans, as they're used to seeing that spelling associated with places in their own country.

Neighboring countries also known it for their experimental Soap Operas. You must know the most famous one: Yo Soy Betty, la Fea, americanized as Ugly Betty.

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.

Colombia's most famous people are:

• 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.
• 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 belly-dancing).
• Juan Pablo Montoya. Former Formula One driver, he decided to switch to NASCAR racing and has had some success there, too.
• 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 One Hundred Years of Solitude... Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

the colombian flag