the Orinoco and Amazon to the Atlantic, little can be said beyond the
barest geographical description. The size and courses of many of their
affluents are still unknown, as this great region has been only
partially explored. The largest of these rivers flow across the plains
in an easterly direction, those of the Orinoco system inclining
northward, and those of the Amazon system southward. The first include
the Guaviare or Guayabero, the Vichada, the Meta, and the upper course
of the Arauca. The Guaviare was explored by Crevaux in 1881. It rises
on the eastern slopes of the Eastern Cordillera between the 3rd and
4th parallels, about 75 m. south of Bogota, and flows with a slight
southward curve across the llanos to the Orinoco, into which it
discharges at San Fernando de Atabapo in lat. 4 deg. N. Its largest
tributary is the Inirida, which enters from the south. The Guaviare
has about 600 m. of navigable channel. The Meta rises on the opposite
side of the Cordillera from Bogota, and flows with a sluggish current
east-north-east across the llanos to the Orinoco, into which it
discharges below the Atures rapids, in lat. 6 deg. 22' N. It is navigable
throughout almost its whole length, small steamers ascending it to a
point within 100 m. of Bogota. Its principal tributaries, so far as
known, are the Tuca, Chire and Casanare. The principal rivers of the
Amazon system are the Napo, the upper part of which forms the
provisional boundary line with Ecuador, the Putumayo or Ica, and the
Caqueta or Japura (Yapura), which flow from the Andes entirely across
the eastern plains, and the Guainia, which rises on the northern
slopes of the Serra Tunaji near the provisional Brazilian frontier,
and flows with a great northward curve to the Venezuelan and Brazilian
frontiers, and is thereafter known as the Rio Negro, one of the
largest tributaries of the Amazon. There are many large tributaries of
these rivers in the unexplored regions of south-eastern Colombia, but
their names as well as their courses are still unsettled.
Coasts.
The coast of Colombia faces on the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean
Sea, and is divided by the Isthmus of Panama into two completely
separated parts. The Pacific coast-line, omitting minor convolutions,
has a length of about 500 m., while that of the Caribbean is about 700
m. The former has been of slight service in the development of the
country because of the unsettled and unhealthy character of the coast
region, and the high mountain barriers between its natural ports and
the settled parts of the republic. There are only two commercial ports
on the coast, Tumaco and Buenaventura, though there are several
natural harbours which would be of great service were there any demand
for them. The rivers Mira, Patia and San Juan permit the entrance of
small steamers, as also some of the smaller rivers. The larger bays on
this coast are Tumaco, Choco, Magdalena, Cabita, Coqui, Puerto Utria,
Solano, Cupica and Octavia--some of them affording exceptionally safe
and well-sheltered harbours. The Caribbean coast of Colombia has only
four ports engaged in international trade--Barranquilla, Cartagena,
Santa Marta and Rio Hacha. There are some smaller ports on the coast,
but they are open only to vessels of light draft and have no trade
worth mention. Barranquilla, the principal port of the republic, is
situated on the Magdalena, and its seaport, or landing-place, is
Puerto Colombia at the inner end of Savanilla Bay, where a steel pier
4000 ft. long has been built out to deep water, alongside which
ocean-going vessels can receive and discharge cargo. The bay is slowly
filling up, however, and two other landing-places--Salgar and
Savanilla--had to be abandoned before Puerto Colombia was selected.
The pier-head had 24 ft. of water alongside in 1907, but the silt
brought down by the Magdalena is turned westward by the current along
this coast, and may at any time fill the bay with dangerous shoals.
The oldest and best port on the coast is Cartagena, 65 m. south-west
of Barranquilla, which has a well-sheltered harbour protected by
islands, and is connected with the Magdalena at Calamar by railway.
The next best port is that of Santa Marta, about 46 m. east-north-east
of Barranquilla (in a straight line), with which it is connected by 23
m. of railway and 50 m. of inland navigation on the Cienaga de Santa
Marta and eastern outlets of the Magdalena. Santa Marta is situated on
a small, almost landlocked bay, well protected from prevailing winds
by high land on the north and north-east, affording excellent
anchorage in waters free from shoaling through the deposit of silt.
The depth of the bay ranges from 4-1/2 to 19 fathoms. The town stands at
the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which restricts the area
of cultivatable land in its immediate vicinity, and the enclosing high
lands make the climate hot and somewhat dangerous for foreigners.
Since the development of the fruit trade on the shores of the
Caribbean sea and Gulf of Mexico by an important American company,
which owns a large tract of land near Santa Marta devoted to banana
cultivation, and has built a railway 50 m. inland principally for the
transportation of fruit, the trade of the port has greatly increased.
The population of this region, however, is sparse, and its growth is
slow. The fourth port on this coast is Rio Hacha, an open roadstead,
about 93 m. east of Santa Marta, at the mouth of the small river
Rancheira descending from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta. It has little trade, and the undeveloped, unpopulated
state of the country behind it affords no promise of immediate growth.
There are other small towns on the coast which are ports for the small
vessels engaged in the coasting and river trade, but they have no
international importance because of their inaccessibility to
ocean-going steamers, or the extremely small volume of their trade.
The Gulf of Uraba is a large bight or southerly extension of the Gulf
of Darien. It receives the waters of the Atrato, Bacuba, and a number
of small rivers, and penetrates the land about 50 m., but has very
little commercial importance because of the unhealthy and unsettled
character of the neighbouring country, and because of the bar across
its entrance formed by silt from the Atrato. The Gulf of Morosquillo,
a broad shallow indentation of the coast south of Cartagena, receives
the waters of the Rio Sinu, at the mouth of which is the small port of
Cispata. Between the mouth of the Magdalena and Santa Marta is the
Cienaga de Santa Marta, a large marshy lagoon separated from the sea
by a narrow sand spit, having its "boca" or outlet at its eastern
side. There is some traffic in small steamers on its shallow waters,
which is increasing with the development of fruit cultivation on its
eastern and southern sides. It extends inland about 31 m., and marks a
deep indentation of the coast like the Gulf of Uraba.
_Geology._--The geology of Colombia is very imperfectly known, and it
is only by a comparison with the neighbouring regions that it is
possible to form any clear idea of the geological structure and
succession. The oldest rocks are gneisses and schists, together with
granite and other eruptive rocks. These are overlaid by sandstones,
slates and limestones, alternating with porphyries and porphyrites
sometimes in the form of sheets, sometimes as breccias and
conglomerates. Cretaceous fossils have been found abundantly in this
series, but it is still possible that earlier systems may be
represented. Coal-bearing beds, possibly of Tertiary age, occur in
Antioquia and elsewhere. Structurally, the four main chains of
Colombia differ considerably from one another in geological
constitution. The low Cordilleras of the Chocos, on the west coast,
are covered by soft Quaternary sandstones and marls containing shells
of extant species, such as still inhabit the neighbouring ocean. The
Western Cordillera is the direct continuation of the Western
Cordillera of Ecuador, and, like the latter, to judge from the
scattered observations which are all that are available, consists
chiefly of sandstones and porphyritic rocks of the Cretaceous series.
Between the Western and the Central Cordilleras is a longitudinal
depression along which the river Cauca finds its way towards the sea.
On the western side of this depression there are red sandstones with
coal-seams, possibly Tertiary; the floor and the eastern side consist
chiefly of ancient crystalline and schistose rocks. The Central
Cordillera is the direct continuation of the Eastern Cordillera of
Ecuador, and is formed chiefly of gneiss and other crystalline rocks,
but sedimentary deposits of Cretaceous age also occur. Finally the
Eastern branch, known as the Cordillera of Bogota, is composed almost
entirely of Cretaceous beds thrown into a series of regular
anticlinals and synclinals similar to those of the Jura Mountains. The
older rocks occasionally appear in the centre of the anticlinals. In
all these branches of the Andes the folds run approximately in the
direction of the chains, but the Sierra de Santa Marta appears to
belong to a totally distinct system of folding, the direction of the
folds being from west to east, bending gradually towards the
south-east. Although volcanoes are by no means absent, they are much
less important than in Ecuador, and their products take a far smaller
share in the formation of the Andes. In Ecuador the depression between
the Eastern and Western Cordilleras is almost entirely filled with
modern lavas and agglomerates; in Colombia the corresponding Cauca
depression is almost free from such deposits. In the Central
Cordillera volcanoes extend to about 5 deg. N.; in the Western Cordillera
they barely enter within the limits of Colombia; in the Cordillera of
Bogota they are entirely absent.[1]
_Climate._--Were it not for the high altitudes of western Colombia,
high temperatures would prevail over the whole country, except where
modified by the north-east trade winds and the cold ocean current
which sweeps up the western coast. The elevated plateaus and summits
of the Andes are responsible, however, for many important and profound
modifications in climate, not only in respect to the lower
temperatures of the higher elevations, but also in respect to the
higher temperatures of the sheltered lowland valleys and the varying
climatic conditions of the neighbouring plains. The republic lies
almost wholly within the north torrid zone, a comparatively small part
of the forested Amazonian plain extending beyond the equator into the
south torrid zone. The great Andean barrier which crosses the republic
from the south to north acts as a condenser to the prevailing easterly
winds from the Atlantic, and causes a very heavy rainfall on their
eastern slopes and over the forested Amazon plain. High temperatures
as well as excessive humidity prevail throughout this region. Farther
north, on the open llanos of the Orinoco tributaries, the year is
divided into equal parts, an alternating wet and dry season, the sun
temperatures being high followed by cool nights, and the temperatures
of the rainy season being even higher. The rainfall is heavy in the
wet season, causing many of the rivers to spread over extensive areas,
but in the dry season the inundated plains become dry, the large
rivers fed by the snows and rainfall of the Andes return within their
banks, the shallow lagoons and smaller streams dry up, vegetation
disappears, and the level plain becomes a desert. The northern plains
of the republic are swept by the north-east trades, and here, too, the
mountain barriers exercise a strongly modifying influence. The low
ridges of the Sierra de Perija do not wholly shut out these
moisture-laden winds, but they cause a heavy rainfall on their eastern
slopes, and create a dry area on their western flanks, of which the
Vale of Upar is an example. The higher masses of the Sierra Nevada de
Santa Marta cover a very limited area, leaving the trade winds a
comparatively unbroken sweep across the northern plains until checked
by the Western Cordillera, the Panama ranges and the Sierra de Baudo,
where a heavy precipitation follows. Farther south the coast ranges
cause a very heavy rainfall on their western slopes, which are quite
as uninhabitable because of rain and heat as are the coasts of
southern Chile through rain and cold. The rainfall on this coast is
said to average 73 in., though it is much higher at certain points and
in the Atrato Valley. As a result the coastal plain is covered with
swamps and tangled forests, and is extremely unhealthy, except at a
few favoured points on the coast. High temperatures prevail throughout
the greater part of the Magdalena and Cauca valleys, because the
mountain ranges which enclose them shut out the prevailing winds. At
Honda, on the Magdalena, 664 ft. above sea-level, the mean temperature
for the year is 82 deg. F., and the mercury frequently rises to 102
deg. in the shade. These lowland plains and valleys comprise the
climatic tropical zone of Colombia, which is characterized by high
temperatures, and by excessive humidity and dense forests, an
exception to the last-named characteristic being the open llanos where
dry summers prevail. Above this tropical zone in the mountainous
regions are to be found all the varying gradations of climate which we
are accustomed to associate with changes in latitude. There are the
subtropical districts of the valleys and slopes between 1500 and 7500
ft. elevation, which include some of the most fertile and productive
areas in Colombia; the temperate districts between 7500 and 10,000
ft., the cold, bleak and inhospitable _paramos_ between 10,000 and
15,000 ft., and above these the arctic wastes of ice and snow. The
temperate and subtropical regions cover the greater part of the
departments traversed by the Eastern Cordillera, the northern end of
the Central Cordillera, the Santa Marta plateaus, and the Upper Cauca
Valley. They include the larger part of the white population and the
chief productive industries of the country. There is no satisfactory
record of temperatures and rainfall in these widely different climatic
zones from which correct averages can be drawn and compared.
Observations have been made and recorded at Bogota and at some other
large towns, but for the greater part of the country we have only
fragmentary reports. The mean annual temperature on the eastern
plains, so far as known, ranges from 87 deg. F. on the forested slopes
to 90 deg. and 91 deg. on the llanos of the Meta and Arauca. On the
Caribbean coastal plain it ranges from 80 deg. to 84 deg., but at
Tumaco, on the Pacific coast, within two degrees of the equator, it is
only 79 deg.. At Medellin, in the mountainous region of Antioquia,
4950 ft. above sea-level, the mean annual temperature is 70 deg., and
the yearly rainfall 55 in., while at Bogota, 8563 ft., the former is
57 deg. and the latter 44 in. At Tuquerres, near the frontier of
Ecuador, 10,200 ft. elevation, the mean annual temperature is said to
be 55 deg.. The changes of seasons are no less complicated and
confusing. A considerable part of the republic is covered by the
equatorial belt of calms, whose oscillations divide the year into a
wet and dry season. This division is modified, however, by the
location of mountain ranges and by elevation. In the Amazon region
there is no great change during the year, and on the northern plains
the so-called dry season is one of light rains except where mountain
ranges break the sweep of the north-east trades. The alternating wet
and dry seasons are likewise to be found on the Pacific coastal plain,
though this region is not entirely dry and vegetation never dries up
as on the _llanos_. Above the lowland plains the seasons vary in
character according to geographical position and elevation. The
two-season division rules in the departments of Santander and
Antioquia, but without the extremes of humidity and aridity
characteristic of the eastern plains. Farther south, at elevations
between 800 and 9500 ft., the year is divided into four distinct
seasons--two wet and two dry--the former called _inviernos_ (winters)
and the latter _veranos_ (summers). These seasons are governed by the
apparent movements of the sun, the winters occurring at the equinoxes
and the summers at the solstices. The _sabana_ of Bogota and
neighbouring districts are subject to these changes of season. At
higher altitudes long, cold, wet winters are experienced, with so
short and cold a summer between them that the bleak _paramos_ are
left uninhabited except by a few shepherds in the short dry season.
_Fauna._--The geographical position of Colombia gives to it a fauna
and flora largely characteristic of the great tropical region of the
Amazon on the south-east, and of the mountainous regions of Central
America on the north-west. At the same time it is rich in animal and
plant types of its own, especially the latter, and is considered one
of the best fields in South America for the student and collector. The
fauna is essentially tropical, though a few species characteristic of
colder regions are to be found in the higher Andes. Of the Quadrumana
there are at least seventeen distinct species, and this number may be
increased after a thorough exploration of the forested eastern plains.
They are all arboreal in habit, and are to be found throughout the
forested lowlands and lower mountain slopes. The carnivora are
represented by seven or eight species of the Felidae, the largest of
which are the puma (_Felis concolor_) and the jaguar (_F. onca_).
These animals, together with the smaller ocelot, have a wide
geographical range, and are very numerous in the valley of the
Magdalena. Two species of bear and the "coati" (_Nasua_) represent the
plantigrades and inhabit the mountain slopes, and, of Pachydermata,
the peccary (_Dicotyles_) and "danta" or tapir (_Tapirus_) have a wide
distribution throughout the lowland and lower plateau forests. The
Colombian tapir is known as the _Tapirus Roulini_, and is slightly
smaller than the Brazilian species (_T. americanus_). There are deer
in the forests and on the open savannahs, the rabbit and squirrel are
to be seen on the eastern slopes of the Andes, and partly amphibious
rodents, the "capybara" (_Hydrochoerus_) and "guagua" (_Coelogenys
subniger_), are very numerous along the wooded watercourses. The
sloth, armadillo, opossum, skunk and a species of fox complete the
list of the more common quadrupeds so far as known, though it is
certain that a careful biological survey would discover many others.
The large rivers of Colombia and the lakes of the lowlands are filled
with alligators, turtles, and fish, and several species of fish are
highly esteemed by the natives as food. The saurians are represented
on land by several species of lizard, some of them conspicuous for
their brilliant colouring, and by the large "iguana," whose flesh is
considered a great delicacy. Among the ophidians, which include many
harmless species, are the boa-constrictor, rattlesnake, the dreaded
_Lachesis_ and the coral snake. The "manatee" (_Manatus americanus_)
is found in the Atrato and other large Colombian rivers.
In bird and insect life Colombia is second only to Brazil. The condor,
which inhabits the higher Cordilleras, is peculiar to the whole Andean
region, and is the largest of the Raptores. Among other members of
this order are the eagle, osprey, vulture, buzzard, kite and hawk,
with about a dozen species in all. Parrots and paroquets are numerous
everywhere in the tropical and subtropical regions, as also the
gorgeously coloured macaw and awkward toucan. The largest class,
perhaps, is that formed by the astonishing number of water-fowl which
throng the shallow lagoons and river beaches at certain seasons of the
year. They are mostly migratory in habit, and are to be found in many
other countries. Among these are the large white crane and small
crane, the blue heron, the snowy-white egret, the roseate spoonbill
(_Platalea ajaja_), stork, bittern and many species of ducks. The
largest and most conspicuous member of this interesting family is the
_Mycteria americana_, the gigantic stork so frequently seen in the
Amazon valley, and even more numerous about the lagoons of northern
Colombia. One of the best game-birds of the forest is the "crested
curassow" (_Crax alector_), sometimes weighing 12lb, which feeds on
arboreal fruits and rarely comes to the ground. Colombia also
possesses many species of the beautiful little humming-bird, among
which are the tiny _Steganura Underwoodi_ and the sword-bill,
_Docimastes ensiferus_, which were found by Mr Albert Millican on a
bleak _paramo_ 12,000 ft. above sea-level. One of the most interesting
birds found in the country is the "weaver-bird" (_Cassicus persicus_),
which lives in colonies and suspends its long, pouch-like nest from
the end of a horizontal branch of some high, isolated tree. In regard
to insects, what has been said of Brazil will apply very closely to
Colombia. Mosquitoes, butterflies, spiders, beetles and ants are
infinitely numerous, and some of the species are indescribably
troublesome.
_Flora._--The Colombian flora is richer in species and individual
characteristics than the fauna, owing in part to its greater
dependence on climatic conditions. It ranges from the purely tropical
types of the lowlands to the Alpine species of the more elevated
_paramos_. It should be remembered, however, that large areas of the
lowland plains have only a very limited arboreal growth. These plains
include the extensive llanos of the Orinoco tributaries where coarse,
hardy grasses and occasional clumps of palms are almost the only
vegetation to be seen. There are other open plains in northern
Colombia, sometimes covered with a shrubby growth, and the "mesas"
(flat-topped mountains) and plateaus of the Cordilleras are frequently
bare of trees. Farther up, on the cold, bleak _paramos_, only stunted
and hardy trees are to be found. On the other hand, a luxuriant forest
growth covers a very large part of the republic, including the
southern plains of the Amazon tributaries, the foothills, slopes and
valleys of the Cordilleras, a larger part of the northern plains, and
the whole surface of the Western Cordillera and coast. The most
conspicuous and perhaps the most universal type in all these regions,
below an approximate elevation of 10,000 ft., is the palm, whose
varieties and uses are incredibly numerous. On the eastern plains are
to be found the "miriti" (_Mauritia flexuosa_) and the "pirijao" or
peach palm (_Guilielma speciosa_), called the "pupunha" on the Amazon,
whose fruit, fibre, leaf, sap, pith and wood meet so large a part of
the primary needs of the aborigines. A noteworthy palm of the eastern
Andean slopes is the "corneto" (_Deckeria_), whose tall, slender trunk
starts from the apex of a number of aerial roots, rising like a cone 6
to 8 ft. above the ground. It is one of the most fruitful of palms,
its clusters weighing from 120 to 200 lb each. Extensive groves of the
coco-nut palm are to be found on the Caribbean coast, the fruit and
fibre of which figure among the national exports. In north-eastern
Colombia, where a part of the year is dry, the "curuas" form the
prevailing species, but farther south, on the slopes of the
Cordilleras up to an elevation of 10,000 ft., the wax-palm, or "palma
de cera" (_Ceroxylon andicola_), is said to be the most numerous. It
is a tall slender palm, and is the source of the vegetable wax so
largely used in some parts of the country in the manufacture of
matches, a single stem sometimes yielding 16-20 lb. Another widely
distributed species in central Colombia is known as the "palmita del
Azufral" in some localities, and as the "palma real" and "palma dolce"
in others. Humboldt says it is not the "palma real" of Cuba (_Oreodoxa
regia_), but in the Rio Sinu region is the _Cocos butyracea_, or the
"palma dolce," from which palm wine is derived. Another palm of much
economic importance in Colombia is the "tagua" (_Phytelephas
macrocarpa_), which grows abundantly in the valleys of the Magdalena,
Atrato and Patia, and produces a large melon-shaped fruit in which are
found the extremely hard, fine-grained nuts or seeds known in the
commercial world as vegetable ivory. The Colombian "Panama hat" is
made from the fibres extracted from the ribs of the fan-shaped leaves
of still another species of palm, _Carludovica palmata_, while in the
Rio Sinu region the natives make a kind of butter ("manteca de
Corozo") from the _Elaeis melanococca_, Mart., by peeling the nuts in
water and then purifying the oil extracted in this way by boiling.
This oil was formerly used for illuminating purposes. The forests are
never made up wholly of palms, but are composed of trees of widely
different characters, including many common to the Amazon region,
together with others found in Central American forests, such as
mahogany and "vera" or lignum vitae (_Zygophyllum arboreum_).
Brazilwood (_Caesalpinia echinata_), valuable for its timber and
colouring extract, and "roco" (_Bixa orellana_), the "urucu" of Brazil
which furnishes the anatto of commerce, are widely distributed in
central and southern Colombia, and another species of the first-named
genus, the _C. coariaria_, produces the "divi-divi" of the Colombian
export trade--a peculiarly shaped seed-pod, rich in tannic and gallic
acids, and used for tanning leather. The rubber-producing _Hevea
guayanensis_ is found in abundance on the Amazon tributaries, and the
_Castilloa elastica_ is common to all the Caribbean river valleys.
Southern Colombia, especially the eastern slopes of the Andes,
produces another valuable tree, the _Cinchona calisaya_, from the bark
of which quinine is made. These are but a few of the valuable cabinet
woods, dye-woods, &c., which are to be found in the forests, but have
hardly been reached by commerce because of their inaccessibility and
the unsettled state of the country. The adventurous orchid-hunter,
however, has penetrated deeply into their recesses in search of choice
varieties, and collectors of these valuable plants are largely
indebted to Colombia for their specimens of _Cattleya Mendelli_,
_Warscewiczii_ and _Trianae_; _Dowiana aurea_; _Odontoglossum
crispum_, _Pescatorei_, _vexillarium_, _odoratum_, _coronarium_,
_Harryanum_, and _blandum_; _Miltonia vexillaria_; _Oncidium
carthaginense_ and _Kramerianum_; _Masdevalliae_, _Epidendra_,
_Schomburgkiae_ and many others. Colombia is also the home of the
American "Alpine rose" (_Befaria_), which is to be found between 9000
and 11,000 ft. elevation, and grows to a height of 5-6 ft. Tree ferns
have a remarkable growth in many localities, their stems being used in
southern Cundinamarca to make corduroy roads. The South American
bamboo (_Bambusa guadia_) has a very wide range, and is found nearly
up to the limit of perpetual snow. The cactus is also widely
distributed, and is represented by several well-known species. Among
the more common fruit-trees, some of which are exotics, may be
mentioned cacao (_Theobroma_), orange, lemon, lime, pine-apple,
banana, guava (_Psidium_), breadfruit (_Artocarpus_), cashew
(_Anacardium_), alligator pear (_Persea_), with the apple, peach,
pear, and other fruits of the temperate zone on the elevated plateaus.
Other food and economic plants are coffee, rice, tobacco, sugar-cane,
cotton, indigo, vanilla, cassava or "yucca," sweet and white potatoes,
wheat, maize, rye, barley, and vegetables of both tropical and
temperate climates. It is claimed in Colombia that a species of wild
potato found on the _paramos_ is the parent of the cultivated potato.
_Population._--The number of the population of Colombia is very largely
a matter of speculation. A census was taken in 1871, when the population
was 2,951,323. What the vegetative increase has been since then (for
there has been no immigration) is purely conjectural, as there are no
available returns of births and deaths upon which an estimate can be
based. Civil war has caused a large loss of life, and the withdrawal
from their homes of a considerable part of the male population, some of
them for military service and a greater number going into concealment to
escape it, and it is certain that the rate of increase has been small.
Some statistical authorities have adopted 1-1/2% as the rate, but this is
too high for such a period. All things considered, an annual increase of
1% for the thirty-five years between 1871 and 1906 would seem to be more
nearly correct, which would give a population in the latter
year--exclusive of the population of Panama--of a little over 3,800,000.
The _Statesman's Year Book_ for 1907 estimates it at 4,279,674 in 1905,
including about 150,000 wild Indians, while Supan's _Die Bevolkerung der
Erde_ (1904) places it at 3,917,000 in 1899. Of the total only 10% is
classed as white and 15% as Indian, 40% as _mestizos_ (white and Indian
mixture), and 35% negroes and their mixtures with the other two races.
The large proportion of mestizos, if these percentages are correct, is
significant because it implies a persistence of type that may largely
determine the character of Colombia's future population, unless the more
slowly increasing white element can be reinforced by immigration.
The white contingent in the population of Colombia is chiefly composed
of the descendants of the Spanish colonists who settled there during the
three centuries following its discovery and conquest. Mining enterprises
and climate drew them into the highlands of the interior, and there they
have remained down to the present day, their only settlements on the
hot, unhealthy coast being the few ports necessary for commercial and
political intercourse with the mother country. The isolation of these
distant inland settlements has served to preserve the language, manners
and physical characteristics of these early colonists with less
variation than in any other Spanish-American state. They form an
intelligent, high-spirited class of people, with all the defects and
virtues of their ancestry. Their isolation has made them ignorant to
some extent of the world's progress, while a supersensitive patriotism
blinds them to the discredit and disorganization which political strife
and misrule have brought upon them. A very small proportion of the white
element consists of foreigners engaged in commercial and industrial
pursuits, but they very rarely become permanently identified with the
fortunes of the country. The native whites form the governing class, and
enjoy most of the powers and privileges of political office.
Of the original inhabitants there remain only a few scattered tribes in
the forests, who refuse to submit to civilized requirements, and a much
larger number who live in organized communities and have adopted the
language, customs and habits of the dominant race. Their total number is
estimated at 15% of the population, or nearly 600,000, including the
120,000 to 150,000 credited to the uncivilized tribes. Many of the
civilized Indian communities have not become wholly Hispanicized and
still retain their own dialects and customs, their attitude being that
of a conquered race submitting to the customs and demands of a social
organization of which they form no part. According to Uricoechea there
are at least twenty-seven native languages spoken in the western part of
Colombia, fourteen in Tolima, thirteen in the region of the Caqueta,
twelve in Panama, Bolivar and Magdalena, ten in Bogota and Cundinamarca,
and thirty-four in the region of the Meta, while twelve had died out
during the preceding century. The tribes of the Caribbean seaboard, from
Chiriqui to Goajira, are generally attached to the great Carib stock;
those of the eastern plains show affinities with the neighbouring
Brazilian races; those of the elevated Tuquerres district are of the
Peruvian type; and the tribes of Antioquia, Cauca, Popayan and Neiva
preserve characteristics more akin to those of the Aztecs than to any
other race. At the time of the Spanish Conquest the most important of
these tribes was the Muyscas or Chibchas, who inhabited the tablelands
of Bogota and Tunja, and had attained a considerable degree of
civilization. They lived in settled communities, cultivated the soil to
some extent, and ascribed their progress toward civilization to a
legendary cause remarkably similar to those of the Aztecs of Mexico and
the Incas of Peru. They are represented by some tribes living on the
head-waters of the Meta, and their blood flows in the veins of the
_mestizos_ of the Bogota plateau. Their ancient language has been partly
preserved through the labours of Gonzalo Bermudez, Jose Dadei, Bernardo
de Lugo, and Ezequiel Uricoechea, the last having made it the subject of
a special study. According to this author the Chibchas were composed of
three loosely united nationalities governed by three independent
chiefs--the _Zipa_ of Muequeta (the present Funza), the _Zaque_ of Hunsa
(now Tunja), and the _Jeque_ of Iraca, who was regarded as the successor
of the god Nemterequeteba, whom they worshipped as the author of their
civilization. The latter had his residence at Suamoz, or Sogamoso.
The Tayronas, of the Santa Marta highlands, who have totally
disappeared, were also remarkable for the progress which they had made
toward civilization. Evidence of this is to be found in the excellent
roads which they constructed, and in the skilfully made gold ornaments
which have been found in the district which they occupied, as well as in
the contemporary accounts of them by their conquerors. Among the tribes
which are still living in a savage state are the Mesayas, Caquetas,
Mocoas, Amarizanos, Guipanabis and Andaquies of the unsettled eastern
territories; the Goajiros, Motilones, Guainetas, and Cocinas of the Rio
Hacha, Upar and Santa Marta districts; and the Dariens, Cunacunas, and
Chocos of the Atrato basin. These tribes have successfully resisted all
efforts to bring them under political and ecclesiastical control, and
their subjection is still a matter of no small concern to the Colombian
government. As late as the year 1900 Mr Albert Millican, while
collecting orchids on the Opon river, a tributary of the Magdalena
between Bogota and the Caribbean coast, was attacked by hostile Indians,
and one of his companions was killed by a poisoned arrow. These hostile
tribes are usually too small to make much trouble, but they are able to
make exploration and settlement decidedly dangerous in some districts.
The _mestizos_, like the whites and Indians, chiefly inhabit the more
elevated regions of the interior. They are of a sturdy, patient type,
like their Indian ancestors, and are sufficiently industrious to carry
on many of the small industries and occupations, and to meet the labour
requirements of the inhabited plateau districts. Those of the urban
middle classes are shopkeepers and artizans, and those of the lower
class are domestics and day labourers. The whites of Spanish descent
object to manual labour, and this places all such occupations in the
hands of the coloured races. In the country the _mestizos_ are small
agriculturists, herders, labourers and fishermen; but there are many
educated and successful merchants and professional men among them. There
are no social barriers in their intercourse with the whites, nor race
barriers against those who have political aspirations. The negroes of
pure blood are to be found principally on the coastal plains and in the
great lowland river valleys, where they live in great part on the
bounties of nature. A small percentage of them are engaged in trade and
other occupations; a few are small agriculturists.
Bogota was reputed to be a centre of learning in colonial times, but
there was no great breadth and depth to it, and it produced nothing of
real value. By nature the Spanish-American loves art and literature, and
the poetic faculty is developed in him to a degree rarely found among
the Teutonic races. Writing and reciting poetry are universal, and fill
as important a place in social life as instrumental music. In Colombia,
as elsewhere, much attention has been given to belles-lettres among the
whites of Spanish descent, but as yet the republic has practically
nothing of a permanent character to show for it. The natural sciences
attracted attention very early through the labours of Jose Celestino
Mutis, who was followed by a number of writers of local repute, such as
Zea, Cabal, Caldas, Pombo, Cespedes, Camacho and Lozano. We are indebted
to Humboldt for our earliest geographical descriptions of the northern
part of the continent, but to the Italian, Augustin Codazzi, who became
a Colombian after the War of Independence, Colombia is indebted for the
first systematic exploration of her territory. Geographical description
has had a peculiar fascination for Colombian writers, and there have
been a number of books issued since the appearance of Codazzi's
_Resumen_ and _Atlas_. Historical writing has also received much
attention, beginning with the early work of Jose Manuel Restrepo (1827),
and a considerable number of histories, compendiums and memoirs have
been published, but none of real importance. Some good work has been
done in ethnography and archaeology by some writers of the colonial
period, and by Ezequiel Uricoechea and Ernesto Restrepo.
_Territorial Divisions and Towns._--Previously to 1903 the republic was
divided into nine departments, which were then reduced to eight by the
secession of Panama. This division of the national territory was
modified in 1905, by creating seven additional departments from detached
portions of the old ones, and by cutting up the unsettled districts of
Goajira and the great eastern plains into four _intendencias_. The
fifteen departments thus constituted, with the official estimates of
1905 regarding their areas and populations, are as follows:--
Area Estimated Estimated
Department. sq. m. Population. Capital. Population.
Antioquia 24,400 750,000 Medellin 60,000
Atlantico 1,080 104,674 Barranquilla 40,115
Bolivar 23,940 250,000 Cartagena 14,000
Boyaca 4,630 350,000 Tunja 10,000
Caldas 7,920 150,000 Manizales 20,000
Cauca 26,030 400,000 Popayan 10,000
Cundinamarca 5,060 225,000 Facatativa 12,000
Galan 6,950 300,000 San Gil 15,000
Huila 8,690 150,000 Neiva 10,000
Magdalena 20,460 100,000 Santa Marta 6,000
Narino 10,040 200,000 Pasto 6,000
Quesada 2,900 300,000 Zipaquira 12,000
Santander 11,970 300,000 Bucaramanga 20,000
Tolima 10,900 200,000 Ibague 12,000
Tundama 2,390 300,000 Santa Rosa 6,000
Federal District .. 200,000 Bogota 120,000
Intendencias (4) 277,620 .. .. ..
------- --------- ------ ------
Totals 444,980 4,279,674 .. ..
Of these departments the original eight are Antioquia, Bolivar, Boyaca
(or Bojaca), Cauca, Cundinamarca, Magdalena, Santander and Tolima. The
four intendencias are called Goajira, Meta, Alto Caqueta and Putumayo,
and their aggregate area is estimated to be considerably more than half
of the republic. The first covers the Goajira peninsula, which formerly
belonged to the department of Magdalena, and the other three roughly
correspond to the drainage basins of the three great rivers of the
eastern plains whose names they bear. These territories formerly
belonged to the departments of Boyaca, Cundinamarca and Cauca. The seven
new departments are: Atlantico, taken from the northern extremity of
Bolivar; Caldas, the southern part of Antioquia; Galan, the southern
districts of Santander, including Charala, Socorro, Velez, and its
capital San Gil; Huila, the southern part of Tolima, including the
headwaters of the Magdalena and the districts about Neiva and La Plata;
Narino, the southern part of Cauca extending from the eastern Cordillera
to the Pacific coast; Quesada, a cluster of small, well-populated
districts north of Bogota formerly belonging to Cundinamarca, including
Zipaquira, Guatavita, Ubate and Pacho; and Tundama, the northern part of
Boyaca lying on the frontier of Galan in the vicinity of its capital
Santa Rosa. The Federal District consists of a small area surrounding
the national capital taken from the department of Cundinamarca. These
fifteen departments are subdivided into provinces, 92 in all, and these
into municipalities, of which there are 740.
The larger cities and towns of the republic other than the department
capitals, with their estimated populations in 1904, are:--
Aguadas (Antioquia) 13,000
Antioquia " 13,000
Barbacoas (Narino) 16,000
Buga (Cauca) 12,500
Cali (Cauca) 16,000
Chiquinquira (Boyaca) 18,000
La Mesa (Cundinamarca) 10,000
Pamplona (Santander) 11,000
Palmira (Cauca) 15,000
Pie de Cuesta (Santander) 12,000
Puerto Nacional 16,000
Rio Negro (Antioquia) 12,000
Santa Rosa de Osos (Antioquia) 11,000
Sonson 15,000
San Jose de Cucuta (Santander) 13,000
Soata (Boyaca) 16,000
Socorro (Galan) 20,000
Velez " 15,000
Among the smaller towns which deserve mention are Ambalema on the upper
Magdalena, celebrated for its tobacco and cigars; Buenaventura (q.v.);
Chaparral (9000), a market town of Tolima in the valley of the Saldana,
with coal, iron and petroleum in its vicinity; Honda (6000), an
important commercial centre at the head of navigation on the lower
Magdalena; Girardot, a railway centre on the upper Magdalena; and
Quibdo, a small river town at the head of navigation on the Atrato.
_Communications._--The railway problem in Colombia is one of peculiar
difficulty. The larger part of the inhabited and productive districts of
the republic is situated in the mountainous departments of the interior,
and is separated from the coast by low, swampy, malarial plains, and by
very difficult mountain chains. These centres of production are also
separated from each other by high ridges and deep valleys, making it
extremely difficult to connect them by a single transportation route.
The one common outlet for these districts is the Magdalena river, whose
navigable channel penetrates directly into the heart of the country.
From Bogota the Spaniards constructed two partially-paved highways, one
leading down to the Magdalena in the vicinity of Honda, while the other
passed down into the upper valley of the same river in a south-westerly
direction, over which communication was maintained with Popayan and
other settlements of southern Colombia and Ecuador. This highway was
known as the _camino real_. Political independence and misrule led to
the abandonment of these roads, and they are now little better than the
bridle-paths which are usually the only means of communication between
the scattered communities of the Cordilleras. In some of the more
thickly settled and prosperous districts of the Eastern Cordillera these
bridle paths have been so much improved that they may be considered
reasonably good mountain roads, the traffic over them being that of pack
animals and not of wheeled vehicles. Navigation on the lower Magdalena
closely resembles that of the Mississippi, the same type of light-draft,
flat-bottomed steamboat being used, and similar obstacles and dangers to
navigation being encountered. There is also the same liability to change
its channel, as shown in the case of Mompox, once an important and
prosperous town of the lower plain situated on the main channel, now a
decaying, unimportant place on a shallow branch 20 m. east of the main
river. Small steamers also navigate the lower Cauca and Nechi rivers,
and a limited service is maintained on the upper Cauca.
With three exceptions all the railway lines of the country lead to the
Magdalena, and are dependent upon its steamship service for
transportation to and from the coast. In 1906, according to an official
statement, these lines were: (1) The Barranquilla and Savanilla (Puerto
Colombia), 17-1/2 m. in length; (2) the Cartagena and Calamar, 65 m.;
(3) the La Dorada & Arancaplumas (around the Honda rapids), 20-1/2 m.;
(4) the Colombian National, from Girardot to Facatativa, 80 m., of which
48-1/2 m. were completed in 1906; (5) the Girardot to Espinal, 13-1/2
m., part of a projected line running south-west from Girardot; (6) the
Sabana railway, from Bogota to Facatativa, 25 m.; (7) the Northern, from
Bogota to Zipaquira, 31 m.; (8) the Southern, from Bogota to Sibate, 18
m.; and (9) the Puerto Berrio & Medellin, about 78 m. long, of which 36
are completed. The three lines which do not connect with the Magdalena
are: (1) the Cucuta and Villamazar, 43-1/2 m., the latter being a port
on the Zulia river near the Venezuelan frontier; (2) the Santa Marta
railway, running inland from that port through the banana-producing
districts, with 41-1/2 m. in operation in 1907; and (3) the Buenaventura
and Cali, 23 m. in operation inland from the former. This gives a total
extension of 383 m. in 1906, of which 226 were built to connect with
steamship transportation on the Magdalena, 49 to unite Bogota with
neighbouring localities, and 108 to furnish other outlets for productive
regions. There is no system outlined in the location of these detached
lines, though in 1905-1908 President Reyes planned to connect them in
such a way as to form an extensive system radiating from the national
capital. Tramway lines were in operation in Bogota, Barranquilla and
Cartagena in 1907.
The telegraph and postal services are comparatively poor, owing to the
difficulty of maintaining lines and carrying mails through a rugged and
uninhabited tropical country. The total length of telegraph lines in
1903 was 6470 m., the only cable connexion being at Buenaventura, on the
Pacific coast. All the principal Caribbean ports and department capitals
are connected with Bogota, but interruptions are frequent because of the
difficulty of maintaining lines through so wild a country.
There are only five ports, Buenaventura, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa
Marta and Rio Hacha, which are engaged in foreign commerce, though
Tumaco and Villamazar are favourably situated for carrying on a small
trade with Ecuador and Venezuela. Colombia has no part in the carrying
trade, however, her merchants marine in 1905 consisting of only one
steamer of 457 tons and five sailing vessels of 1385 tons. Aside from
these, small steamers are employed on some of the small rivers with
barges, called "bongoes," to bring down produce and carry back
merchandise to the inland trading centres. The coasting trade is
insignificant, and does not support a regular service of even the
smallest boats. The foreign carrying trade is entirely in the hands of
foreigners, in which the Germans take the lead, with the British a close
second. The Caribbean ports are in frequent communication with those of
Europe and the United States.
_Agriculture._--The larger part of the Colombian population is engaged
in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Maize, wheat and other cereals
are cultivated on the elevated plateaus, with the fruits and
vegetables of the temperate zone, and the European in Bogota is able
to supply his table very much as he would do at home. The plains and
valleys of lower elevation are used for the cultivation of coffee and
other sub-tropical products, the former being produced in nearly all
the departments at elevations ranging from 3500 to 6500 ft. This
industry has been greatly prejudiced by civil wars, which not only
destroyed the plantations and interrupted transportation, but deprived
them of the labouring force essential to their maintenance and
development. It is estimated that the revolutionary struggle of
1899-1903 destroyed 10% of the able-bodied agricultural population of
the Santa Marta district, and this estimate, if true, will hold good
for all the inhabited districts of the Eastern Cordillera. The best
coffee is produced in the department of Cundinamarca in the almost
inaccessible districts of Fusagasaga and La Palma. Tolima coffee is
also considered to be exceptionally good. The department of Santander,
however, is the largest producer, and much of its output in the past
has been placed upon the market as "Maracaibo," the outlet for this
region being through the Venezuelan port of that name. Coffee
cultivation in the Santa Marta region is receiving much attention on
account of its proximity to the coast.
The tropical productions of the lower plains include, among others,
many of the leading products of the world, such as cacao, cotton,
sugar, rice, tobacco, and bananas, with others destined wholly for
home consumption, as yams, cassava and arracacha. Potatoes are widely
cultivated in the temperate and sub-tropical regions, and sweet
potatoes in the sub-tropical and tropical. Although it is found
growing wild, cacao is cultivated to a limited extent, and the product
is insufficient for home consumption. Cotton is cultivated only on a
small scale, although there are large areas suitable for the plant.
The staple product is short, but experiments have been initiated in
the Santa Marta region to improve it. Sugar cane is another plant
admirably adapted to the Colombian lowlands, but it is cultivated to
so limited an extent that the sugar produced is barely sufficient for
home consumption. Both cultivation and manufacture have been carried
on in the old time way, by the rudest of methods, and the principal
product is a coarse brown sugar, called _panela_, universally used by
the poorer classes as an article of food and for making a popular
beverage. Antiquated refining processes are also used in the
manufacture of an inferior white sugar, but the quantity produced is
small, and it is unable to compete with beet-sugar from Germany. A
considerable part of the sugar-cane produced is likewise devoted to
the manufacture of _chicha_ (rum), the consumption of which is common
among the Indians and half-breeds of the Andean regions.
Rice is grown to a very limited extent, though it is a common article
of diet and the partially submerged lowlands are naturally adapted to
its production. Tobacco was cultivated in New Granada and Venezuela in
colonial times, when its sale was a royal monopoly and its cultivation
was restricted to specified localities. The Colombian product is best
known through the Ambalema, Girardot, and Palmira tobacco, especially
the Ambalema cigars, which are considered by some to be hardly
inferior to those of Havana, but the plant is cultivated in other
places and would probably be an important article of export were it
possible to obtain labourers for its cultivation. Banana cultivation
for commercial purposes is a comparatively modern industry, dating
from 1892 when the first recorded export of fruit was made. Its
development is due to the efforts of an American fruit-importing
company, which purchased lands in the vicinity of Santa Marta for the
production of bananas and taught the natives that the industry could
be made profitable. A railway was built inland for the transportation
of fruit to Santa Marta, and is being extended toward the Magdalena as
fast as new plantations are opened. The growth of the industry is
shown in the export returns, which were 171,891 bunches for 1892, and
1,397,388 bunches for 1906, the area under cultivation being about
7000 acres in the last-mentioned year. Yams, sweet potatoes, cassava
and arracacha are chiefly cultivated for domestic needs, but in common
with other fruits and vegetables they give occupation to the small
agriculturalists near the larger towns.
The pastoral industry dates from colonial times and engages the
services of a considerable number of people, but its comparative
importance is not great. The open plains, "mesas," and plateaus of the
north support large herds of cattle, and several cattle ranches have
been established on the Meta and its tributaries. Live cattle, to a
limited extent, are exported to Cuba and other West Indian markets,
but the chief produce from this industry is hides. The department of
Santander devotes considerable attention to horse-breeding. Goats are
largely produced for their skins, and in some localities, as in Cauca,
sheep are raised for their wool. Swine are common to the whole
country, and some attention has been given to the breeding of mules.
_Minerals._--The mineral resources of Colombia are commonly believed
to be the principal source of her wealth, and this because of the
precious metals extracted from her mines since the Spanish invasion.
The estimate aggregate for three and a half centuries is certainly
large, but the exact amount will probably never be known, because the
returns in colonial times were as defective as those of disorderly
independence have been. Humboldt and Chevalier estimated the total
output down to 1845 at L1,200,000, which Professor Soetbeer
subsequently increased to L169,422,750. A later Colombian authority,
Vicente Restrepo, whose studies of gold and silver mining in Colombia
have been generally accepted as conclusive and trustworthy, after a
careful sifting of the evidence on which these two widely diverse
conclusions were based and an examination of records not seen by
Humboldt and Soetbeer, reaches the conclusion that the region
comprised within the limits of the republic, including Panama, had
produced down to 1886 an aggregate of L127,800,000 in gold and
L6,600,000 in silver. This aggregate he distributes as follows:--
16th century L10,600,000
17th " 34,600,000
18th " 41,000,000
19th " 41,600,000
According to his computations the eight Colombian departments,
omitting Panama, had produced during this period in gold and silver:--
Antioquia L50,000,000
Cauca 49,800,000
Tolima 10,800,000
Santander 3,000,000
Bolivar 1,400,000
Cundinamarca 360,000
Magdalena 200,000
Boyaca 40,000
------------
L115,600,000
Three-fourths of the gold production, he estimates, was derived from
alluvial deposits. Large as these aggregates are, it will be seen that
the annual production was comparatively small, the highest average,
that for the 19th century, being less than L500,000 a year. Toward the
end of the 19th century, after a decline in production due to the
abolition of slavery and to civil wars, increased interest was shown
abroad in Colombian mining operations. Medellin, the capital of
Antioquia, is provided with an electrolytic refining establishment,
several assaying laboratories, and a mint. The department of Cauca is
considered to be the richest of the republic in mineral deposits, but
it is less conveniently situated for carrying on mining operations.
Besides this, the extreme unhealthiness of its most productive
regions, the Choco and Barbacoas districts on the Pacific slope, has
been a serious obstacle to foreign enterprise. Tolima is also
considered to be rich in gold and (especially) silver deposits. East
of the Magdalena the production of these two metals has been
comparatively small. In compensation the famous emerald mines of Muzo
and Coscuez are situated in an extremely mountainous region north of
Bogota and near the town of Chiquinaquira, in the department of
Boyaca. The gems are found in a matrix of black slate in what appears
to be the crater of a volcano, and are mined in a very crude manner.
The mines are owned by the government. The revenue was estimated at
L96,000 for 1904. Platinum is said to have been discovered in Colombia
in 1720, and has been exported regularly since the last years of the
18th century. It is found in many parts of the country, but chiefly in
the Choco and Barbacoas districts, the annual export from the former
being about 10,000 in value. Of the bulkier and less valuable minerals
Colombia has copper, iron, manganese, lead, zinc and mercury. Coal is
also found at several widely-separated places, but is not mined. There
are also indications of petroleum in Tolima and Bolivar. These
minerals, however, are of little value to the country because of their
distance from the seaboards and the costs of transportation. Salt is
mined at Zipaquira, near Bogota, and being a government monopoly, is a
source of revenue to the national treasury.
_Manufactures._--The Pradera iron works, near Bogota, carry on some
manufacturing (sugar boilers, agricultural implements, &c.) in
connexion with their mining and reducing operations. Pottery and
coarse earthenware are made at Espinal, in Tolima, where the natives
are said to have had a similar industry before the Spanish conquest.
There are woollen mills at Popayan and Pasto, and small cigar-making
industries at Ambalema and Palmira. Hat-making from the "jipijapa"
fibre taken from the _Carludovica_ palm is a domestic industry in many
localities, and furnishes an article of export. Friction matches are
made from the vegetable wax extracted from the _Ceroxylon_ palm, and
are generally used throughout the interior. Rum and sugar are products
of a crude manufacturing industry dating from colonial times. A modern
sugar-mill and refinery at Sincerin, 28 m. from Cartagena, was the
first of its kind erected in the republic. It is partially supported
by the government, and the concession provides that the production of
sugar shall not be less than 2,600,000 lb per annum.
_Commerce._--In the Barranquilla customs returns for 1906 the imports
were valued at $6,787,055 (U.S. gold), on which the import duties were
$4,333,028, or an average rate of 64%. According to a statistical
summary issued in 1906 by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics, entitled
"Commercial America in 1905," the latest official return to the
foreign trade of Colombia was said to be that of 1898, which was:
imports 11,083,000 _pesos_, exports 19,158,000 _pesos_. Uncertainty in
regard to the value of the _peso_ led the compiler to omit the
equivalents in U.S. gold, but according to foreign trade returns these
totals represent gold values, which at 4s. per peso are: imports
L2,216,600, exports L3,831,600. In his annual message to congress on
the 1st of April 1907, President Reyes stated that the imports for
1904 were $14,453,000, and the exports $12,658,000, presumably U.S.
gold, as the figures are taken from the _Monthly Bulletin_ of the
Bureau cf American Republics (July 1907). An approximate equivalent
would be: imports L3,011,000, exports L2,637,000; which shows a small
increase in the first and a very large decrease in the second. The
imports include wheat flour, rice, barley, prepared foods, sugar,
coal, kerosene, beer, wines and liquors, railway equipment, machinery
and general hardware, fence wire, cotton and other textiles, drugs,
lumber, cement, paper, &c., while the exports comprise coffee,
bananas, hides and skins, tobacco, precious metals, rubber, cabinet
woods, divi-divi, dye-woods, vegetable ivory, Panama hats, orchids,
vanilla, &c.
_Government._--The government of Colombia is that of a centralized
republic composed of 15 departments, 1 federal district, and 4
intendencias (territories). It is divided into three co-ordinate
branches, legislative, executive and judicial, and is carried on under
the provisions of the constitution of 1886, profoundly modified by the
amendments of 1905. Previous to 1886, the departments were practically
independent, but under the constitution of that year the powers of the
national government were enlarged and strengthened, while those of the
departments were restricted to purely local affairs. The departments are
provided with biennial departmental assemblies, but their governors are
appointees of the national executive.
The legislative branch consists of a senate and chamber of deputies,
which meets at Bogota biennially (after 1908) on February 1st for an
ordinary session of ninety days. The Senate is composed of 48 members--3
from each department chosen by the governor and his departmental
council, and 3 from the federal district chosen by the president himself
and two of his cabinet ministers. Under this arrangement the president
practically controls the choice of senators. Their term of office is
four years, and is renewed at the same time and for the same period as
those of the lower house. The chamber is composed of 67 members, elected
by popular suffrage in the departments, on the basis of one
representative for each 50,000 of population. The intendencias are
represented by one member each, who is chosen by the intendant, his
secretary, and 3 citizens elected by the municipal council of the
territorial capital. As the constituent assembly which amended the
constitution, according to the president's wishes in 1905, was to
continue in office until 1908 and to provide laws for the regulation of
elections and other public affairs, it appeared that the president would
permit no expression of popular dissent to interfere with his purpose to
establish a dictatorial regime in Colombia similar to the one in Mexico.
The executive power is vested in a president chosen by Congress for a
period of four years. The first presidential period, dating from the 1st
of January 1905, was for ten years, and no restriction was placed upon
the choice of President Rafael Reyes to succeed himself. The constituent
assembly gave the president exceptional powers to deal with all
administrative matters. He is assisted by a cabinet of six ministers,
interior, foreign affairs, finance, war, public instruction and public
works, who are chosen and may be removed by himself. The office of
vice-president is abolished, and the president is authorized to choose a
temporary substitute from his cabinet, and in case of his death or
resignation his successor is chosen by the cabinet or the governor of a
department who happens to be nearest Bogota at the time. The president
is authorized to appoint the governors of departments, the intendants of
territories, the judges of the supreme and superior courts, and the
diplomatic representatives of the republic. His salary, as fixed by the
1905 budget, is L3600 a year, and his cabinet ministers receive L1200
each. The council of state is abolished and the senate is charged with
the duty of confirming executive appointments.
The judicial branch of the government, like the others, has been in
great measure reorganized. It consists of a supreme court of seven
members at Bogota, and a superior court in each judicial district. There
are various inferior courts also, including magistrates or _jueces de
paz_, but their organization and functions are loosely defined and not
generally understood outside the republic. The supreme court has
appellate jurisdiction in judicial matters, and original jurisdiction in
impeachment trials and in matters involving constitutional
interpretation. Under the constitution of 1886 the judges of the higher
courts were appointed for life, but the reforms of 1905 changed their
tenure to five years for the supreme court and four years for the
superior courts, the judges being eligible for re-appointment.
The departments, which are administered by governors representing the
national executive, are permitted to exercise restricted legislative
functions relating to purely local affairs. Municipal councils are also
to be found in the larger towns. The governor is assisted by a
departmental council consisting of his secretaries and the president of
the Corte de Cuentas, which places the political administration of the
department under the direct control of the president at Bogota.
The strength of the army is determined annually by congress, but every
able-bodied citizen is nominally liable to military service. Its peace
footing in 1898 was 1000 men. After the war of 1899-1903 its strength
was successively reduced to 10,000 and 5000, a part of this force being
employed in the useful occupation of making and repairing public roads.
The navy in 1906 consisted of only three small cruisers on the Caribbean
coast, and two cruisers, two gunboats, one troopship and two steam
launches on the Pacific. There was also one small gunboat on the
Magdalena.
_Education._--Although Bogota was reputed to be an educational centre
in colonial times, so slight an influence did this exert upon the
country that Colombia ended the 19th century with no effective public
school system, very few schools and colleges, and fully 90% of
illiteracy in her population. This is due in great measure to the long
reign of political disorder, but there are other causes as well. As in
Chile, the indifference of the ruling class to the welfare of the
common people is a primary cause of their ignorance and poverty, to
which must be added the apathy, if not opposition, of the Church.
Under such conditions primary schools in the villages and rural
districts were practically unknown, and the parish priest was the only
educated person in the community. Nominally there was a school system
under the supervision of the national and departmental governments,
but its activities were limited to the larger towns, where there were
public and private schools of all grades. There were universities in
Bogota and Medellin, the former having faculties of letters and
philosophy, jurisprudence and political science, medicine and natural
sciences, and mathematics and engineering, with an attendance of 1200
to 1500 students. The war of 1899-1903 so completely disorganized this
institution that only one faculty, medicine and natural sciences, was
open in 1907. There were also a number of private schools in the
larger towns, usually maintained by religious organizations. The
reform programme of President Reyes included a complete reorganization
of public instruction, to which it is proposed to add normal schools
for the training of teachers, and agricultural and technical schools
for the better development of the country's material resources. The
supreme direction of this branch of the public service is entrusted to
the minister of public instruction, and state aid is to be extended to
the secondary, as well as to the normal, technical and professional
schools. The secondary schools receiving public aid, however, have
been placed in charge of religious corporations of the Roman Catholic
Church. The expenditure on account of public instruction, which
includes schools of all grades and descriptions, is unavoidably small,
the appropriation for the biennium 1905-1906 being only L167,583. The
school and college attendance for 1906, according to the president's
review of that year, aggregated 218,941, of whom 50,691 were in
Antioquia, where the whites are more numerous than in any other
department; 4916 in Atlantico, which includes the city of
Barranquilla, and in which the negro element preponderates; and only
12,793 in the federal district and city of Bogota where the _mestizo_
element is numerous. Although primary instruction is gratuitous it is
not compulsory, and these figures clearly demonstrate that school
privileges have not been extended much beyond the larger towns. The
total attendance, however, compares well with that of 1897, which was
143,096, although it shows that only 5% of the population,
approximately, is receiving instruction.
_Religion._--The religious profession of the Colombian people is Roman
Catholic, and is recognized as such by the constitution, but the
exercise is permitted of any other form of worship which is not
contrary to Christian morals or to the law. There is one Protestant
church in Bogota, but the number of non-Catholics is small and
composed of foreign residents. There has been a long struggle between
liberals and churchmen in Colombia, and at one time the latter
completely lost their political influence over the government, but the
common people remained loyal to the Church, and the upper classes
found it impossible to sever the ties which bound them to it. The
constitution of 1861 disestablished the Church, confiscated a large
part of its property, and disfranchised the clergy, but in 1886
political rights were restored to the latter and the Roman Catholic
religion was declared to be the faith of the nation. The rulers of the
Church have learned by experience, however, that they can succeed best
by avoiding partisan conflicts, and the archbishop of Bogota gave
effect to this in 1874 by issuing an edict instructing priests not to
interfere in politics. The Church influence with all classes is
practically supreme and unquestioned, and it still exercises complete
control in matters of education. The Colombian hierarchy consists of
an archbishop, residing at Bogota, 10 bishops, 8 vicars-general, and
2170 priests. There were also in 1905 about 750 members of 10 monastic
and religious orders. There were 270 churches and 312 chapels in the
republic. Each diocese has its own seminary for the training of
priests.
_Finance._--In financial matters Colombia is known abroad chiefly
through repeated defaults in meeting her bonded indebtedness, and
through the extraordinary depreciation of her paper currency. The
public revenues are derived from import duties on foreign merchandise,
from export duties on national produce, from internal taxes and
royalties on liquors, cigarettes and tobacco, matches, hides and salt,
from rentals of state emerald mines and pearl fisheries, from stamped
paper, from port dues and from postal and telegraph charges. The
receipts and expenditure are estimated for biennial periods, but it
has not been customary to publish detailed results. Civil wars have of
course been a serious obstacle, but it was announced by President
Reyes in 1907 that the revenues were increasing. For the two years
1905 and 1906 the revenues were estimated to produce (at $5 to the L1
sterling) L4,203,823, the expenditures being fixed at the same amount.
The expenditures, however, did not include a charge of L424,000,
chiefly due on account of war claims and requisitions. During the
first year of this period the actual receipts, according to the
council of the corporation of foreign bondholders, were $9,149,591
gold (L1,829,918) and the payments $7,033,317 gold (L1,406,663). It
was expected by the government that the 1906 revenues would largely
exceed 1905, but the expectation was not fully realized, chiefly, it
may be assumed, because of the inability of an impoverished people to
meet an increase in taxation. An instance of this occurred in the
promising export of live cattle to Cuba and Panama, which was
completely suppressed in 1906 because of a new export tax of $3 gold
per head. Of the expenditures about one-fourth is on account of the
war department.
The foreign debt, according to the 1896 arrangement with the
bondholders which was renewed in 1905, is L2,700,000, together with
unpaid interest since 1896 amounting to L351,000 more. Under the 1905
arrangement the government undertook to pay the first coupons at 2-1/2%
and succeeding ones at 3%, pledging 12 to 15% of the customs receipts
as security. The first payments were made according to agreement, and
it was believed in 1907 that the succeeding ones, together with
one-half of the unpaid interest since 1896, would also be met. It is
worthy of note that this debt, principal and accumulated interest,
exceeded six and a half millions sterling in 1873, and that the
bondholders surrendered about 60% of the claim in the hope of securing
the payment of the balance. It is also worthy of note that Panama
refused to assume any part of this debt without a formal recognition
of her independence by Colombia, and even then only a sum
proportionate to her population. The internal debt of Colombia in June
1906 was as follows:--
Consolidated 5,476,887 dollars silver,
Floating 2,345,658 " gold.
Whether or not this included the unpaid war claims was not stated.
_Money._---The monetary system, which has been greatly complicated by
the use of two depreciated currencies, silver and paper, has been
undergoing a radical reform since 1905, the government proposing to
redeem the depreciated paper and establish a new uniform currency on a
gold basis. The paper circulation in 1905 exceeded 700,000,000
_pesos_. The issue began in 1881 through the Banco Nacional de
Colombia, its value then being equal to that of the silver coinage.
Political troubles in 1884-1885 led to a suspension of cash payments
in 1885, and in 1886 Congress made the notes inconvertible and of
forced circulation. In 1894 the Banco Nacional ceased to exist as a
corporation, and thenceforward the currency was issued for account of
the national treasury. On October 16, 1899--the outstanding
circulation then amounting to 46,000,000 _pesos_,--the government
decreed an unlimited issue to meet its expenditures in suppressing the
revolution, and later on the departments of Antioquia, Bolivar, Cauca,
and Santander were authorized to issue paper money for themselves.
This suicidal policy continued until February 28, 1903, when,
according to an official statement, the outstanding paper circulation
was:--
Pesos.
National government issues 600,398,581
Department of Antioquia 35,938,495.60
" " Bolivar 18,702,100
" " Cauca 44,719,688.70
" " Santander 750,000
--------------
700,598,865.30
So great was the depreciation of this currency that before the end of
the war 100 American gold dollars were quoted at 22,500 _pesos_. The
declaration of peace brought the exchange rate down to the
neighbourhood of 10,000, where it remained, with the exception of a
short period during the Panama Canal negotiations, when it fell to
6000. This depreciation (10,000) was equivalent to a loss of 99% of
the nominal value of the currency, a paper _peso_ of 100 _centavos_
being worth only one centavo gold. International commercial
transactions were based on the American gold dollar, which was usually
worth 100 _pesos_ of this depreciated currency. Even at this
valuation, the recognized outstanding circulation (for there had been
fraudulent issues as well) amounted to more than L1,400,000. In 1903
Congress adopted a gold dollar of 1.672 grammes weight .900 fine
(equal to the U.S. gold dollar) as the monetary standard created a
redemption bureau for the withdrawal of the paper circulation,
prohibited the further issue of such currency, and authorized free
contracts in any currency. Previous to that time the law required all
contracts to specify payments in paper currency. Certain rents and
taxes were set aside for the use of the redemption bureau, and a
nominally large sum has been withdrawn from circulation through this
channel. On the 1st of January 1906, another monetary act came into
operation, with additional provisions for currency redemption and
improvement of the monetary system. A supplementary act of 1906 also
created a new national banking institution, called the Banco Central,
which is made a depository of the public revenues and is charged with
a considerable part of their administration, including payments on
account of the foreign debt and the conversion of the paper currency
into coin. The new law likewise reaffirmed the adoption of a gold
dollar of 1.672 grammes .900 fine as the unit of the new coinage,
which is:--
_Gold_:--
Double condor = 20 dollars.
Condor = 10 "
Half condor = 5 "
Dollar (mon. unit) = 100 cents.
_Silver_:--
Half dollar = 50 cents.
Peseta = 20 "
Real = 10 "
_Nickel_:--5 cents.
_Bronze_:--2 cents and 1 cent.
The silver coinage (.900 fine) is limited to 10%, and the nickel and
bronze coins to 2% of the gold coinage. The new customs tariff, which
came into force at the same time, was an increase of 70% on the rates
of 1904, and provided that the duties should be paid in gold, or in
paper at the current rate of exchange. This measure was designed to
facilitate the general resumption of specie payments.
_Weights and Measures._--The metric system of weights and measures has
been the legal standard in Colombia since 1857, but its use is
confined almost exclusively to international trade. In the interior
and in all domestic transactions the old Spanish weights and measures
are still used--including the Spanish _libra_ of 1.102 lb avoirdupois,
the _arroba_ of 25 _libras_ (12-1/2 kilogrammes), the quintal of 100
_libras_ (50 kilog.), the _carga_ of 250 _libras_ (125 kilogs.), the
_vara_ of 80 centimetres, and the _fanega_. The litre is the standard
liquid measure. (A. J. L.)