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Colombia: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching Colombia, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Colombia. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Colombia from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Colombia: Quick Facts

United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Map of Colombia. 1950. United States. Central Intelligence Agency. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division.

Official Name: Republic of Colombia

Capital: Bogotá, D.C.

Date of Independence: July 20, 1810

Head of State/Government: President Iván Duque Márquez / Constitutional republic

Population: 50.4 million

Languages: Spanish is the official language. There are also close to 71 Amerindian (indigenous) languages belonging to the Chibchan, Arawakan, Cariban, Tucanoan, Guajiboan, Barbacoan, Bora-Witoto, and Saliban language families.

States: Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlántico, Bogotá, Bolivar, Boyacá, Caldas, Caquetá, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Chocó, Córdoba, Cundinamarca, Guainía, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Nariño, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindío, Risaralda, San Andrés y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupés, and Vichada.