Colombia has been home to many Indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by the mid-16th century had colonized much of present-day Colombia, establishing the New Kingdom of Granada. Independence from the Spanish Empire was declared in 1810, with what is now Colombia emerging as the United Provinces of New Granada. After a Spanish reconquest, Colombian independence was secured and the Gran Colombia period began in 1819. The new polity experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858) and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before becoming a centralised republic in 1886. With the backing of the US and France, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, resulting in Colombia's present borders. Beginning in the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict and political violence, both of which escalated in the 1990s. Since 2000, there has been improvement in security, stability, and rule of law, as well as economic growth and development.
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, the leader of conquest expedition from Santa Marta to the Muisca territories
The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose confederation of different rulers; the psihipqua of Muyquytá, with his headquarters in Funza, the hoa of Hunza, the iraca of the sacred City of the Sun Sugamuxi, the Tundama of Tundama, and several other independent caciques. The most important rulers at the time of the conquest were psihipquaTisquesusa, hoaEucaneme, iracaSugamuxi and Tundama in the northernmost portion of their territories. The Muisca were organised in small communities of circular enclosures (ca in their language Muysccubbun; literally "language of the people"), with a central square where the bohío of the cacique was located. They were called "Salt People" because of their extraction of salt in various locations throughout their territories, mainly in Zipaquirá, Nemocón, and Tausa. For the main part self-sufficient in their well-organised economy, the Muisca traded with the European conquistadors valuable products as gold, tumbaga (a copper-silver-gold alloy), and emeralds with their neighbouring indigenous groups. In the Tenza Valley, to the east of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense where the majority of the Muisca lived, they extracted emeralds in Chivor and Somondoco. The economy of the Muisca was rooted in their agriculture with main products maize, yuca, potatoes, and various other cultivations elaborated on elevated fields (in their language called tá). Agriculture had started around 3000 BCE on the Altiplano, following the preceramicHerrera Period and a long epoch of hunter-gatherers since the late Pleistocene. The earliest archaeological evidence of inhabitation in Colombia, and one of the oldest in South America, has been found in El Abra, dating to around 12,500 years BP.
The main part of the Muisca civilisation was concentrated on the Bogotá savanna, a flat high plain in the Eastern Ranges of the Andes, far away from the Caribbean coast. The savanna was an ancient lake, that existed until the latest Pleistocene and formed a highly fertile soil for their agriculture. The Muisca were a deeply religious civilisation with a polytheistic society and an advanced astronomical knowledge, which was represented in their complex lunisolarcalendar. Men and women had specific and different tasks in their relatively egalitarian society; while the women took care of the sowing, preparation of food, the extraction of salt, and the elaboration of mantles and pottery, the men were assigned to harvesting, warfare, and hunting. The guecha warriors were tasked with the defence of the Muisca territories, mainly against their western neighbours; the Muzo ("Emerald People") and the bellicose Panche. To impress their enemies, the Muisca warriors wore mummies of important ancestors on their backs, while fighting. In their battles, the men used spears, poisoned arrows, and golden knives. (Full article...)
... that Goldman Prize winner Yuvelis Morales Blanco was forced to flee to France due to her anti-fracking activism in her home of Colombia?
... that Ana María Ochoa was born in Colombia, studied in British Columbia, and taught at Columbia?
... that Puerto Rican singer Young Miko composed "Classy101" in Los Angeles and had never met Colombian singer Feid before he recorded the song with her?
... that there were technical issues with the performance of "Luna" by the Colombian singer Feid at the 2024 Copa América opening ceremony?
... that people of the Zenú culture built canals in the La Mojana wetland area of Colombia long before Spanish arrival?
General images
The following are images from various Colombia-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 5The main leader of the Muisca on the Bogotá savanna at the time of conquest was Tisquesusa. He led numerous efforts to resist the Spanish invasion but was eventually killed in battle. His nephew, Sagipa, succeeded him and soon submitted to the conquistadors. (from History of Colombia)
Image 19The PastoLacquer is a decorative handicraft of precolumbian origin, that uses a type of natural rubber (the resin of the Mopa-mopa tree, Elavagia pastoensis Mora) which is colored and then stretched over woodwork pieces. (from Colombian handicrafts)
Image 28Cutlet "Valluna", a typical dish of the Valle del Cauca region of Colombia and the Afro-Colombian culture of the area near the Pacífic Ocean. It includes a milanesa, usually prepared with a lean pork loin beef or chicken can also be used. Traditional accompaniments include rice, sliced tomatoes, onions, chopped fried plantains or fries and a drink called "Lulada" made with lulo fruit, water and sugar (from Culture of Colombia)
Image 30The Teatro de Cristóbal Colón (The Christopher Columbus Theatre), also known as the "Teatro Colón", is located in Bogotá, Colombia and it is the nation's National Theatre. (from Culture of Colombia)
Selected picture
Image 1Villa de Leyva is a colonial town 40 kms west of Tunja with a population of 4,000 people
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Enrique Penalosa Camargo Colombian ambassador to the UN, Minister of Agriculture, and father of Enrique Peñalosa
Max Alejandro Flórez Rodríguez lawyer, former magistrate of the Superior Council of Judicature
Francisco Galán (ex-guerilla) the only person under the Commanders and leaders section of the Colombian conflict infobox that does not have an article. Legal name is Gerardo Antonio Bermúdez Sánchez, but is better known under his nombre de guerra.
Physical geography
Cayos de Este Sudeste
List of Colombian departments by elevation - A comprehensive list, like the equivalent article for the U.S., should include each department's high point, low point, the elevation range between the highest point and lowest point, and the average elevation.
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