COLOMBIA

Geography

Area 1,141,748 sq.km. Northwest corner of South America. The 4th largest country on the continent. Mountains in the west, plains and forests in the east.

Peoples

Spanish speaking 98.6% Indigenous Amerindian 0.8% (50% of the population in 1850). Other 0.6%. Literacy 70%. Official Language: Spanish.

Economy

Coffee and oil are the main export commodities, along with cocaine. Colombia supplies 75% of the world's cocaine. The gap between rich and poor is wide. Income/person $2,140 (7% of USA).

Religion

After years of persecution of and discrimination against religious minorities, the priviledged position of the Roman Catholic Church was ended in the 1991 Constitution, which accords greater freedom to ethnic and religious minorities. The Christian Church is growing rapidly in a climate of crime, lawlessness, terror, and murder. From a tiny minority in 1960 (0.6% of the population), Evangelicals grew to nearly 5% in 2000, and Charismatics now number an estimated 17% of the population. This growth is all the more miraculous considering that Christians are often targets of drug cartels, guerrillas, paramilitaries, and others. As sin increases in Colombia, God's grace increases all the more.

Demographic information from "Operation World"