Colombia

American  

[kuh-luhm-bee-uh, kaw-lawm-byah] / kəˈlʌm bi ə, kɔˈlɔm bjɑ /

noun

1. a republic in northwestern South America. 439,828 sq. mi. (1,139,155 sq. km). Bogotá.

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Colombia British  

/ kəˈlɒmbɪə /

noun

1. a republic in NW South America: inhabited by Chibchas and other Indians before Spanish colonization in the 16th century; independence won by Bolívar in 1819; became the Republic of Colombia in 1886; violence and unrest have been endemic since the 1970s. It consists chiefly of a hot swampy coastal plain, separated by ranges of the Andes from the pampas and the equatorial forests of the Amazon basin in the east. Language: Spanish. Religion: Roman Catholic majority. Currency: peso. Capital: Bogotá. Pop: 45 745 783 (2013 est). Area: 1 138 908 sq km (439 735 sq miles)

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Colombia Cultural  

1. Republic in northwestern South America, bordered by Panama to the northwest, Venezuela to the northeast, Ecuador and Peru to the south, and Brazil to the southeast. Its capital and largest city is Bogotá.

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Discover More

Trafficking of marijuana and cocaine remains a problem in Colombia. With support from the United States, the Colombian government has attacked drug traffickers, but the country continues to be torn by civil war between left-wing and right-wing factions.

Its major legal crop is coffee.

Other Word Forms

• Colombian
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Colombia

A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Colombia on 10 August, prompting a state of emergency to be declared.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

More than 200 murals have been created since the festival began, which, in addition to Salvadoran artists, has also featured artists from Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Peru and Argentina.

From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026

Their father, Deivid, who was in Colombia at the time, was unable to find them for three days after returning to Venezuela.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

A 32-year-old woman, who had been trapped under rubble for 36 hours following the 7.4-magnitude quake which shook western Colombia, has been rescued alive.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

That same year, CIA operatives made contact with a senior official in the Soviet Foreign Ministry who was stationed at the Russian embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.

From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau