Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0089/00893.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 39KB | 643 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00893}
$Pretitle{226}
$Title{Colombia
Chapter 2A.   Geography and Population}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Howard I. Blutstein}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{colombia
cordillera
lowlands
near
population
zone
country
department
pacific
river}
$Date{1977}
$Log{}
Country:     Colombia
Book:        Colombia, A Country Study
Author:      Howard I. Blutstein
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1977

Chapter 2A.   Geography and Population

     Located in the northwest corner of the South American continent, Colombia
is the only country of South America with both Atlantic and Pacific
coastlines. It has maximum dimensions of 1,200 miles north to south and 800
miles east to west, and its approximately 440,000 square miles of territory
make it fifth largest in size of the Latin American countries. Colombia had a
1976 population of about 25 million people and had probably at some point in
the early 1970s replaced Argentina as the third largest country of the region
and the fourth largest of the Western Hemisphere in population.

     The country is dominated by three ranges of the Andes Mountains that
cross the country on a northwesterly axis in the form of a trident. The
greatest concentration of population is in plateaus and basins scattered among
these ranges and in the valleys of the two great rivers that separate them.
West of the Andes are two coastal lowlands. The Atlantic Lowlands consist
largely of open land, much of it swampy; there is extensive cattle raising and
plantation agriculture there, as well as heavy concentrations of population
around the several port cities. The narrower Pacific Lowlands are swampy,
heavily forested, and sparsely populated. East of the Andes lies a great
interior plain crossed from east to west by many large rivers. Consisting
principally of open land in the north and tropical jungle in the south, it
has few settlements and remains largely undeveloped.

     Although Colombia is located within a few degrees of the equator, the
varied elevations of its extensive highlands give it an assortment of
climates. Most of the population resides in the highlands, but the diversity
of climates and the varied soils allow for a rich variety of tropical and
temperate vegetation and wildlife. There are numerous mineral resources, and
the country's coal reserves are the most extensive in South America.

     The preliminary summary data from the 1973 population census did not
appear until 1975, and in early 1976 it was still necessary to rely
extensively on the 1964 census and on surveys for demographic information. It
appeared, however, that the very high rate of population growth had slackened
progressively during the late 1960s and early 1970s, in part as the
consequence of an energetic family planning program.

     Since World War II population growth had been fastest in the cities,
where migrants from the countryside had been arriving in increasing numbers
in search of better employment opportunities. The greatest number came to
Bogota, but in the mid-1970s ten cities had attained populations of 200,000
or more. This dispersed pattern of urban settlement was unusual in Latin
America, where in most countries a single city predominated. In Colombia,
however, the broken terrain of the highlands had made communication difficult,
and the urban centers and their agricultural hinterlands had grown in virtual
isolation; no dominant center had gained population at the expense of the
others.

     With the progressive migration from country to town, agricultural
employment has experienced a relative decline, and employment in the urban
industrial and services sectors has risen. In the early 1970s agricultural
employment was only slightly greater than that in the service occupations,
which were the fastest growing. Unemployment has increased with the
corresponding growth of the labor force's urban sector, particularly in the
large cities, where in the mid-1970s it had become a serious social and
economic problem.

Boundaries and Political Subdivisions

     There are no outstanding international boundary problems. Frontiers with
Panama, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador have been demarcated by completed surveys
and placement of markers. The boundary with Venezuela has been entirely
delineated by international agreement but has not been fully demarcated.

     The Venezuela frontier, after repeated delays, was first delineated in
1883, and a definitive treaty settling a few remaining issues was signed in
1941. Most of the 1,379-mile border runs through tropical wilderness where,
in some localities, hostile Indians have discouraged survey operations. In
general the northern third of the boundary follows mountain features from the
Gulf of Venezuela to the Arauca River on the rim of the Eastern Plains (Llanos
Orientales). Thereafter the border is mainly riverine with straight lines
connecting the rivers.

     The 1,022-mile boundary with Brazil, located in remote tropical jungle,
consists of arbitrary straight lines broken occasionally by rivers. The
1,010-mile boundary with Peru follows a short stretch connecting the Amazon on
the eastern flanks and a straight line northward to the Putumayo River, which
the border then follows to the Ecuador frontier. The border with Ecuador is
364 miles in length. It follows the Putumayo and San Miguel rivers westward
to the eastern slopes of the Andes, where it turns northward along a complex
line of watersheds, streams, and straight lines to the Pacific coast. In the
scantily populated jungles of eastern Colombia, most of the towns are river
ports located on or close to the frontiers.

     The 166-mile border with Panama passes through tropical rain forest
where the topography consists of narrow coastal plains, rugged mountains,
and a central lowland. This border is demarcated by water divides and by
fourteen boundary pillars placed on prominent elevations.

     In the mid-1970s there were no outstanding claims to territories in
adjoining states. The Association of Retired Military Officers, however,
complained in 1974 that since the beginning of the century some 280,000
square kilometers (108,000 square miles) of claimed territory had been lost,
beginning with the secession of Panama in 1903 and continuing as late as 1952,
when Colombia relinquished to Venezuela a claim to the Monjes Archipelago
near the tip of the Guajira Peninsula.

     The complaint of the military officers included a plea that the earlier
losses not be followed by relinquishing claims to the seabed in the Gulf of
Venezuela, an area of potential petroleum wealth. Between fifty and 100 miles
wide at its entrance (depending on the points between which the entrance line
is drawn), the Gulf of Venezuela widens to a maximum of 120 miles. The shores
of the gulf are entirely in Venezuelan territory except in the northwest,
where they extend for a short distance along the coast of the Guajira
Peninsula. Venezuela has traditionally held the position that the gulf is an
inland body of water under its jurisdiction and has defined its entrance as a
line extending eastward from the border point between the two countries on
the Guajira Peninsula to the northern extremity of Venezuela's Paraguana
Peninsula. Colombia, however, has claimed the waters offshore from its portion
of the coastline to the midpoint of the gulf, an arrangement that would give
it a triangular sector claimed also by Venezuela.

     Discussions concerning the conflicting claims were initiated in the
mid-1960s; in 1970 the two governments agreed to specific negotiating
procedures, and in mid-1975 the two presidents engaged in discussions that
led to a draft agreement for settlement of the long conflict over the claims.
The agreement was presented by the presidents to their political organizations
early in 1976.

     Much of the frontier is located in sparsely populated and little
developed regions, however, and border crossing by itinerant tradesmen,
seasonal workers, and seminomadic tri