COLOMBIA

Official name: REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA

Short name: Colombia

Date of membership: 18 June 1979

Capital: Bogota

Government

Administrative divisions: 32 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 capital district (distrito capital): Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Distrito Capital de Bogota, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada.

Independence: 20 July 1810 (from Spain)

Constitution: July 5, 1991

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: Chief of state: President Ivan Duque (since August 2018). Vicepresident: Martha Lucia Ramirez (since August 2018)
Note: The president is both the chief of state and head of government .

Legislative branch: Bicameral Congress or Congreso consists of the Senate or Senado (102 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms).

Judicial branch: Four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs; Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Council of State (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Constitutional Court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties); Superior Judicial Council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms).

Internet code: .co

Official Portal Web: http://www.presidencia.gov.co

Geography

Location: Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama.

Area: 1,138,910 sq km

Land boundaries: 6,004 km

Border countries: Brazil 1,643 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,496 km (est.), Venezuela 2,050 km.

Coastlines: 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km)

Natural resources: Petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower.

Environment - international agreements: Party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 9.

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