Geography study: South America-The Caribbean Countries.

South America is a pretty big place so we are going to start with the Caribbean countries and work our way around South America.

The Caribbean countries consists of Colombia and Venezuela.  I am going to have to separate these two as there is so much to go over.  So for now, welcome to Colombia.

Factoids:

~Government-Republic.  The Republic of Colombia.

~Juan Manuel Santos is the 32nd and current president of Colombia.

~Capital-Bogota.  On average, there is one bank robbery each day in Bogota.

~Almost 45 million people live in Colombia.

~Religion-about 90% are Roman Catholic.

~Major exports include coffee, bananas, flowers, coal, and petroleum.  Colombia is also rich with cocaine.

~Colombia is the gateway to South America.

~The official language is Spanish but they also have 64 native tongues which are still spoken today.

Amazona festiva

~60% of the world's Emeralds are produced in Colombia.

~Their currency is the Colombian Pesos.

~Colombia was derived from the name Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon).

~Pico Cristobal Colon is the highest peak in Colombia at 5797 meters.

~There are no seasons in Colombia since Colombia is so close to the equator.

~Colombia has 1871 species of bird.

pygmy marmoset

~Colombia also is home to a few very special animals such as the adorable pygmy marmoset.  Colombia has approximately 450 mammals of which half are endangered due to deforestation. The Amazon River in Colombia is home to the endangered Pink Dolphins.

~The Kokoi frog is the most deadly animal in Colombia.

~Colombia is also home to approximately 130,000 plants in which many are used for medicinal purposes.

~If you have had too much to drink, don't walk home.  Walking drunk in Colombia is illegal.

~In Colombia, they dip cheese into their hot chocolate.

National Geographic Kids Colombia
Time for Kids
List of birds wiki
Animals of Colombia-fact zoo
wiki list of plants