Colombia
Capital: Bogota
Size: About 440,830 square miles (1,141,748 sq km).
Language: Spanish
Currency: Colombian peso
Capital population: Bogota has about 8 million people (over 11 million in the metro area).
Population: About 52 million people.See the biggest cities →National animal: Andean Condor (the national bird, a giant mountain vulture)
National flower: May Flower Orchid (the Cattleya orchid)
Climate
Warm and tropical near the coasts and jungle, but cool and spring-like in the high Andes mountains where many cities sit. Bogota stays around 65F (18C) all year.
Main industries
Coffee, emeralds, flowers, oil, and coal, plus lots of fruit and cacao.
Top places for tourists
The walled old city of Cartagena, green coffee farms in the hills, and two long ocean coasts.
Places of interest
The colorful streets of Cartagena, the Gold Museum in Bogota, and the coffee region where much of the world's coffee grows.
A little history
Home to the Muisca people known for their gold, Colombia was a Spanish colony for 300 years and won its independence in 1819, led by Simon Bolivar.
Fun fact
Colombia grows some of the world's finest coffee and produces most of the world's emeralds, the deep green gemstones.