Pre-Columbian era Owing to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human civilization from
Mesoamerica and the
Caribbean to the
Andes and
Amazon basin. The oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza and El Totumo sites in the Magdalena Valley southwest of Bogotá. These sites date from the
Paleoindian period (18,000–8000 BCE). At
Puerto Hormiga and other sites, traces from the
Archaic Period (~8000–2000 BCE) have been found. Vestiges indicate that there was also early occupation in the regions of
El Abra and
Tequendama in
Cundinamarca. The oldest pottery discovered in the Americas, found in
San Jacinto, dates to 5000–4000 BCE. Indigenous people inhabited the territory that is now Colombia by 12,500 BCE. Nomadic
hunter-gatherer tribes at the El Abra,
Tibitó and Tequendama sites near present-day
Bogotá traded with one another and with other cultures from the
Magdalena River Valley. A site including of
pictographs that is under study at Serranía de la Lindosa was revealed in November 2020. Their age is suggested as being 12,500 years old (c. 10,480 B.C.) by the anthropologists working on the site, because of extinct fauna depicted. It was during the earliest known human occupation of the area. Between 5000 and 1000 BCE, hunter-gatherer tribes transitioned to agrarian societies; fixed settlements were established, and pottery appeared. Beginning in the 1st millennium BCE, groups of
Amerindians including the
Muisca,
Zenú,
Quimbaya, and
Tairona developed the political system of
cacicazgos with a pyramidal structure of power headed by
caciques. The Muisca inhabited mainly the area of what is now the
Departments of
Boyacá and
Cundinamarca high plateau (
Altiplano Cundiboyacense) where they formed the
Muisca Confederation. They farmed maize, potato, quinoa, and cotton, and traded gold,
emeralds, blankets, ceramic handicrafts, coca and especially
rock salt with neighboring nations. The Tairona inhabited northern Colombia in the isolated mountain range of
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. The Quimbaya inhabited regions of the
Cauca River Valley between the
Western and
Central Ranges of the Colombian Andes. Most of the Amerindians practiced agriculture and the social structure of each Indigenous community was different. Some groups of Indigenous people such as the Caribs lived in a state of permanent war, but others had less bellicose attitudes. During the 1200s,
Malayo-Polynesians and
Amerindians in Colombia made contact, thereby spreading Indigeous Amerindian genetics from Precolonial Colombia to some Pacific Ocean islands. The coconuts found in Colombia which originally come from the
Philippines originate from this Precolombian exchange.
Colonial period , founder of
Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the first stable European settlement on the continent
Alonso de Ojeda (who had sailed with Columbus) reached the
Guajira Peninsula in 1499. Spanish explorers, led by
Rodrigo de Bastidas, made the first exploration of the
Caribbean coast in 1500.
Christopher Columbus navigated near the Caribbean in 1502. In 1508,
Vasco Núñez de Balboa accompanied an expedition to the territory through the region of
Gulf of Urabá and they founded the town of
Santa María la Antigua del Darién in 1510, the first stable settlement on the continent.
Santa Marta was founded in 1525, and
Cartagena in 1533. Spanish
conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada led an expedition to the interior in April 1536, and christened the districts through which he passed "
New Kingdom of Granada". In August 1538, he provisionally founded its capital near the Muisca
cacicazgo of
Muyquytá, and named it "Santa Fe". The name soon acquired a suffix and was called Santa Fe de Bogotá. Two other notable journeys by early conquistadors to the interior took place in the same period.
Sebastián de Belalcázar, conqueror of
Quito, traveled north and founded
Cali, in 1536, and
Popayán, in 1537; from 1536 to 1539, German conquistador
Nikolaus Federmann crossed the
Llanos Orientales and went over the
Cordillera Oriental in a search for
El Dorado, the "city of gold". The legend and the gold would play a pivotal role in luring the Spanish and other Europeans to New Granada during the 16th and 17th centuries. The
conquistadors made frequent alliances with the enemies of different indigenous communities.
Indigenous allies were crucial to conquest, as well as to creating and maintaining empire. Indigenous peoples in Colombia experienced a decline in population due to conquest as well as Eurasian diseases, such as
smallpox, to which they had no immunity. Regarding the land as deserted, the Spanish Crown sold properties to all persons interested in colonized territories, creating large farms and possession of mines. In the 16th century, the
nautical science in Spain reached a great development thanks to numerous scientific figures of the
Casa de Contratación and nautical science was an essential pillar of the
Iberian expansion. In 1542, the region of New Granada, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America, became part of the
Viceroyalty of Peru, with its capital in
Lima. In 1547, New Granada became a separate captaincy-general within the viceroyalty, with its capital at Santa Fe de Bogota. In 1549, the
Royal Audiencia was created by a royal decree, and New Granada was ruled by the
Royal Audience of Santa Fe de Bogotá, which at that time comprised the provinces of Santa Marta, Rio de San Juan, Popayán, Guayana and Cartagena. But important decisions were taken from the colony to Spain by the
Council of the Indies. , a major Spanish victory in the
War of Jenkins' Ear This system brought Africans to Colombia, although many spoke out against the institution. The indigenous peoples could not be enslaved because they were legally
subjects of the Spanish Crown. To protect the indigenous peoples, several forms of land ownership and regulation were established by the Spanish colonial authorities:
resguardos,
encomiendas and
haciendas. The
Viceroyalty of New Granada was established in 1717, then temporarily removed, and then re-established in 1739. Its capital was Santa Fé de Bogotá. This Viceroyalty included some other provinces of northwestern South America that had previously been under the jurisdiction of the
Viceroyalties of New Spain or
Peru and correspond mainly to today's Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. Bogotá became one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with
Lima and
Mexico City, though it remained less developed compared to those two cities in several economic and logistical ways.
Great Britain declared war
on Spain in 1739, and the city of Cartagena quickly became a top target for the British. A massive British expeditionary force was dispatched to capture the city, but, after achieving initial inroads, devastating outbreaks of disease crippled their numbers, and the British were forced to withdraw. The battle became one of Spain's most decisive victories in the conflict, and secured Spanish dominance in the Caribbean until the
Seven Years' War. The 18th-century priest, botanist, and mathematician
José Celestino Mutis was delegated by Viceroy
Antonio Caballero y Góngora to conduct an inventory of the nature of New Granada. Started in 1783, this became known as the
Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada. It classified plants and wildlife, and founded the first astronomical observatory in the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá. In July 1801 the Prussian scientist
Alexander von Humboldt reached Santa Fe de Bogotá where he met with Mutis. In addition, historical figures in the process of independence in New Granada emerged from the expedition as the astronomer
Francisco José de Caldas, the scientist
Francisco Antonio Zea, the zoologist
Jorge Tadeo Lozano and the painter
Salvador Rizo.
Independence Rebellions against Spanish rule had occurred in the empire since the advent of conquest and colonization, but most were either crushed or remained too weak to change the overall situation. The last one that sought outright independence from Spain sprang up around 1810 and culminated in the Colombian Declaration of Independence, issued on 20 July 1810, the day that is now celebrated as the nation's Independence Day. This movement followed the independence of
Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) in 1804, which provided some support to an eventual leader of this rebellion:
Simón Bolívar.
Francisco de Paula Santander also would play a decisive role. A movement was initiated by
Antonio Nariño, who opposed Spanish centralism and led the opposition against the
Viceroyalty.
Cartagena became independent in November 1811. In 1811, the
United Provinces of New Granada were proclaimed, headed by
Camilo Torres Tenorio. The emergence of two distinct ideological currents among the patriots (
federalism and
centralism) gave rise to a period of instability called the
Patria Boba. Shortly after the
Napoleonic Wars ended,
Ferdinand VII, recently restored to the throne in Spain, unexpectedly decided
to send military forces to retake most of northern South America. The viceroyalty was restored under the command of
Juan de Sámano, whose regime punished those who participated in the patriotic movements, ignoring the political nuances of the
juntas. The retribution stoked renewed rebellion, which, combined with a weakened Spain, made possible a successful rebellion led by the Venezuelan-born
Simón Bolívar, who finally proclaimed
independence in 1819. The
pro-Spanish resistance was defeated in 1822 in the present territory of Colombia and in 1823 in Venezuela. During the Independence War, between 250 and 400 thousand people died (12–20% of the pre-war population). The territory of the Viceroyalty of New Granada became the
Republic of Colombia, organized as a
union of the current territories of Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, parts of Guyana and Brazil and north of
Marañón River. The
Congress of Cúcuta in 1821 adopted a
constitution for the new Republic. Simón Bolívar became the first
President of Colombia, and Francisco de Paula Santander was made
Vice President. However, the new republic was unstable and the Gran Colombia ultimately collapsed. Modern Colombia comes from one of the countries that emerged after the
dissolution of Gran Colombia, the other two being Ecuador and Venezuela. Colombia was the first
constitutional government in South America, and the
Liberal and
Conservative parties, founded in 1848 and 1849, respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas.
Slavery was abolished in the country in 1851. Internal political and territorial divisions led to the dissolution of
Gran Colombia in 1830. Internal divisions remained between the bipartisan political forces, occasionally igniting very bloody civil wars, the most significant being the
Thousand Days' War (1899–1902), in which between 100 and 180 thousand Colombians lost their lives when the
Liberal Party, supported by
Venezuela,
Ecuador,
Nicaragua, and
Guatemala rebelled against the
Nationalist government and took control of
Santander, ultimately being defeated in 1902 by nationalist forces.
20th century The United States' efforts to assert influence over the region, particularly regarding the construction and control of the
Panama Canal, contributed to the
secession of the Department of Panama in 1903 and its political independence. The United States paid Colombia $25,000,000 in 1921, seven years after completion of the canal, as redress for President
Theodore Roosevelt's role in the creation of Panama, and Colombia recognized Panama under the terms of the
Thomson–Urrutia Treaty. Colombia and Peru went to
war because of territory disputes far in the
Amazon basin. The war ended with a peace deal brokered by the
League of Nations. The League finally awarded the disputed area to Colombia in June 1934. in 1948 Soon after, Colombia achieved some degree of political stability, which was interrupted by a bloody conflict that took place between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, a period known as
La Violencia ("The Violence"). Its cause was mainly mounting tensions between the two leading political parties, which subsequently ignited after the assassination of the Liberal presidential candidate
Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on 9 April 1948. The ensuing riots in Bogotá, known as
El Bogotazo, spread throughout the country and claimed the lives of at least 180,000 Colombians. Colombia entered the
Korean War when
Laureano Gómez was elected president. It was the only Latin American country to join the war in a direct military role as an ally of the United States. Particularly important was the resistance of the Colombian troops at
Old Baldy. The violence between the two political parties decreased first when
Gustavo Rojas deposed the
President of Colombia in a coup d'état and negotiated with the guerrillas, and then under the
military junta of General
Gabriel París. (1964–present) After Rojas' deposition, the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party agreed to create the
National Front, a coalition that would jointly govern the country. Under the deal, the presidency would alternate between conservatives and liberals every 4 years for 16 years; the two parties would have parity in all other elective offices. The National Front ended "La Violencia", and National Front administrations attempted to institute far-reaching social and economic reforms in cooperation with the
Alliance for Progress. Despite the progress in certain sectors, many social and political problems continued, and guerrilla groups were formally created such as the
FARC, the
ELN and the
M-19 to fight the government and political apparatus. Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an
asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict between
government forces,
leftist guerrilla groups and
right wing paramilitaries. The conflict escalated in the 1990s, mainly in remote rural areas. Since the beginning of the armed conflict,
human rights defenders have fought for the respect for human rights, despite staggering opposition. Several guerrillas' organizations decided to demobilize after peace negotiations in 1989–1994. The United States has been heavily involved in the conflict since its beginnings, when in the early 1960s the
U.S. government encouraged the Colombian military to attack leftist militias in rural Colombia. This was part of the U.S. fight against communism.
Mercenaries and multinational corporations such as
Chiquita Brands International are some of the international actors that have contributed to the violence of the conflict. Beginning in the mid-1970s Colombian
drug cartels became major producers, processors and exporters of
illegal drugs, primarily
marijuana and
cocaine. On 4 July 1991, a new
Constitution was promulgated. The changes generated by the new constitution are viewed as positive by Colombian society.
21st century signing a
peace accord The administration of President
Álvaro Uribe (2002–2010) adopted the
democratic security policy which included an integrated
counter-terrorism and
counter-insurgency campaign. The government economic plan also promoted confidence in investors. As part of a controversial peace process, the
AUC (right-wing paramilitaries) had ceased to function formally as an organization . In February 2008, millions of Colombians demonstrated against FARC and other outlawed groups. After peace negotiations in
Cuba, the
Colombian government of President
Juan Manuel Santos and the
guerrillas of the FARC-EP announced a final agreement to end the conflict. However, a
referendum to ratify the deal was unsuccessful. Afterward, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised
peace deal in November 2016, which the
Colombian congress approved. In 2016, President Santos was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize. The Government began a process of attention and comprehensive reparation for victims of conflict. Colombia shows modest progress in the struggle to defend human rights, as expressed by
HRW. A
Special Jurisdiction of Peace has been created to investigate, clarify, prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and grave breaches of
international humanitarian law which occurred during the armed conflict and to satisfy victims' right to
justice. During his visit to Colombia,
Pope Francis paid tribute to the victims of the conflict. , the country's first
left-wing president In June 2018,
Iván Duque, the candidate of the right-wing
Democratic Center party, won the presidential
election. On 7 August 2018, he was sworn in as the new
President of Colombia to succeed Juan Manuel Santos.
Colombia's relations with Venezuela have fluctuated due to ideological differences between the two governments. Colombia has offered
humanitarian support with food and medicines to mitigate the shortage of supplies in Venezuela. Colombia's Foreign Ministry said that all efforts to resolve
Venezuela's crisis should be peaceful. Colombia proposed the idea of the
Sustainable Development Goals and a final document was adopted by the United Nations. In February 2019, Venezuelan president
Nicolás Maduro cut off diplomatic relations with Colombia after Colombian President Ivan Duque had helped Venezuelan opposition politicians deliver humanitarian aid to their country. Colombia recognized Venezuelan opposition leader
Juan Guaidó as the country's legitimate president. In January 2020, Colombia rejected Maduro's proposal that the two countries restore diplomatic relations.
Protests started on 28 April 2021 when the government proposed a tax bill that would greatly expand the range of the 19 percent
value-added tax. The 19 June 2022
election run-off vote ended in a win for former guerrilla,
Gustavo Petro, taking 50.47% of the vote compared to 47.27% for independent candidate
Rodolfo Hernández. The single-term limit for the country's presidency prevented President Iván Duque from seeking re-election. On 7 August 2022, Petro was sworn in, becoming the country's first leftist president. ==Geography==