50 Curious Facts of Colombia. Surprising with them! | With Images

Colombia is known as "the gateway to America from the south". This is because geographically it is located at the meeting point between Central and South America. It is one of the 17 countries in the world that receive the title of "megadiverse": snow-capped volcanoes, beaches, jungles, deserts, plains ... and also has a population of varied origin that offers an extraordinary cultural mix. Join us to discover 50 Curious Facts of Colombia. Surprising with them!

The official name of the country is Republic of Colombia and it owes its name to the navigator and discoverer Cristóbal Colón. With almost 50 million inhabitants, it also has the largest number of species per area in the world, being the second in the biodiversity ranking.

50 Curious Facts of Colombia

1. As first of the curious facts of Colombia we will say that it is the only country in South America that has a coastal zone in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

2. The first humans who settled in the area that is now Colombia, did it 20,000 years ago. according to archaeologists.

3. The Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta , which is National Park, is the highest coastal mountain range in the world.

4. Its highest peak, the Christopher Columbus Peak, is the highest mountain in the country.

20 Curious facts of Colombia. Surprising with them!

Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta

5. Colombia bases a large part of its economy on agricultural and manufacturing exports. They export bananas, flowers, sugar and the excellent Coffee from Colombia , in addition to textile, chemical and metallic products.

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6. Almost 12% of the Colombian territory is part of one of the 59 national parks that exist in the country.

7. It is not surprising that it has so many national parks since it is the country with the most endemic species.

8. One of the most famous places and one of the curiosities of Colombia is the river Caño Cristales, also called the "River of the five colors" or the "Liquid Rainbow" is in the Serrania de la Macarena and between the months of July and November its bed changes color. Although it is basically red, in some moments it looks yellow, green, blue or black.

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9. The first humans settled in Colombia about 20,000 years ago.

10. In Colombia you can visit wonderful cities such as Cartagena de Indias or beautiful towns such as Barichara, named "the cutest little town in Colombia" which is a National Monument.

11. Among the most spectacular natural enclaves are The Salt Cathedral, he Cocora Valley wave staircase of the Rock of Guatapé in Antioquia .

20 Curious facts of Colombia. Surprising with them! 3

Cocora Valley

12. Another of the curious facts of Colombia is that it is the world's leading producer of emeralds. In the country there are more than 150 mines from which emeralds of the best quality are extracted.

13. Medellín is the second most important city in Colombia. In 1991 it was known as the "murder capital of the world"; every day they took place around 17. Since then the city has changed a lot and at present it is one of the most important cultural centers of the country.

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Medellin

14. Another of the curious facts of Colombia is that he fought with Peru in a confrontation known as the "War of Leticia". It was not for a woman, but took the name of the Colombian city of Leticia and everything began with a dispute surrounding the sugar trade.

15. In Colombia there are multiple pre-Columbian archaeological sites. Of the native population of those places there are practically no descendants, since many of them died due to the diseases that the conquerors brought Spanish people.

16. Although it sometimes has the reputation of being a dangerous place because of issues related to drug trafficking, Colombia is a tremendously diverse and beautiful country with a friendly, welcoming and intimate population.

17. The family is one of the basic pillars of the Colombian social network.

18. The Colombia's flag It has 3 stripes, one yellow, of double width than the others, symbolizing the sun and the richness of the Colombian earth besides justice, a blue that represents the two oceans that bathe it and the red that represents the blood shed for independence . This interpretation of colors is what is currently accepted, although it has not been the same at all times in the history of the country.

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19. The Colombia's capital is Bogotá, one of the capitals located at the highest altitude in the world: 2,640 m. above sea level.

20 Curious facts of Colombia. Surprising with them !, capital of Colombia

Bogotá

20. Another of the curious facts of Colombia that make reference to its capital is that it is the city that has the largest network of routes for cyclists in all of South America: in total more than 300 km.

21. Bogotá is a benchmark of urban art. There are more than 7 routes to see graffiti around the city. It is called "the Latin American capital of graffiti."

50 Curious Facts of Colombia. Surprising with them!

22. Art reigns in the capital and the Ibero-American Theater Festival of Bogotá has become the largest in the world. It is celebrated biennially and more than 800 functions have been celebrated.

23. Spanish is the Colombian language , and 99.2% of its population speaks it. There are also other languages ​​spoken by minority groups, among them 65 Amerindian languages.

24.- You can not talk about a single typical food of Colombia since each zone has its particular gastronomy.

25. The "Paisa Tray" is the Typical food in the Antioquia region , it should be served on a platter for its quantity and variety. You can see it in the photograph. It consists, among other things, of minced meat, red beans, rice, ripe plantain, blood sausage, avocado, chicharrón, fried egg, arepa, chorizo, hogao, etc.

20 Curious facts of Colombia. Surprising with them! Typical food of Colombia

Paisa's tray

26. For typical breakfast in the Bogotá area and the Cundiboyacense Altiplano is the Changua. It consists of milk soup with a little cooked egg in it to taste.

27. One of the curious facts of Colombia related to its fauna is that in the country you can find one in five species of butterflies on the planet.

50 Curious Facts of Colombia. Surprising with them!

28. Another species that you can see in Colombia is the "pink dolphin" also known as "Amazon river dolphin". In Colombia you will find it in the rivers of the Orinoco basin and it is characterized by its pink color. Although it is not in danger of extinction since it is not usually captured, the number of specimens has decreased while the ideal conditions of its habitat and is usually protected in the six countries of South America where it is present.

29. Flora is also spectacular in the country. According to the national catalog of 2015 there were 26,186 species of plants and 1,674 lichens.

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30. You can find no more and no less than 4,270 species of orchids registered in Colombia that are distributed in 274 genera. Of them more than 1,500 are endemic.

31. The great cultural and regional variety that we find in the country means that we can talk about more than 20 typical costumes of Colombia .

32. One of the items that we can name as one of the " typical costumes of Colombia ", Although we have already said that there are as many as regions, it is the ruana. The ruana is a loose and sleeveless overcoat that is used as a cloak over other garments. To put it on, the head is inserted through the hole in the center.

20 Curious facts of Colombia. Surprising with them !, typical costume of Colombia

33. Traditional music in Colombia is as varied as the country itself, for something it is known as "the country of a thousand rhythms" since it has more than 1025 folk rhythms, among them the bambuco, the calypso, the cumbia, the dance, the guabina, the joropo, the whirlwind or the carranga.

34. Football is the most popular sport in Colombia, although baseball, cycling and boxing are also widely followed. Boxing is the sport that more world champions has given to the country.

35. Another of the curious facts of Colombia related to sport is the "Tejo". Law 613 of 200 described it as a Colombian national sport and consists of throwing a metallic disk of about 680 grams to clay courts to blow up the wicks that are small envelopes with gunpowder located in the bocín, a metallic circle that is located on the court, and in this way go adding points.

50 Curious Facts of Colombia. Surprising with them!

36. The novel by Colombian Gabriel García Marquez, Nobel Prize for Literature, " One hundred years of Solitude ", It is considered to be the second best selling Spanish novel in history.

37. The city of Aracataca, the birthplace of Gabriel García Márquez, held a referendum years ago to change its name to "Aracataca-Macondo" in honor of the fictional city of "One Hundred Years of Solitude". The change did not occur due to low participation in the survey.

38. One of the icons of Latin pop music, Shakira, is Colombian.

39. He is also Colombian one of the most recognized plastic artists in the world: Fernando Botero. Sculptor, painter and draftsman, was born in Medellin on April 19, 1932. His creations have a distinctive stamp that has led to a style known as the "boterismo". In the Museum of Antioquia and Plaza Botero in Medellín you can see the largest permanent collection in the world of the artist's works, donated by Fernando Botero himself.

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Sculpture of Botero in the Rambla del Raval in Barcelona

40. A Colombian character known worldwide was the King of Coca, Pablo Escobar . Born in Colombia, at the height of his business, he raised about 420 million dollars a week.

41. 10% of the Amazon Rainforest is located in Colombia.

42. Another of the curious facts of Colombia is that in the country you can find more than 1,800 species of birds!

43. Although we all relate coffee with Colombia, this product is not originally from the country, but came from the province of Kaffa in Abyssinia, now Ethiopia. From there he went to Arabia and arrived in Europe. The Europeans took him to his colonies and to Colombia he arrived from the French Antilles in the 1780s.

44. Colombia is the third largest coffee exporter in the world.

45. In 2013 and 2014, Colombia obtained the first place in terms of happiness in a survey conducted by the Global Barometer of Happiness and Hope in 65 countries.

46. ​​If you want to send flowers in Colombia as a gift, avoid sending marigolds and lilies since these flowers are usually reserved for funerals.

47. Colombia has more than 300 beaches of great natural beauty for natives and tourists to enjoy there.

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48. A part of Colombia is on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" or "Pacific Ring of Fire". The countries above it are more susceptible to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

49. The airport of Bogotá is called "El Dorado International Airport" in honor of the mythical "El Dorado", it is the second in transportation of people and the one with the highest volume of cargo transported in Latin America.

50. As the last of these curious facts of Colombia , we want to inform you that next to India, it is the country of the world that more holidays They have a year: in total they are 18. Great!

Other curiosities of America | By countries

What do you think about these curious facts of Colombia , one of the happiest countries in the world and with the greatest biodiversity? Do you want to know the most surprising side of other American countries, such as Venezuela, Mexico, USA ...? You're lucky! In the following list you will discover more curiosities of America , distributed by countries, that will fascinate you. Do not miss it!

  • Curious facts of Mexico
  • Curious Data of Venezuela
  • Curious data of Brazil
  • Curious Data of the United States
  • Curiosities of Canada
  • Curiosities of Ecuador
  • Curiosities of Puerto Rico

Did you know these curious facts of Colombia ? It has surprised you to know that in the country you can find more than 4,000 species of orchids or that Bogotá, the capital, has more than 300 km. of cycling route? We have loved discovering them! If you know some curious data from Colombia that we have not mentioned, share it with us and we can expand the list!

Images: Jdvillalobos , Sylvain Perret , Mario Carvajal , Travel Coffee Triangle , Canaan , Jorge Andrade ,


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