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DO YOU DARE? TRAVELING IN COLOMBIA TEXT: BEN CRAMER THE BASICS OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Colombia AREA: 440,000 square miles (a little over the size of Texas and California combined) GEOGRAPHY: The Andes split into three chains in the western part of Colombia and make up about a quarter of the· country's area; the eastern plains (los llanos) and south and eastern Amazon and Orinoco basins make up nearly one-half; tropical areas along the western Pacific and northern Caribbean coasts-punctuated by the Sierra Nevada-make up the rest. POPULATION: 39 million CAPITAL: Santa Fe de Bogota, known as Bogota (population: about 5.5 million) PRESIDENT: Andres Pastrana (1998-2002) OFFICIAL LANGUAGE: Spanish. Other: English, over 200 indigenous languages RELIGION: 95% Roman Catholic. Other: Protestant, Jewish, and a mixture of traditional faiths ETHNICITIES: 58% Mestizo (mix of Indian and European), 14% Mulato (mix of African and European), 20% European, 3% Amerindian (mix of African and Indian), 4% African, 1% Indian (over 50 tribes/groups) LITERACY RATE: 91 % CURRENCY: Peso (US$l = 2,307 pesos) "~'1~~r:12~~~~W.·7i~t~;t~."!;1'~~r~.~~~'¥~' ,,',' ... ,.~ FIRST YOU GET THE TICKET, THEN YOU )GErT,HE ' VISJ.\~AND1jliHENWOU'~GET~'THE' PESOS :'·': ~~/ :~~ - ~:~' .. " '.:- " . . ,". - '-~" .. -~ ~iGETiifNG~THE:~E: ©riY.4~I~~1 hVd:,\U:oJ~ /~~mw~!~'3 «(§[OJfli7I)AY@A1[]!iVb, 2'l;.t~/XfXj@Yl!,a~1 {:,I(~@ ((:YQll@~Y;@V~\':S (6Y(A~J ;,71\'1tVi;@~ 1;11\'7 D@ :(lli5Jgr0fr~ I~~m fMAL®l( llL®~I1~~~i§ Ii'@] I~ ®~@:;l;i J(u.Bg~7I®ID 1~IQ)trilltJ~. . . . ';:" .' f. - • I . ;~;VISAS: {IJ.@ @llJr@~i~~I.QXQ) !~@U l~@]@ IA\v!Jf§j:~ @~lli.f::j;l.~KvA~~© ill~1 ;@@1@\Ii@V:\'l)(OJ!iJ11Jl rm: 1~'JJJr~Hill:.\ ®Q}IIiY~W ~A@rA\(~

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