Polity · 1866 CE – present
Republic of Colombia
Colombia · República de Colombia
Also recorded as Colombia
- Peak recorded area
- 1,223,030 km²
- 1866 CE
- Rulers on record
- 5
- from 1998 CE
- Data series
- 452
- 1866 CE–2025 CE
Overview
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country located in South America, with insular regions in North America. Colombia's mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east, Brazil to the southeast, Peru and Ecuador to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest. Colombia is divided into 32 departments. The Capital District of Bogotá is the country's largest city hosting the main financial and cultural hub.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
4 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated. CShapes 2.0 holds 3 further extents, measured on a different basis and deliberately not merged into this series.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before the last complete year, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
6 of 63 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population268 obs · 1870 CE–2025 CE | 53.4Mpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy165 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 78.09years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Urban Population151 obs · 1866 CE–2016 CE | 26.6Mpersons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Net Migration141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 129.1Kpersons2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Population Growth141 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 0.983% annual2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
| Life Expectancy Female140 obs · 1950 CE–2025 CE | 80.77years2025 CE · UN World Population Prospects 2024 |
Economy
6 of 172 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita PPP154 obs · 1866 CE–2019 CE | 14.6Kint'l $ (inflation adj.)2019 CE · Gapminder |
| GDP per capita153 obs · 1870 CE–2022 CE | 14.5K2011 int'l $2022 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Total Exports145 obs · 1870 CE–2014 CE | 54.8Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports145 obs · 1870 CE–2014 CE | 64Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance145 obs · 1870 CE–2014 CE | -9,233.98million USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness145 obs · 1870 CE–2014 CE | 118.8Kmillion USD (current)2014 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 59 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score151 obs · 1866 CE–2016 CE | 0.0071CINC (share of world capability)2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption151 obs · 1866 CE–2016 CE | 64.2Mcoal-ton equivalents2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production151 obs · 1866 CE–2016 CE | 1.3Mtons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel148 obs · 1866 CE–2016 CE | 297Kpersons2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure % GDP132 obs · 1958 CE–2024 CE | 3.36% of GDP2024 CE · SIPRI Military Expenditure Database |
| Military Expenditure101 obs · 1914 CE–2016 CE | 9Bcurrent USD2016 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
6 of 64 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Arable Land %126 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 2.3% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Coal Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 421.39TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 110.95TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 474.58TWh2024 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Forest Area %68 obs · 1990 CE–2023 CE | 52.77% of land area2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
| Agricultural Land %63 obs · 1961 CE–2023 CE | 36.49%2023 CE · World Bank World Development Indicators |
Governance
6 of 30 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index159 obs · 1866 CE–2024 CE | 0.701index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index159 obs · 1866 CE–2024 CE | 0.557index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index159 obs · 1866 CE–2024 CE | 0.477index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index159 obs · 1866 CE–2024 CE | 0.748index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Polity2147 obs · 1866 CE–2012 CE | 7index (-10 to 10)2012 CE · Clio-Infra |
| Regime Type125 obs · 1900 CE–2024 CE | 2RoW index (0-3)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
Development
6 of 64 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index159 obs · 1866 CE–2024 CE | 0.843index (0-1)2024 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Tech Railway Line Km131 obs · 1866 CE–1999 CE | 1,983km1999 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Radios104 obs · 1866 CE–1999 CE | 21.8Kcount1999 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telephones67 obs · 1913 CE–1988 CE | 2.5Mcount1988 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Telegraph65 obs · 1911 CE–1987 CE | 18count1987 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
| Tech Railway Passenger Km62 obs · 1931 CE–1992 CE | 16passenger-km1992 CE · CHAT (Comin-Hobijn) |
Rulers
5 on record with dated reigns. Reign years follow the house convention: BCE years are negative.
- Andrés Pastrana ArangoPresident1998 CE – 2002 CE
- Álvaro Uribe VélezPresident2002 CE – 2010 CE
- Juan Manuel SantosPresident2010 CE – 2018 CE
- Iván DuquePresident2018 CE – 2022 CE
- Gustavo PetroPresident2022 CE –
Country profile
From the CIA World Factbook 2024. Long entries are trimmed at a sentence boundary.
- Location
- Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama
- Government type
- presidential republic
- Executive branch
- chief of state: President Gustavo Francisco PETRO Urrego (since 7 August 2022); head of government: President Gustavo Francisco PETRO Urrego (since 7 August 2022); cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president; election/appointment process: president directly elected by absolute majority vote in 2 rounds, if needed, for a single 4-year term
- Ethnic groups
- Mestizo and White 87.6%, Afro-Colombian (includes Mulatto, Raizal, and Palenquero) 6.8%, Indigenous 4.3%, unspecified 1.4% (2018 est.)
- Natural resources
- petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower
- Economy
- prior to COVID-19, one of the most consistent growth economies; declining poverty; large stimulus package has mitigated economic fallout, but delayed key infrastructure investments; successful inflation management; sound flexible exchange rate regime; domestic economy suffers from lack of trade integration and infrastructure
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- Colombian pesos (COP)
Memberships
- 21-member Entente (1936)Historical alliance · member1936 CE – 1945 CE
- Colombia–Venezuela Non-Aggression Pact (1939)Historical alliance · member1939 CE –
- United NationsUNInternational organisation · founding member1945 CE –
- 20-member Defense Pact (1945)Military alliance · member1945 CE – 1947 CE
- 35-member Defense Pact (1947)Military alliance · member1947 CE –
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
CHAT (Comin-Hobijn)2009 (FinalCHAT_72909)
Comin, D. & Hobijn, B. (2009). The CHAT Dataset. NBER Working Paper 15319.
NBER research data, freely downloadable
CIA World Factbook 2024
Clio-Infra2017 datasets
Clio-Infra project (2017). Reconstructions of global inequality and well-being. International Institute of Social History.
Academic use, attribution
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database2024
SIPRI (2024). Military Expenditure Database.
Free for non-commercial use, attribution
UN World Population Prospects 20242024
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
CC BY 3.0 IGO
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
World Bank World Development Indicators2024 release
World Bank (2024). World Development Indicators. Washington, DC.
CC BY 4.0
Republic of Colombia is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.