Assorted References

• education
  • In education: The heritage of independence
• emeralds
  • In emerald
• flag history
  • In flag of Colombia
• intelligence operations
  • In intelligence: Colombia
• land reform programs
  • In land reform: Latin America
• Latin American Integration Association
  • In Latin American Integration Association
• Spanish language
  • In Spanish language
• UNASUR
  • In UNASUR

arts

• Indian arts
  • In Native American art: Colombia
• jewelry
  • In jewelry: Central and South American: pre-Columbian
• Latin American dance
  • In Latin American dance: Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela
• metalwork
  • In metalwork: Pre-Columbian

physical geography

• In Colombia: Relief

• Amazon River basin
  • In Amazon River
• Andes Mountains
  • In mountain: The Andes
  • In Andes Mountains: Physiography of the Northern Andes
• Orinoco River
  • In Orinoco River

population and demography

• In Colombia: Demographic trends
• In Andes Mountains: The people of the Andes Mountains

• Cágaba Indians
  • In Cágaba
• Makú Indians
  • In Makú

Geography

History

General works include Academia Colombiana de Historia, Historia extensa de Colombia, ed. by Luis Martínez Delgado (1964– ), a multivolume work covering all facets of Colombian history from precolonial to contemporary times, useful to the specialist; and Robert H. Davis, Historical Dictionary of Colombia, 2nd ed. (1993), a convenient reference for people, events, and other aspects of Colombian history, with an excellent bibliography. Also useful is David Bushnell, The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in Spite of Itself (1993).

Treatments of specific periods in Colombian history include Marco Palacios, Coffee in Colombia, 1850–1970: An Economic, Social, and Political History (1980; originally published in Spanish, 1979), an outstanding resource; David Bushnell, The Santander Regime in Gran Colombia (1954, reissued 1970); Charles W. Bergquist, Coffee and Conflict in Colombia: 1886–1910 (1978, reissued 1986); Stephen J. Randall, The Diplomacy of Modernization: Colombian-American Relations, 1920–1940 (1977); Vernon Lee Fluharty, Dance of the Millions: Military Rule and the Social Revolution in Colombia, 1930–1956 (1957, reprinted 1975); James D. Henderson, When Colombia Bled: A History of the Violencia in Tolima (1985); Herbert Braun, The Assassination of Gaitán: Public Life and Urban Violence in Colombia (1985); Paul Oquist, Violence, Conflict, and Politics in Colombia (1980); and R. Albert Berry, Ronald G. Hellman, and Mauricio Solaún (eds.), Politics of Compromise: Coalition Government in Colombia (1980). See also Orlando Fals-Borda, Subversion and Social Change in Colombia, rev. ed. (1969; originally published in Spanish, 1967).

Drugs, guerrilla groups, paramilitary squads, and violence in Colombia are considered in Carlos Gustavo Arrieta et al., Narcotráfico en Colombia: dimensiones políticas, económicas, jurídicas e internacionales, 3rd ed. (1991); Charles Bergquist, Ricardo Peñaranda, and Gonzalo Sánchez (eds.), Violence in Colombia: The Contemporary Crisis in Historical Perpective (1992); Francisco Leal Buitrago and León Zamosc (eds.), Al filo del caos: crisis política en la Colombia de los años 80 (1990); Eduardo Pizarro Leongómez and Ricardo Peñaranda, Las FARC (1949–1966): de la autodefensa a la combinación de todas las formas de lucha (1991); and Harvey F. Kline, State Building and Conflict Resolution in Colombia, 1986–1994 (1999).

The world’s mountains have not been surveyed as thoroughly as one might expect, and, as a consequence, sources report conflicting elevations for the highest peaks of many countries and regions—indeed, the height of Mount Everest itself is a point of contention. The Santa Marta Mountains (Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta) represent the highest point, or points, in Colombia. Of the formation’s many summits, the highest are the neighbouring peaks of Cristóbal Colón and Simón Bolívar, which are described in Encyclopædia Britannica as “twin peaks” of some 18,947 feet (5,775 metres), but the two may not reach the exact same height.

The most reliable sources for this type of information are generally national atlases and other official reports, but even these sources are in disagreement. Some of the differences may be the result of rounding—e.g., changing the metric figure from 5,775 to 5,780—or of imprecise conversions from metric to English measurement, but these explanations alone cannot account for the range of discrepancies.

Atlases consulted:

Banco de la República, Atlas de economía colombiana, vol. 1, Aspectos físico y geográfico (1959), map 1, identifies only Cristóbal Colón (5,780 metres), but tables following have both Colón and Simón Bolívar at 5,780 metres.

Instituto Geográfico “Agustín Codazzi,” Atlas de Colombia, 4th ed. revised and enlarged (1992), shows both Cristóbal Colón Peak and Simón Bolívar Peak at 5,775 metres.

Instituto Geográfico “Agustín Codazzi,” Atlas básico de Colombia, 6th ed. (1989), a publication of Colombia’s Ministerio de Hacienda y Crédito Público, pp. 47 and 291, has a map showing Cristóbal Colón at 5,775 metres and Simón Bolívar with no elevation and another map showing Colón at 5,800 metres and Bolívar at 5,770 metres.

Instituto Geográfico “Agustín Codazzi,” Atlas básico de Colombia (1970), pp. 16–17, 76–77, has 5,775 metres for both.

Alfonso Pérez Preciado, Atlas y geografía de Colombia (1989), pp. 16 and 97, identifies the two peaks, Colón and Bolívar, as the highest in the country at 5,775 metres.

Other sources:

William M. Bueler, Mountains of the World (1970), pp. 113–115, gives matching heights for “the great twin peaks,” provides a map of Santa Marta’s main features, and notes the best vantage points from which to appreciate the massif. He also states that the peaks were first climbed in 1939.

Saul B. Cohen (ed.), The Columbia Gazetteer of the World, 3 vol. (1998), a revised edition of the Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World, gives 18,950 feet (5,776 metres) for Colón but still has no entry for Bolívar.

Colombia Information Service, Colombia Today, vol. 12, no. 1 (1977), has 19,219 feet for Simón Bolívar Peak, which is equivalent to 5,858 metres.

Instituto Geográfico “Agustín Codazzi,” Diccionario geográfico de Colombia (1971), vol. 2, pp. 1219 and 1255, has 5,775 metres for both peaks, which form a “fork” or “crotch”: “De los varios picos nevados que se encuentran los más importantes son: Cristóbal Colón y Simón Bolívar con una altura de 5.775 m los cuales forman ‘La Horqueta’ llamada por los indigenas ‘Chinundúa,’ que representa la máxima altura del país.”

Instituto Nacional de los Recursos Naturales Renovables y del Ambiente, Inderena, Reservaciones (1976), p. 10, has Simón Bolívar Peak at 5,780 metres.

Ministerio de Agricultura, Sistema de parques nacionales: Colombia (1977), p. 7, gives an elevation range of 0 to 5,800 metres above sea level, but it then specifies 5,879 metres (likely a typo) for Simón Bolívar Peak.

Ministerio de Desarrollo Económico, Corporación Nacional de Turismo-Colombia, “Colombia, mapa turístico de carreteras” (1985), shows both peaks, but an elevation is provided only for Simón Bolívar Peak (5,775 metres).

Alberto Pardo Pardo, Geografía económica y humana de Colombia (1972), p. 49, does not discuss specific peaks but gives the elevation of Santa Marta as 5,775 metres.

Leon E. Seltzer (ed.), The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (1962), p. 465, designates Cristóbal Colón Peak the nation’s highest with an elevation of 18,950 feet, which is equivalent to 5,776 metres, but has no entry for Simón Bolívar.

G. Suárez E., “República de Colombia, mapa que muestra la división política, las principales ciudades, vías de comunicación y otros datos de interés general” (1974?), labels both peaks but provides only the height (5,775 metres) of Simón Bolívar Peak.