Total area: 1,138,910 sq km (439,736 sq mi)
Population (2009 est.): 45,644,023
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Santafé de Bogotá - 7,594,000 (metro. area)
Other large cities: Cali - 2,283,200; Medellín - 1,957,800; Barranquilla - 1,330,400;
Cartagena - 901,500
Currency: Colombian Peso
Language: Spanish
Religion: Roman Catholic 90%, Protestant and Jewish minorities
Time zone: GMT-5; DST is not observed
Electricity: AC 110V/60Hz; American type plugs with two flat blades are used
Colombia (República de Colombia) is situated in the northern South America, bordered on the northwest by Panama, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, and on the southwest by Peru and Ecuador.
Three Andean mountain ranges run from south-west to north-east through the half of the country. The part southeast of the mountains is dominated by a low plain, covered with jungle and sparsely inhabited, mostly by indigenous Indians. Lowlands dominate the Caribbean coast and flat grassy prairies are characteristic of the east of the country.
With over 45 million inhabitants, Columbia is a very populous country - it is the second most populous in South America (after Brazil) and it's also the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, after Mexico. Colombia is also the only country in South America with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
