In 2000, the nations of Colombia and Chile each awarded Poniatowska with their highest writing awards.

** Eunectes murinus, the green anaconda, the largest species, is found east of the Andes in Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and on the island of Trinidad.

A few species of hummingbirds, notably some hillstars, can be seen at altitudes above, but far higher diversities can be found at lower altitudes, especially in the humid Andean forests (" cloud forests ") growing on slopes in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and far northwestern Argentina.

While early initiatives in the Colombian peace process gave reason for optimism, the Pastrana administration also has had to combat high unemployment and other economic problems, such as the fiscal deficit and the impact of global financial instability on Colombia.

Colombia was a participant in the December 1994 and April 1998 Summits of the Americas and followed up on initiatives developed at the summit by hosting two post-summit, ministerial-level meetings on trade and science and technology.

Colombia regularly participates in international fora, including CICAD, the Organization of American States ' body on money laundering, chemical controls, and drug abuse prevention.

Colombia subsequently withdrew some of its reservations, most notably a reservation on extradition.

Membership in International Organizations: The major organizations in which Colombia is a member include: the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, Andean Pact, Caribbean Development Bank, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Group of 3, Group of 11, Group of 24, Group of 77, Inter-American Development Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Chamber of Commerce, International Civil Aviation Organization, International Criminal Police Organization, International Development Association, International Finance Corporation, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Labour Organization, International Maritime Organization, International Maritime Satellite Organization, International Monetary Fund ( IMF ), International Olympic Committee, International Organization for Migration, International Organization for Standardization, International Telecommunication Union, International Telecommunications Satellite Organization, International Trade Union Confederation, Latin American Economic System, Latin American Integration Association, Latin Union, Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of American States ( OAS ), Permanent Court of Arbitration, Rio Group, United Nations ( UN ), UN Conference on Trade and Development, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN Industrial Development Organization, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, Universal Postal Union, World Confederation of Labour, World Federation of Trade Unions, World Health Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, World Meteorological Organization, World Tourism Organization, and World Trade Organization.

Trade agreements include the Agreement on Trade, Economic, and Technical Cooperation Between the Caribbean Community and Common Market ( Caricom ) and the Government of the Republic of Colombia.

Colombia also has signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Tlatelolco Treaty.

By 1975 signatories to the 1974 Declaration of Ayacucho, of which Colombia was one, had decided on limitations to nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

In May 2007, a series of reports on national Colombia news reported more than 300 dead sheep in the region of Boyaca, and the capture of a possible specimen to be analyzed by zoologists at the National University of Colombia.

First, the country found itself on the front lines of Gran Colombia's efforts to liberate Peru from Spanish rule between 1822 and 1825 ; afterward, in 1828 and 1829, Ecuador was in the middle of an armed struggle between Peru and Gran Colombia over the location of their common border.

However, along the long border with its neighbour Colombia, relations have been strained mainly due to a cross-border raid by Colombian forces on FARC guerrillas.

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua also are negotiating a free trade agreement with Canada, and negotiations started on 2006 for a free trade agreement with Colombia.

Colombia is by far the worlds largest producer of emeralds, constituting 50-95 % of the world production, with the number depending on the year, source and emeralds grade .< ref > Emerald production in Colombia has increased drastically in the last decade, increasing by 78 % in 2010 compared to production in 2000.

A German Government report on fuel prices dated 2010 / 11 stated that the Imperial gallon is used as a unit of measure for fuel in Guyana, United Arab Emirates and Antigua and Barbuda and the US gallon in Liberia, Belize, Colombia, The Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Myanmar ( Burma ), Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico and the United States.

Boyer, however, responding to a party on the east that preferred Haiti over Colombia, occupied the ex-Spanish colony in January 1822, encountering no military resistance.

Small Italian-speaking minorities on the continent are also found in Uruguay, Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil.

In May 1934, a final peace agreement was signed, resulting in the return of Leticia to Colombia, a formal apology from Peru for the 1932 invasion, demilitarization of the area around Leticia, free navigation on the Amazon and Putumayo Rivers, and a pledge of non-aggression.

In eastern Nicaragua, a much smaller group of Native Americans that had migrated from Colombia and Panama lived a less sedentary life based on hunting and gathering.

* 1989 – Avianca Flight 203, a Boeing 727, explodes in mid-air over Colombia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground.

* The Progressive Metal band from Barranquilla, Colombia, Absalom has his name.

Regionally, she has signed bilateral free-trade agreements with Panama, Peru and Colombia.

Colombia has a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to the United States.

Colombia's international reserves have remained stable at around $ 8. 35 billion, and Colombia has successfully remained in international capital markets.

As a result of increasing competition, Colombia has a relatively modern telecommunications infrastructure that primarily serves larger towns and cities.

Colombia has about 60 television stations, including seven low-power stations.

Nevertheless, Colombia has one of the lowest ratios of paved roads per inhabitant in Latin America.

Colombia has of rail lines, of which are gauge and of which are gauge.

Colombia also has seven ships registered in other countries ( Antigua and Barbuda, two ; Panama, five ).

Colombia has well-developed air routes and an estimated total of 984 airports, 100 of which have paved runways, plus two heliports.

Colombia has 4, 350 kilometers of gas pipelines, 6, 134 kilometers of oil pipelines, and 3, 140 kilometers of refined-products pipelines.

The military has seized power three times in Colombia's history: in 1830, after the dissolution of Great Colombia ; again in 1854 ( by General José María Melo ); and from 1953 to 1957 ( under General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla ).

Additionally, the growing severity of countrywide guerrilla attacks by the FARC and ELN, and smaller movements, as well as the growth of drug production, corruption and the spread of even more violent paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia ( AUC ) has made it difficult to solve the country's problems.

, two years after its implementation began, the security situation of inside Colombia has shown some measure of an improvement and the economy, while still fragile, has also shown some positive signs according to observers, but relatively little has yet to have been accomplished in structurally solving most of the country's other grave problems, possibly in part due to legislative and political conflicts between the administration and the Colombian Congress ( including those over the controversial project to eventually re-elect Uribe ), and a relative lack of freely allocated funds and credits.

For example, Ecuador has closed its main border crossing with Colombia every night since August 2002, when evidence emerged that Colombian guerrillas and paramilitaries were asserting control over Ecuador's border communities.

Colombia has traditionally played an active role in the United Nations and the Organization of American States and in their subsidiary agencies.

Colombia has signed free-trade agreements with Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela.

Colombia has also signed and ratified 105 international treaties or agreements relating to the environment.

In recent years, Craven Cottage has hosted several International Friendly matches, including the Republic of Ireland national football team who played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 and May 2009 respectively and Oman in 2012.

It has 2010 km of land boundaries, with Colombia in the north ( 590 km border ) and Peru in the east and south ( 1, 420 km border ).