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COLOMBIA: Cultural Day: Article

Jafar FC: Nasser GH, AmirSalar VL, Alireza Rajabi, Mohammad Davari

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Geography
Colombia (officially called Republic of Colombia), is a country in South America,
situated in the northwestern region, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the east by
Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru. It is the only South American country
with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The capital of Colombia is Bogot.
The second major city is Medellin, a big industrial center. The third largest city is Cali, home of
many multinational companies. The most important city of the country on the Caribbean coast
is Barranquilla. The climate is very warm and tropical on the coast and in the north, with a rainy
season from May to November. It has no fixed seasons, however. More than 99.2% of
Colombians speak the Spanish language, and the rest speak native languages. Also, about 90% of
the population are Christian, and the remaining 10% practice Islam, Judaism, Buddhism,
Hinduism, and other indigenous religions. The total population of Colombia is at about 48
million people, with a great ethnic diversity.
Cultural Facts
The family takes center stage in the social structure. It acts as a source of support and advice and
therefore great loyalty is shown to families. Most extended families remain very close both
emotionally and physically with children tending to settle down very close to their parents. The
Colombian elderly get more respect since people earn respect due to age and position. Ninetyfive percent of the people consider themselves members of the Roman Catholic Church and
attach great importance to Catholic sacraments. More than 85 percent of Catholics in urban areas
attend mass regularly.

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References
http://www.everyculture.com, Colombia
http://livingbilingual.com/, Nelson, Jeffrey, Colombian Culture
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/, Colombian Language, Culture, and Etiquette