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Colombia, [b] officially the Republic of Colombia, [c] is a country primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America.The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest.
Most sovereign states have alternative names. Some countries have also undergone name changes for political or other reasons. This article attempts to give all known alternative names and initialisms for all nations, countries, and sovereign states, in English and any predominant or official languages of the country in question.
The Spanish made several attempts to settle along the north coast of today's Colombia in the early 16th century, but their first permanent settlement, at Santa Marta, was not established until 1525. Cartagena was founded on June 1, 1533, by Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia , and grew rapidly, fueled first by the gold in the tombs of the Sinú ...
Spanish is the official language, although Creole, English and 64 other languages are recognized regionally. Colombia has been home to many indigenous peoples and cultures since at least 12,000 BCE. The Spanish first landed in La Guajira in 1499, and by the mid-16th century, they had colonized much of present-day Colombia, and established the ...
Ñ-shaped animation showing flags of some countries and territories where Spanish is spoken. Spanish is the official language (either by law or de facto) in 20 sovereign states (including Equatorial Guinea, where it is official but not a native language), one dependent territory, and one partially recognized state, totaling around 442 million people.
English has official status in the San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands. [2] [3] [4] The majority of Colombians speak Spanish (see also Colombian Spanish), but in total 90 languages are listed for Colombia in the Ethnologue database. The specific number of spoken languages varies slightly since some authors consider as different ...
A short time later, Juan de la Cosa, another Spanish explorer, landed on what is today called Cabo de la Vela (Cape of Sails) in the Guajira Peninsula. [7] In 1502, on another coast of present-day Colombia, near the Gulf of Urabá, Spanish explorers led by Vasco Núñez de Balboa explored and conquered the area near the Atrato River.
Spanish (of which Colombia has the third-largest population of speakers in the world after Mexico and the United States) is the official language, with 99.2% of Colombians speaking Spanish, and there are small communities in urban areas speaking other European languages such as German, French, English, Italian, and Portuguese.