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Colombia: Countries
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Colombia is a fascinating country where adoptive families come and go without difficulty. Colombia has a long history of adoption. They have had a very organized central authority in Bogotá for many years, known as the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) which processes the government adoptions and oversees the licensing of private orphanages. Children aged 1 through early teens are available for adoption. There are many sibling groups available, as well as special needs children. Many children are abandoned by single parents who simply cannot afford to feed them, or who must work to survive and cannot afford child care while they work. Others come from families where they have been neglected or mistreated and their parent's parental rights have been taken away from them.
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Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Three mighty north-south Andean cordilleras separate the western coastal lowlands from the almost empty eastern jungles, with 54 percent of Colombia's land but only 3 percent of the people. Most Colombians are of mixed ethnicity; about 20 percent claim European descent. Native Indians, about one percent of the population, live in the eastern jungles.
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Despite the threat posed by illegal armed groups, Colombia had a record year in 2005 for eradication, interdiction, and extradition. The country's public security forces prevented hundreds of tons of illicit drugs from reaching the world market through interdiction and eradication of coca and poppy crops. Colombia's police and military forces captured or shared in the capture of over 200 metric tons of cocaine and cocaine base. Colombia ... continued its campaign to bring criminals to justice, extraditing several major traffickers to face trial in the United States. Colombia's efforts, augmented by U.S. assistance, are beginning to show concrete results on American streets as retail cocaine and heroin purities decline and prices for these drugs rise.
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Colombia has considerable mineral and energy resources, especially coal and natural gas reserves. New security measures and increased drilling activity have slowed the drop in petroleum production, allowing Colombia to continue to export through 2010 or 2011, given current production estimates. In 2006, gas reserves totaled 7,349 billion cubic feet. Gas production totaled 680 million cubic feet per day. The country's current refining capacity is 299,200 barrels per day. Mining and energy related investments have grown because of higher oil prices, increased demand and improved output.
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To the east of the Andes lies more than half of Colombia's territory, a vast largely undeveloped lowland. The plains are crossed by navigable rivers, tributaries of the Orinoco and Amazon systems. The northern section consists of savannas (the llanos), which are devoted to a large extent to cattle and sheep grazing. Villavicencio, at the region's western end, is its major urban center. The dense jungles of the extreme southeast are of negligible economic importance. Leticia is the country's southernmost town, and its only port on the Amazon River.
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The Geert Hofstede analysis for Colombia is similar to other Latin American countries where there is very strong uncertainty avoidance, large power distance, and low individualism. This is indicative of a society that has a high concern for rules, regulations, and controls, is slow to accept change, and is risk adverse. There is a high emphasis placed on close ties with individuals, or relationships, whereby everyone takes responsibility for fellow members of their group. There are significant inequalities of power and wealth within the society. Colombia has one of the highest masculinity rankings in Latin America. This indicates that the country experiences a high degree of gender differentiation of roles.
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