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Country : Colombia Official name: República de Colombia (Republic of Colombia) Head of State: President Álvaro Uribe Vélez (sworn in 7 Aug 2002) Head of government: President Álvaro Uribe Vélez Ruling party: As President Uribe was elected on an independent platform (Primero Colombia (Colombia First)), there is no ruling party, although he enjoys the support of a majority of members of Congress. Area: 1,138,914 square km Population: 45.30 million (2004) Capital: Santa Fé de Bogotá Official language: Spanish Currency: Colombian peso (Col$) = 100 centavos Exchange rate: Col$2,541.50 per US$ (Nov 2004) GDP per capita: US$1,740 (2003) GDP real growth: 3.40% (2003) Labour force: 18.30 million (2003) Unemployment: 14.40% (2003) Inflation: 6.10% (2003) Oil production: 564,000 bpd (2003) Balance of trade: US$400.00 million (2003) Foreign debt: US$38.40 billion (2003)

Historical profile

1820 Colombia became independent from Spain.

1800s Outbreaks of fighting erupted sporadically throughout the nineteenth century, often between anti-clerical Liberals and pro-church Conservatives.

1899–1903 The (Civil) War of 1,000 Days in which some 100,000 people were killed. Panama separated from Colombia during the war and became an independent state.

1930 A Liberal president was elected, leading to social reform.

1948--57 The two major parties, the Partido Social Conservador (PSC) (Social Conservative Party) and the Partido Liberal (PL) (Liberal Party) became more extreme – the Conservatives veering towards fascism and the Liberals towards left-wing populism. Civil war broke out, resulting in up to 300,000 deaths.

1957 The civil war ended and the PSC and PL agreed on a power-sharing pact with the presidency going alternately to a PL and PSC member, and seats in cabinet and Congress to be split equally.

1965 The Ejéricito de Liberación Nacional (ELN) (National Liberation Army) was formed by guerrillas.

1966 Another rebel group, the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc) (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), was formed.

1970 After disputed elections, elements of the defeated Alianza Nacional Popular (Anapo) formed an armed movement (M-19) to fight the PSC government. They were joined by dissident members of the Farc.

1970s Guerrilla violence increased.

1982 President Belisario Betancur granted guerrillas an amnesty and freed political prisoners.

1984 The assassination of the justice minister led to a step-up in the government war on drugs traffickers.

1985 M-19 guerrillas stormed the Palace of Justice, killing 11 judges and 90 other people.

1989 M-19 became a legal political party after reaching agreement with the government, but other guerrilla groups remained active.

1991 A new constitution was adopted which legalised divorce and gave indigenous people democratic rights, although it fell short of addressing their territorial claims.

1994 Ernesto Samper won the presidential election.

1998 Andrés Pastrana won the presidential election, bringing the Partido Conservador Colombiano (PCC) (Colombian Conservative Party) to power and ending 12 years of rule by the PL. Demilitarised areas were handed over to rebels.

1999 President Pastrana began formal peace talks with the Farc in an attempt to end the region's longest-running civil war. After only two weeks, the rebels ended the talks. The two rebel movements, the Farc and the ELN, were estimated to control 40 per cent of Colombia.

2000 President Pastrana issued 11 emergency decrees to increase the armed forces from 10,000 to 42,000 by the end of the year, with further increases to 52,000 by end-2001. The demilitarised areas were disbanded.

2001 The Farc agreed to begin sick prisoner exchanges with the government.

2002 Peace talks collapsed. More attacks were carried out on the country's infrastructure. Threats from the Farc and the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC) (United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia) made campaigning in the rural areas for the legislative elections very risky. Abstentions totalled 62 per cent despite a security operation involving 150,000 troops and police. The PCC and the PL remained the largest groups in the legislature after the parliamentary elections. Alvaro Uribe Vélez won the presidential election. An assassination attempt on President Álvaro Uribe was foiled.

2003 In May, the IDB said that lenders' confidence had grown since Uribe gained congressional approval of legislation raising tax revenue and boosting funding for the state pension system.

2004 In June, the ELN, Colombia's second-largest leftist guerrilla group, agreed to start peace talks with the government, with Mexico as mediator.

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