About Colombia

Colombia Investing is singularly bullish on Colombia – convinced that Colombia will soon experience a rare economic growth phenomena.

Even though most expert analysts and investors such as Sam Zell, HSBC and many others are already predicting Colombia to continue being a major protagonist of the current emerging market growth, few investors have actually had the opportunity to study the strong fundamentals that can be found in Colombia and that are ready to shift into high gear this nation’s economic boom.

The five years of research that Colombia Investing has performed leads us to believe that Colombia may soon become the true leader of all the major emerging market economies.

With the tourism sector alone that is booming like never before, Colombia will surprise and amaze any first time visitor.

While Colombia offers nearly the same or more cultural treasures to experience than most European nations, its’ astonishing natural beauty, diversity, and easy to reach eco-touristic destinations are finally being discovered by unsuspecting world travelers.

With the third largest coral reef in the world, Tahitian-like archipelagos, three deserts, perpetually snowcapped mountains, the largest Caribbean beach facing the Caribbean Sea, countless national parks, the most verdant coastline anywhere on the Pacific rim, a plethora of rain forests, pine forests, lakes, rivers including the Amazon, in this nation where pink dolphins and humpback whales come home to mate and give birth, there is little doubt that Colombia, being 22.5 times the size of Costa Rica, is expected to become the number one eco-tourism destination in the world. It is no wonder why Colombia recorded a 22% growth in tourism in 2005 and it has not wavered since.

Colombia, the equatorial nation closest to paradise!

It is important to note that Colombia is the only major country in the world to have the highest percentage of its population living inland, in urban centers, away from the coastlines, and the fact that Colombia is the only South American nation, after Brazil, to have several cities with populations of over a million people. Moreover, the challenging mountainous topography of Colombia caused each city to grow in a very distinct way, virtually making all Colombian cities different from one another which are a joy to discover in a nation that is more than 80% urban.

After Bogota, these are some of the other large and exciting cities you will find in Colombia:

1. Medellin – with a metropolitan population of nearly 4 million.
2. Cali – with a metropolitan population of 3.5 million.
3. Barranquilla – with a metropolitan population of 2.5 million.
4. Cucuta – with a metropolitan population of 2 million.
5. Bucaramanga – with a metropolitan population of 1.5 million.
6. Pereira – with a metropolitan population of 1.5 million.
7. Manizales – with a metropolitan population of one million.

Some facts about Colombia:

• Colombia was the first mainland nation to be settled by the Europeans in the Western hemisphere.
• At first, it was called in Latin, Terra Firma (signifying mainland), it became the only nation to be named after its discoverer, Christopher Columbus.
• The first Colombian Magna Carta, or Constitution (and the first in Latin America), was drafted in 1809, and it helped lead the way for a Declaration of Independence from Spain in 1810, led by liberators Simon Bolivar, “The Great Liberator,” and Francisco de Paula Santander, the man who came to be known as “the Man of Law,” who fought hard to galvanize democracy in Colombia, the only other successful and continuous Republic other than the United States during the early part of the 19th century.
• In the early years after independence, Colombia was called La Gran Colombia and La Nueva Granada. Originally a much larger nation, with Bogota as its capital that included Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador and most of Guyana (and small parts of Peru and Brazil). Those nations seceded from the Union to gravitate into dictatorial governments, whereas the democratic institutions of Colombia continued to function despite the internal confrontations between liberals and conservatives –a consequence of Spain’s own feudalistic identity and its colonial imprint.
• With a population of over 48 million people (and approximately another 3 million living worldwide), Colombia is the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world after Mexico.
• In 2012, it is estimated that Colombia had a real GDP (PPP) purchasing power of over $500 billion USD (and over $370 billion USD, at the official exchange rate), making it the second largest economy in South America, after Brazil.
• The Colombian economy, already ranking as the 27th largest economy in the world in 2014, is expected to be one of the fastest growing economies for at least the next 25 years.
• Colombia’s well managed economy is the only major Latin American economy to have never experienced negative growth, hyper-inflation, or major currency devaluation over the past 80 years.
• Colombia leads the CIVETS nations (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa) of notable emerging economies, as the only mature and historically stable Western economy amongst the others.
• Colombia is one of the top 10 crude oil and coal exporters in the world.
• Colombia has one of the world’s largest textile and fashion industries.
• Manufacturing in Colombia includes automobile parts and vehicle assembly (including heavy construction equipment and buses), ships, unmanned aircraft, boats, televisions, washers, dryers, computers, medical equipment and software.
• Colombia is the most bio-diverse nation in the world, per square mile, and second most diverse overall after Brazil.
• Among other things, Colombia also has more species of birds, flowers and butterflies, than any other nation.
• Caño Cristales, the most color-filled river in the world, is arguably in one of the most beautiful areas on the planet, in a mountain called the Macarena that due to its unique tectonic history developed its own flora and fauna over millions of years apart from the Andes mountains.
• Despite what a Decatur map may erroneously lead you to think (as it is designed to exaggerate the size of the Northern hemisphere); Colombia is the 26th largest country in the world, with a land area of 440,831 square miles (1,141,748 sq. km), making it larger than France, Spain and Portugal put together, or larger than Texas and California combined and about the size of Norway, Sweden and Finland put together.
• Colombian healthcare was ranked No. 1 in the Americas (above the USA, Canada or Cuba) by the world Health Organization (WTO) in 2009, in the first ever global report on healthcare. Lasik surgery, the pacemaker for the heart and the malaria vaccine were invented in Colombia. Colombia also leads the world in research to end Alzheimer’s disease and ovarian cancer.
• Colombia has a literacy rate of over 94%.
• Colombia operates a nuclear reactor for research purposes.
• Colombia was the first nation to have regularly scheduled air mail, and its national airline Avianca is the second oldest, and one of the largest in the world.
• Colombia exports the richest quality of coffee in the world and it has the most advanced research laboratories for this and other commodities.
• Other agricultural exports include sugar, cocoa, bananas, and Colombia is the largest producer of roses and exporter of cut flowers in the world.
• Colombia is also a leading exporter of gold, platinum, silver and many other precious metals and gems, including 90% of the world’s emeralds. It is also expected to substantially increase its output of copper in the near future.
• Colombia is not just one of the world’s most important emerging economies, it is also in the process of entering membership into the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to be recognized as a fully “developed country.”
• The official language of Colombia is Spanish.
• The national currency of Colombia is the Colombian Peso (COP).
• The national bird of Colombia is the Condor.
• The national flower is the Orchid.
• Colombia is home to the world’s largest international theater festival, and another that is the oldest theater festival in Latin America, as well as the largest Salsa festival, largest outdoor parade of horses, perhaps the largest free-Rock-in-the-Park concert, largest flower parade, and the second largest Carnival in the world (after the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro).
• A poll from WIN/Gallup International Association ranked Colombia as the happiest nation at the end of 2012. ...And just think; the best days of Colombia may be yet to come!