Colombia (2007) | Korea, North (2006) | |
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Administrative divisions | 32 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 capital district* (distrito capital); Amazonas, Antioquia, Arauca, Atlantico, Bogota*, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia, Guaviare, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes, Vichada | 9 provinces (do, singular and plural) and 4 municipalities (si, singular and plural)
provinces: Chagang-do (Chagang), Hamgyong-bukto (North Hamgyong), Hamgyong-namdo (South Hamgyong), Hwanghae-bukto (North Hwanghae), Hwanghae-namdo (South Hwanghae), Kangwon-do (Kangwon), P'yongan-bukto (North P'yongan), P'yongan-namdo (South P'yongan), Yanggang-do (Yanggang) municipalites: Kaesong-si (Kaesong), Najin Sonbong-si (Najin), Namp'o-si (Namp'o), P'yongyang-si (Pyongyang) |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 29.8% (male 6,696,471/female 6,539,612)
15-64 years: 64.8% (male 14,012,140/female 14,732,874) 65 years and over: 5.4% (male 1,042,645/female 1,355,856) (2007 est.) |
0-14 years: 23.8% (male 2,788,944/female 2,708,331)
15-64 years: 68% (male 7,762,442/female 7,955,522) 65 years and over: 8.2% (male 667,792/female 1,229,988) (2006 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp | rice, corn, potatoes, soybeans, pulses; cattle, pigs, pork, eggs |
Airports | 934 (2007) | 77 (2006) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 103
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 8 1,524 to 2,437 m: 39 914 to 1,523 m: 42 under 914 m: 12 (2007) |
total: 36
over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 22 1,524 to 2,437 m: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 3 (2006) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total: 831
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 34 914 to 1,523 m: 216 under 914 m: 580 (2007) |
total: 41
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 20 914 to 1,523 m: 13 under 914 m: 7 (2006) |
Area | total: 1,138,910 sq km
land: 1,038,700 sq km water: 100,210 sq km note: includes Isla de Malpelo, Roncador Cay, and Serrana Bank |
total: 120,540 sq km
land: 120,410 sq km water: 130 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly less than twice the size of Texas | slightly smaller than Mississippi |
Background | Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A 40-year conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups and illegal paramilitary groups - both heavily funded by the drug trade - escalated during the 1990s. The insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, and violence has been decreasing since about 2002, but insurgents continue attacks against civilians and large swaths of the countryside are under guerrilla influence. More than 32,000 former paramilitaries had demobilized by the end of 2006 and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) as a formal organization had largely ceased to function. Still, some renegades continued to engage in criminal activities. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its municipalities. However, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders. | An independent kingdom for much of its long history, Korea was occupied by Japan in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. Five years later, Japan formally annexed the entire peninsula. Following World War II, Korea was split with the northern half coming under Soviet-sponsored Communist domination. After failing in the Korean War (1950-53) to conquer the US-backed Republic of Korea (ROK) in the southern portion by force, North Korea (DPRK), under its founder President KIM Il-so'ng, adopted a policy of ostensible diplomatic and economic "self-reliance" as a check against excessive Soviet or Communist Chinese influence. The DPRK demonized the US as the ultimate threat to its social system through state-funded propaganda, and molded political, economic, and military policies around the core ideological objective of eventual unification of Korea under Pyongyang's control. KIM's son, the current ruler KIM Jong Il, was officially designated as his father's successor in 1980, assuming a growing political and managerial role until the elder KIM's death in 1994. After decades of economic mismanagement and resource misallocation, the DPRK since the mid-1990s has relied heavily on international aid to feed its population while continuing to expend resources to maintain an army of 1 million. North Korea's long-range missile development, as well as its nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons programs and massive conventional armed forces, are of major concern to the international community. In December 2002, following revelations that the DPRK was pursuing a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium in violation of a 1994 agreement with the US to freeze and ultimately dismantle its existing plutonium-based program, North Korea expelled monitors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In January 2003, it declared its withdrawal from the international Non-Proliferation Treaty. In mid-2003 Pyongyang announced it had completed the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods (to extract weapons-grade plutonium) and was developing a "nuclear deterrent." Since August 2003, North Korea has participated in the Six-Party Talks with China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, and the US designed to resolve the stalemate over its nuclear programs. The fourth round of Six-Party Talks were held in Beijing during July-September 2005. All parties agreed to a Joint Statement of Principles in which, among other things, the six parties unanimously reaffirmed the goal of verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner. In the Joint Statement, the DPRK committed to "abandoning all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs and returning, at an early date, to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to IAEA safeguards." The Joint Statement also commits the US and other parties to certain actions as the DPRK denuclearizes. The US offered a security assurance, specifying that it had no nuclear weapons on ROK territory and no intention to attack or invade the DPRK with nuclear or other weapons. The US and DPRK will take steps to normalize relations, subject to the DPRK's implementing its denuclearization pledge and resolving other longstanding concerns. While the Joint Statement provides a vision of the end-point of the Six-Party process, much work lies ahead to implement the elements of the agreement. |
Birth rate | 20.16 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 15.54 births/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $49.09 billion
expenditures: $49.75 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.) |
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
Capital | name: Bogota
geographic coordinates: 4 36 N, 74 05 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
name: Pyongyang
geographic coordinates: 39 01 N, 125 45 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical along coast and eastern plains; cooler in highlands | temperate with rainfall concentrated in summer |
Coastline | 3,208 km (Caribbean Sea 1,760 km, North Pacific Ocean 1,448 km) | 2,495 km |
Constitution | 5 July 1991; amended many times | adopted 1948; completely revised 27 December 1972, revised again in April 1992, and September 1998 |
Country name | conventional long form: Republic of Colombia
conventional short form: Colombia local long form: Republica de Colombia local short form: Colombia |
conventional long form: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
conventional short form: North Korea local long form: Choson-minjujuui-inmin-konghwaguk local short form: Choson abbreviation: DPRK |
Death rate | 5.54 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 7.13 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Debt - external | $38.47 billion (2006 est.) | $12 billion (1996 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission: Ambassador William B. WOOD
embassy: Calle 22D-BIS, numbers 47-51, Apartado Aereo 3831 mailing address: Carrera 45 #22D-45, Bogota, D.C., APO AA 34038 telephone: [57] (1) 315-0811 FAX: [57] (1) 315-2197 |
none; note - Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang represents the US as consular protecting power |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission: Ambassador Carolina BARCO Isakson
chancery: 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 387-8338 FAX: [1] (202) 232-8643 consulate(s) general: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Washington, DC |
none; North Korea has a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York |
Disputes - international | memorials and countermemorials were filed by the parties in Nicaragua's 1999 and 2001 proceedings against Honduras and Colombia at the ICJ over the maritime boundary and territorial claims in the western Caribbean Sea - final public hearings are scheduled for 2007; dispute with Venezuela over maritime boundary and Venezuelan-administered Los Monjes Islands near the Gulf of Venezuela; Colombian-organized illegal narcotics, guerrilla, and paramilitary activities penetrate all of its neighbors' borders and have caused over 300,000 persons to flee the country, mostly into neighboring states | China seeks to stem illegal migration of tens of thousands of North Koreans escaping famine, economic privation, and political oppression; North Korea and China dispute the sovereignty of certain islands in Yalu and Tumen rivers and a section of boundary around Paektu-san (mountain) is indefinite; Military Demarcation Line within the 4-km wide Demilitarized Zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953; periodic maritime disputes with South over the Northern Limit Line; North Korea supports South Korea in rejecting Japan's claim to Liancourt Rocks (Tok-do/Take-shima) |
Economic aid - recipient | $NA (2005) | $NA; note - approximately 350,000 metric tons in food aid, worth approximately $118 million, through the World Food Program appeal in 2004, plus additional aid from bilateral donors and non-governmental organizations |
Economy - overview | Colombia's economy has experienced positive growth over the past three years despite a serious armed conflict. The economy continues to improve in part because of austere government budgets, focused efforts to reduce public debt levels, an export-oriented growth strategy, an improved security situation in the country, and high commodity prices. Ongoing economic problems facing President URIBE range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment, and to achieving congressional passage of a fiscal transfers reform; furthermore, new exploration is needed to offset declining oil production. However, the government's economic policy, democratic security strategy, and the signing of a free trade agreement with the US have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy, particularly within the business sector. | North Korea, one of the world's most centrally planned and isolated economies, faces desperate economic conditions. Industrial capital stock is nearly beyond repair as a result of years of underinvestment and shortages of spare parts. Industrial and power output have declined in parallel. Despite an increased harvest in 2005 because of more stable weather conditions, fertilizer assistance from South Korea, and an extraordinary mobilization of the population to help with agricultural production, the nation has suffered its 11th year of food shortages because of on-going systemic problems, including a lack of arable land, collective farming practices, and chronic shortages of tractors and fuel. Massive international food aid deliveries have allowed the people of North Korea to escape mass starvation since famine threatened in 1995, but the population continues to suffer from prolonged malnutrition and poor living conditions. Large-scale military spending eats up resources needed for investment and civilian consumption. In 2004, the regime formalized an arrangement whereby private "farmers markets" were allowed to begin selling a wider range of goods. It also permitted some private farming on an experimental basis in an effort to boost agricultural output. In October 2005, the regime reversed some of these policies by forbidding private sales of grains and reinstituting a centralized food rationing system. In December 2005, the regime confirmed that it intended to carry out earlier threats to terminate all international humanitarian assistance operations in the DPRK (calling instead for developmental assistance only) and to restrict the activities of international and non-governmental aid organizations such as the World Food Program. Firm political control remains the Communist government's overriding concern, which will likely inhibit the loosening of economic regulations. |
Electricity - consumption | 38.91 billion kWh (2005) | 17.43 billion kWh (2003) |
Electricity - exports | 1.758 billion kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - imports | 16 million kWh (2005) | 0 kWh (2003) |
Electricity - production | 50.47 billion kWh (2005) | 18.75 billion kWh (2003) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Pico Cristobal Colon 5,775 m note: nearby Pico Simon Bolivar also has the same elevation |
lowest point: Sea of Japan 0 m
highest point: Paektu-san 2,744 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation; soil and water quality damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions | water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water; waterborne disease; deforestation; soil erosion and degradation |
Environment - international agreements | party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Environmental Modification, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution
signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea |
Ethnic groups | mestizo 58%, white 20%, mulatto 14%, black 4%, mixed black-Amerindian 3%, Amerindian 1% | racially homogeneous; there is a small Chinese community and a few ethnic Japanese |
Exchange rates | Colombian pesos per US dollar - 2,358.6 (2006), 2,320.75 (2005), 2,628.61 (2004), 2,877.65 (2003), 2,504.24 (2002) | official: North Korean won per US dollar - 170 (December 2004), 150 (December 2002), 2.15 (December 2001); market: North Korean won per US dollar - 300-600 (December 2002) |
Executive branch | chief of state: President Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government
head of government: President Alvaro URIBE Velez (since 7 August 2002); Vice President Francisco SANTOS (since 7 August 2002) cabinet: Cabinet consists of a coalition of the three largest parties that supported President URIBE's reelection - the PSUN, PC, and CR - and independents elections: president and vice president elected by popular vote for a four-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 28 May 2006 (next to be held in May 2010) election results: President Alvaro URIBE Velez reelected president; percent of vote - Alvaro URIBE Velez 62%, Carlos GAVIRIA Diaz 22%, Horacio SERPA Uribe 12%, other 4% |
chief of state: KIM Jong Il (since July 1994); note - on 3 September 2003, rubberstamp Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) reelected KIM Jong Il chairman of the National Defense Commission, a position accorded nation's "highest administrative authority"; SPA reelected KIM Yong Nam president of its Presidium also with responsibility of representing state and receiving diplomatic credentials; SPA appointed PAK Pong Ju premier
head of government: Premier PAK Pong Ju (since 3 September 2003); Vice Premiers KWAK Pom Gi (since 5 September 1998), JON Sung Hun (since 3 September 2003), RO Tu Chol (since 3 September 2003) cabinet: Naegak (cabinet) members, except for Minister of People's Armed Forces, are appointed by SPA elections: last held in September 2003 (next to be held in September 2008) election results: KIM Jong Il and KIM Yong Nam were only nominees for positions and ran unopposed |
Exports | NA bbl/day | NA bbl/day |
Exports - commodities | petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, cut flowers | minerals, metallurgical products, manufactures (including armaments), textiles, fishery products |
Exports - partners | US 35.7%, Venezuela 11.4%, Ecuador 5.4% (2006) | China 45.6%, South Korea 20.2%, Japan 12.9% (2004) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double-width), blue, and red; similar to the flag of Ecuador, which is longer and bears the Ecuadorian coat of arms superimposed in the center | three horizontal bands of blue (top), red (triple width), and blue; the red band is edged in white; on the hoist side of the red band is a white disk with a red five-pointed star |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 12%
industry: 35.6% services: 52.4% (2006 est.) |
agriculture: 30%
industry: 34% services: 36% (2002 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 6.8% (2006 est.) | 1% (2005 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 4 00 N, 72 00 W | 40 00 N, 127 00 E |
Geography - note | only South American country with coastlines on both the North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea | strategic location bordering China, South Korea, and Russia; mountainous interior is isolated and sparsely populated |
Heliports | 2 (2007) | 22 (2006) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 7.9%
highest 10%: 34.3% (2004) |
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA% |
Illicit drugs | illicit producer of coca, opium poppy, and cannabis; world's leading coca cultivator with 144,000 hectares in coca cultivation in 2005, a 26% increase over 2004, producing a potential of 545 mt of pure cocaine; the world's largest producer of coca derivatives; supplies cocaine to most of the US market and the great majority of other international drug markets; in 2005, aerial eradication dispensed herbicide to treat over 130,000 hectares but aggressive replanting on the part of coca growers means Colombia remains a key producer; a significant portion of non-US narcotics proceeds are either laundered or invested in Colombia through the black market peso exchange; important supplier of heroin to the US market; opium poppy cultivation fell 50% between 2003 and 2004 to 2,100 hectares yielding a potential 3.8 metric tons of pure heroin, mostly for the US market; no poppy estimate was conducted in 2005 | for years, from the 1970s into the 2000s, citizens of the Democratic People's Republic of (North) Korea (DPRK), many of them diplomatic employees of the government, were apprehended abroad while trafficking in narcotics, including two in Turkey in December 2004; police investigations in Taiwan and Japan in recent years have linked North Korea to large illicit shipments of heroin and methamphetamine, including an attempt by the North Korean merchant ship Pong Su to deliver 150 kg of heroin to Australia in April 2003 |
Imports | NA bbl/day | 22,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
Imports - commodities | industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity | petroleum, coking coal, machinery and equipment, textiles, grain |
Imports - partners | US 26.9%, Brazil 8.6%, Mexico 8.5%, China 6%, Venezuela 5.6%, Japan 4.1% (2006) | China 32.9%, Thailand 10.7%, Japan 4.8% (2004) |
Independence | 20 July 1810 (from Spain) | 15 August 1945 (from Japan) |
Industrial production growth rate | 5.8% (2006 est.) | NA% |
Industries | textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds | military products; machine building, electric power, chemicals; mining (coal, iron ore, magnesite, graphite, copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals), metallurgy; textiles, food processing; tourism |
Infant mortality rate | total: 20.13 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 23.86 deaths/1,000 live births female: 16.28 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
total: 23.29 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.97 deaths/1,000 live births female: 21.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 4.3% (2006 est.) | NA% |
International organization participation | BCIE, CAN, Caricom (observer), CDB, CSN, FAO, G-3, G-15, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO | ARF, FAO, G-77, ICAO, ICRM, IFAD, IFRCS, IHO, IMO, IOC, IPU, ISO, ITU, NAM, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO |
Irrigated land | 9,000 sq km (2003) | 14,600 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs; Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Council of State (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Constitutional Court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties); Superior Judicial Council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms) | Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly) |
Labor force | 20.34 million (2006 est.) | 9.6 million |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 22.7%
industry: 18.7% services: 58.5% (2000 est.) |
agriculture: 36%
industry and services: 64% |
Land boundaries | total: 6,309 km
border countries: Brazil 1,644 km, Ecuador 590 km, Panama 225 km, Peru 1,800 km, Venezuela 2,050 km |
total: 1,673 km
border countries: China 1,416 km, South Korea 238 km, Russia 19 km |
Land use | arable land: 2.01%
permanent crops: 1.37% other: 96.62% (2005) |
arable land: 22.4%
permanent crops: 1.66% other: 75.94% (2005) |
Languages | Spanish | Korean |
Legal system | based on Spanish law; a new criminal code modeled after US procedures was enacted into law in 2004 and is gradually being implemented; judicial review of executive and legislative acts | based on German civil law system with Japanese influences and Communist legal theory; no judicial review of legislative acts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | bicameral Congress or Congreso consists of the Senate or Senado (102 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) and the House of Representatives or Camara de Representantes (166 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 12 March 2006 (next to be held in March 2010); House of Representatives - last held 12 March 2006 (next to be held in March 2010) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSUN 20, PC 18, PL 18, CR 15, PDI 10, other parties 21; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PL 35, PSUN 33, PC 29, CR 20, PDA 8, other parties 41 |
unicameral Supreme People's Assembly or Ch'oego Inmin Hoeui (687 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 3 August 2003 (next to be held in August 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; ruling party approves a list of candidates who are elected without opposition; some seats are held by minor parties |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.27 years
male: 68.44 years female: 76.24 years (2007 est.) |
total population: 71.65 years
male: 68.92 years female: 74.51 years (2006 est.) |
Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.8% male: 92.9% female: 92.7% (2004 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99% male: 99% female: 99% |
Location | Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Panama and Venezuela, and bordering the North Pacific Ocean, between Ecuador and Panama | Eastern Asia, northern half of the Korean Peninsula bordering the Korea Bay and the Sea of Japan, between China and South Korea |
Map references | South America | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm note: military boundary line 50 nm in the Sea of Japan and the exclusive economic zone limit in the Yellow Sea where all foreign vessels and aircraft without permission are banned |
Merchant marine | total: 15 ships (1000 GRT or over) 35,949 GRT/49,161 DWT
by type: cargo 11, liquefied gas 1, petroleum tanker 3 registered in other countries: 5 (Antigua and Barbuda 1, Panama 4) (2007) |
total: 232 ships (1000 GRT or over) 983,182 GRT/1,370,104 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 14, cargo 176, chemical tanker 1, container 4, livestock carrier 3, passenger/cargo 5, petroleum tanker 17, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 8, vehicle carrier 1 foreign-owned: 60 (British Virgin Islands 1, China 1, Denmark 1, Egypt 2, Greece 1, India 1, Lebanon 6, Lithuania 1, Marshall Islands 1, Pakistan 3, Romania 11, Russia 1, Singapore 1, Syria 14, Turkey 4, UAE 6, US 3, Yemen 2) registered in other countries: 5 (Belize 2, Mongolia 3) (2006) |
Military branches | National Army (Ejercito Nacional), National Navy (Armada Nacional, includes Naval Aviation, Naval Infantry (Infanteria de Marina, Colmar), and Coast Guard), Colombian Air Force (Fuerza Aerea de Colombia, FAC) (2007) | North Korean People's Army: Ground Force, Navy, Air Force; civil security forces (2005) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $5,217.4 million (FY02) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 3.4% (2005 est.) | NA |
National holiday | Independence Day, 20 July (1810) | Founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), 9 September (1948) |
Nationality | noun: Colombian(s)
adjective: Colombian |
noun: Korean(s)
adjective: Korean |
Natural hazards | highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts | late spring droughts often followed by severe flooding; occasional typhoons during the early fall |
Natural resources | petroleum, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, gold, copper, emeralds, hydropower | coal, lead, tungsten, zinc, graphite, magnesite, iron ore, copper, gold, pyrites, salt, fluorspar, hydropower |
Net migration rate | -0.29 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.) |
Pipelines | gas 4,360 km; oil 6,140 km; refined products 3,158 km (2006) | oil 154 km (2006) |
Political parties and leaders | Colombian Conservative Party or PC [Julio MANZUR Abdala]; Alternative Democratic Pole or PDA [Carlos GAVIRIA Diaz]; Liberal Party or PL [Cesar GAVIRIA Trujillo]; Radical Change or CR [German VARGAS Lleras]; Social National Unity Party or U Party [Carlos GARCIA Orjuela]
note: Colombia has 15 formally recognized political parties, and numerous unofficial parties that did not meet the vote threshold in the March 2006 legislative elections required for recognition |
major party - Korean Workers' Party or KWP [KIM Jong Il]; minor parties - Chondoist Chongu Party [RYU Mi Yong] (under KWP control), Social Democratic Party [KIM Yong Dae] (under KWP control) |
Political pressure groups and leaders | two largest insurgent groups active in Colombia - Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia or FARC and National Liberation Army or ELN | none |
Population | 44,379,598 (July 2007 est.) | 23,113,019 (July 2006 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49.2% (2005) | NA% |
Population growth rate | 1.433% (2007 est.) | 0.84% (2006 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 454, FM 34, shortwave 27 (1999) | AM 17 (including 11 stations of Korean Central Broadcasting Station), FM 14, shortwave 14 (2003) |
Railways | total: 3,304 km
standard gauge: 150 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 3,154 km 0.914-m gauge (2006) |
total: 5,214 km
standard gauge: 5,214 km 1.435-m gauge (3,500 km electrified) (2005) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 90%, other 10% | traditionally Buddhist and Confucianist, some Christian and syncretic Chondogyo (Religion of the Heavenly Way)
note: autonomous religious activities now almost nonexistent; government-sponsored religious groups exist to provide illusion of religious freedom |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.024 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.951 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.769 male(s)/female total population: 0.961 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.54 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2006 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 17 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern system in many respects; telecommunications sector liberalized during the 1990s; multiple providers of both fixed-line and mobile-cellular services; fixed-line connections stand at about 18 per 100 persons; mobile cellular usage is approaching 70 per 100 persons
domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system; domestic satellite system with 41 earth stations; fiber-optic network linking 50 cities international: country code - 57; submarine cables provide links to the US, parts of the Caribbean, and Central and South America; satellite earth stations - 6 Intelsat, 1 Inmarsat; 3 fully digitalized international switching centers (2007) |
general assessment: NA
domestic: NA international: country code - 850; satellite earth stations - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Russian (Indian Ocean region); other international connections through Moscow and Beijing |
Telephones - main lines in use | 7.865 million (2006) | 980,000 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 29.763 million (2006) | NA |
Television broadcast stations | 60 (1997) | 4 (includes Korean Central Television, Mansudae Television, Korean Educational and Cultural Network, and Kaesong Television targeting South Korea) (2003) |
Terrain | flat coastal lowlands, central highlands, high Andes Mountains, eastern lowland plains | mostly hills and mountains separated by deep, narrow valleys; coastal plains wide in west, discontinuous in east |
Total fertility rate | 2.51 children born/woman (2007 est.) | 2.1 children born/woman (2006 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 11.1% (2006 est.) | NA% |
Waterways | 18,000 km (2006) | 2,250 km (most navigable only by small craft) (2006) |