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{{Culture of Colombia}}

The '''history of Colombia''' includes its settlement by [[indigenous peoples in Colombia|indigenous peoples]]
and the establishment of agrarian societies, notably the [[Muisca Confederation|Muisca]] [[Confederation]], [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya Civilization]], and [[Tairona|Tairona Chiefdoms]]. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of annexation and colonization, ultimately creating the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]], with its capital at [[Bogotá]]. Independence from [[Spain]] was won in 1819, but by 1830 the resulting "[[Gran Colombia]]" Federation was dissolved. What is now Colombia and [[Panama]] emerged as the [[Republic of New Granada]]. The new nation experimented with federalism as the [[Granadine Confederation]] (1858) and then the [[United States of Colombia]] (1863) before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. A period of constant political violence ensued, and [[Panama–Colombia separation|Panama seceded]] in 1903. Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an [[Asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] [[Low intensity conflict|low-intensity]] [[Colombian armed conflict (1964–present)|armed conflict]] which escalated in the 1990s but decreased from 2005 onward. The legacy of Colombia's history has resulted in a rich cultural heritage, 
and [[Geography of Colombia|Colombia's geographic and climatic variations]] have contributed to the development of strong regional identities.

== Pre-Colombian ==
{{main|Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia|Indigenous peoples in Colombia}}

[[File:Culturas precolombinas de Colombia.png|thumb|300px|Location map of the pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia]]

From approximately 12,000 years [[Before Present|BP]] onwards, [[hunter-gatherer]] societies existed near present-day Bogotá (at [[El Abra]] and [[Tequendama]]), and they traded with one another and with cultures living in the [[Magdalena River]] valley. Due to its location, the present territory of Colombia was a corridor of early human migration from [[Mesoamerica]] and the [[Caribbean]] to the [[Andes]] and the [[Amazon basin]]. The oldest archaeological finds are from the Pubenza archaeological site and El Totumo archaeological site in the Magdalena Valley {{convert|100|km|mi}} southwest of Bogotá.<ref name=Correal1993>{{cite journal|last=Correal|first=Urrego G.|title=Nuevas evidencias culturales pleistocénicas y megafauna en Colombia|journal=Boletin de Arqueologia|year=1993|issue=8|pages=3–13}}</ref> These sites date from the [[Paleoindian]] period (18.000–8000 BCE). At Puerto Hormiga archaeological site and other sites, traces from the Archaic period in South America (~8000–2000 BCE) have been found. Vestiges indicate that there was also early occupation in the regions of [[El Abra]], [[Tibitó]] and [[Tequendama]] in [[Cundinamarca Department (1820)|Cundinamarca]]. The oldest pottery discovered in the Americas, found at the San Jacinto archaeological site, dates to 5000–4000 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Hoopes
|first=John
|title=Ford Revisited: A Critical Review of the Chronology and Relationships of the Earliest Ceramic Complexes in the New World, 6000–1500 B.C. (1994)
|journal=Journal of World Prehistory
|year=1994
|volume=8
|issue=1
|pages=1–50
|doi=10.1007/bf02221836
|s2cid=161916440
|url=https://zenodo.org/record/848786
|archive-date=2018-10-21
|access-date=2019-09-08
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021232542/https://zenodo.org/record/848786
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
Indigenous people inhabited the territory that is now Colombia by 10.500 BCE. Nomadic [[hunter-gatherer]] tribes at the [[El Abra]] and [[Tequendama]] [[List of Muisca and pre-Muisca sites|sites]] near present-day [[Bogotá]] [[Muisca economy#Trade|traded]] with one another and with other cultures from the [[Magdalena River|Magdalena River Valley]].<ref>
{{cite journal
|author1=Van der Hammen, T
|author2=Correal, G
|year=1978
|title=Prehistoric man on the Sabana de Bogotá: data for an ecological prehistory
|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
|volume=25
|issue=1–2
|pages=179–190
|doi=10.1016/0031-0182(78)90077-9
|bibcode=1978PPP....25..179V
}}
</ref>

[[Serranía de la Lindosa]], a mountainous region of [[Guaviare Department]], is known for an extensive prehistoric [[rock art]] site which stretches for nearly eight miles. Some authors have argued that the site depicts now extinct animals such as horses, [[gomphothere]]s and [[ground sloth]]s and that it was painted around 12,600 years ago,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Iriarte |first1=José |last2=Ziegler |first2=Michael J. |last3=Outram |first3=Alan K. |last4=Robinson |first4=Mark |last5=Roberts |first5=Patrick |last6=Aceituno |first6=Francisco J. |last7=Morcote-Ríos |first7=Gaspar |last8=Keesey |first8=T. Michael |date=2022-04-25 |title=Ice Age megafauna rock art in the Colombian Amazon? |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |language=en |volume=377 |issue=1849 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2020.0496 |issn=0962-8436 |pmc=8899627 |pmid=35249392}}</ref> but other authors have argued that the drawings depict modern (including domestic) animals and were created in the last 500 years after European contact.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Katie |date=2022-03-07 |title=Controversial rock art may depict extinct giants of the ice age |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/americas/rock-art-colombia-scn/index.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=CNN |language=en |archive-date=2024-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303063710/https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/07/americas/rock-art-colombia-scn/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=This Amazon Rock Art Is 12,600 Years Old And Depicts Extinct Creatures |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/amazon-rock-art-could-depict-millennia-old-megafauna |access-date=2024-03-03 |website=Discover Magazine |language=en |archive-date=2024-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240303064426/https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/amazon-rock-art-could-depict-millennia-old-megafauna |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Ferreira |first=Becky |date=2022-03-07 |title=Does This Amazon Rock Art Depict Extinct Ice Age Mammals? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/science/ice-age-rock-art.html |access-date=2024-03-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Between 5000 and 1000 BCE, hunter-gatherer tribes transitioned to agrarian societies; fixed settlements were established, and pottery appeared. Beginning in the 1st millennium BCE, groups of [[Amerindian]]s including the [[Muisca people|Muisca]], [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya]], [[Tairona]], [[Calima culture|Calima]], [[Zenú]], [[Tierradentro]], [[San Agustín Archaeological Park|San Agustín]], [[Panche people|Tolima]] and Urabá became skilled in farming, mining and metalcraft; and some developed the political system of ''[[cacicazgo]]s'' with a pyramidal structure of power headed by [[cacique]]s. The Muisca inhabited mainly the area of what is now the [[Departments of Colombia|Departments]] of [[Boyacá Department|Boyacá]] and [[Cundinamarca Department|Cundinamarca]] high plateau (''[[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]]'') where they formed the [[Muisca Confederation]]. The Muisca had one of the most developed political systems ([[Muisca Confederation]]) in [[South America]], surpassed only by the [[Inca civilization|Incas]].<ref name=Ocampo_p27>Ocampo López, 2007, p. 27</ref> They farmed maize, potato, quinoa and cotton, and traded gold, [[Colombian emeralds|emeralds]], blankets, ceramic handicrafts, coca and especially [[Nemocón|salt]] with neighboring nations. The Tairona inhabited northern Colombia in the isolated [[Andes]] mountain range of [[Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta]].<ref name=Broadbent>Broadbent, Sylvia 1965: Los Chibchas: organización socio-política. Série Latinoamericana 5. Bogotá: Facultad de Sociología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia</ref> The [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya]] inhabited regions of the [[Cauca River|Cauca River Valley]] between the [[Cordillera Occidental, Colombia|Western]] and [[Cordillera Central, Colombia|Central]] Ranges.<ref>
{{cite book
|title= Los indios de Colombia
|volume = 7
|author1= Álvaro Chaves Mendoza
|author2= Jorge Morales Gómez
|publisher= Editorial Abya Yala
|isbn = 9978041699
|year= 1995
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=txJH1_qweSMC&pg=PA1
|language= es
}}</ref> The Incas expanded their [[Inca Empire|empire]] on the southwest part of the country.<ref>{{cite journal|last= de Mahecha|first= Ana María Groot|title= Intento de delimitación del territorio de los grupos étnicos Pastos y Quillacingas en el altiplano nariñense.|journal= Boletín de Arqueología de la Fian|url= http://publicaciones.banrepcultural.org/index.php/fian/article/view/5130/5381|publisher= Boletín de arqueología de la Fian 3.3|year= 1988|volume= 3|issue= 3|pages= 3–31|language= es|archive-date= 2017-07-04|access-date= 2016-08-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170704211058/https://publicaciones.banrepcultural.org/index.php/fian/article/view/5130/5381|url-status= live}}</ref> During the 1200s, [[Austronesian expansion|Malayo-Polynesian]]s and [[Indigenous peoples in Colombia|Native Americans]] in Colombia made contact, thereby spreading Native American genetics from Precolonial Colombia to some Pacific Ocean islands.<ref>[https://phys.org/news/2020-07-polynesians-native-americans-contact-european.html Polynesians, Native Americans made contact before European arrival, genetic study finds by Stanford University Medical Center]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2487-2 |title=Native American gene flow into Polynesia predating Easter Island settlement By Alexander G. Ioannidis et al. |access-date=2024-11-25 |archive-date=2020-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200709070539/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2487-2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" style="font-size:88%; line-height:130%; border-bottom:1px #aaa solid;" heights="180" caption="Pre-Columbian">
Muisca raft Legend of El Dorado Offerings of gold.jpg|The ''[[zipa]]'' used to cover his body in gold, and. from his [[Muisca raft]]. He offered treasures to the ''Guatavita'' goddess in the middle of the [[sacred lake]]. This old [[Muisca Confederation|Muisca]] tradition became the origin of the ''[[El Dorado]]'' legend.
Museo del Oro Zenú Bogota mod.jpg|A lowland [[Zenú]] cast-gold bird ornament that served as a staff head. dated 490 CE. This culture used alloys with a high gold content. The crest of the bird consists of the typical Zenú semi-[[filigree]]. Regular filigree is braided wire, but the Zenú cast theirs.
Taironapendants metropolitan 2006.jpg|[[Tairona]] figure pendants in gold
Cacique Quimbaya de oro (M. América, Madrid) 01.jpg|Golden statuette of a [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya]] ''[[cacique]]''
Parque Arqueológico de San Agustín - tomb of a deity with supporting warriors.jpg|[[San Agustín Archaeological Park]] ([[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]) contains the largest collection of religious monuments and [[megalith|megalithic sculpture]]s in Latin America,<ref>{{cite web|title=San Agustín Archaeological Park|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/744|website=UNESCO World Heritage Center|access-date=27 January 2015|archive-date=27 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221127145049/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/744|url-status=live}}</ref> and is considered the world's largest [[necropolis]].
Lost City Ruins.jpg|[[Ciudad Perdida]] is a major settlement believed to have been founded around 800 CE. It consists of a series of 169 [[terrace (agriculture)|terraces]] carved into the mountainside, a net of tiled roads and several small circular [[plaza]]s. The entrance can only be accessed by a climb up some 1,200 stone steps through dense jungle.<ref>{{cite web|title=Explore the Site|url=http://ghn.globalheritagefund.org/explore.php?id=1305|website=Global Heritage Fund|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908133823/http://ghn.globalheritagefund.org/explore.php?id=1305|archive-date=2014-09-08}}</ref>
Villa de Leyva el infiernito.jpg|[[El Infiernito]], a [[pre-Columbian]] archaeoastronomical site located on the [[Altiplano Cundiboyacense]] in the outskirts of [[Villa de Leyva]]
</gallery>

== Colonial Period ==
=== Pre-Columbian history ===
[[File:PreColumbian American cultures.png|thumb|Major areas of pre-Columbian civilization in the Americas:
{{legend|#4747a1|[[North American Arctic|Arctic]]}}
{{legend|#50828e|[[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|Northwest]]}}
{{legend|#40895d|[[Aridoamerica]]}}
{{legend|#b4581b|[[Mesoamerica]]}}
{{legend|#548434|'''[[Isthmo-Colombian]]'''}}
{{legend|#b1c759|[[Caribbean]]}}
{{legend|#b94343|[[Amazon basin|Amazon]]}}
{{legend|#8b782a|[[Inca Empire|Andes]]}}
]]
{{main|Spanish conquest of New Granada|Spanish conquest of the Muisca}}
[[File:TISQUESUSA1.jpg|thumb|left|250px| The main leader of the Muisca on the [[Bogotá savanna]] at the time of conquest was Tisquesusa. He led numerous efforts to resist the Spanish invasion but was eventually killed in battle. His nephew, [[Sagipa]], succeeded him and soon submitted to the conquistadors.]]

Europeans first visited the territory that became Colombia in 1499 when the first expedition of [[Alonso de Ojeda]] arrived at the [[Cabo de la Vela]]. The [[Spain|Spanish]] made several attempts to settle along the north coast of today's Colombia in the early 16th century, but their first permanent settlement, at [[Santa Marta]], dates from 1525. The Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia founded [[Cartagena, Colombia|Cartagena]] on June 1, 1533, in the former location of the indigenous Caribbean Calamarí village. Cartagena grew rapidly, fueled first by the gold in the tombs of the [[Zenú|Sinú]] culture, and later by trade. The thirst for gold and land lured Spanish explorers to visit Chibchan-speaking areas; resulting in the [[Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations]] - the [[conquest (military)|conquest]] by the [[Spanish monarchy]] of the [[Chibcha language]]-speaking nations, mainly the [[Muisca people|Muisca]] and [[Tairona]] who inhabited present-day [[Colombia]], beginning the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]].<ref name=EREMITE>[http://www.eremite.demon.co.uk/Tairona/1pages/seca/a2tsatconq.html Tairona Heritage Trust: Tairona history to the time of the Spanish Invasion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020054333/http://www.eremite.demon.co.uk/Tairona/1pages/seca/a2tsatconq.html |date=2016-10-20 }} Tairona Heritage Trust Accessed 21 August 2007.</ref>

{{multiple image
| align = left
| caption_align = center
| image1 = QUEMUENCHATOCHA.jpg
| width1 = 143
| alt1 = Quemuenchatocha
| link1 = Quemuenchatocha
| caption1  = [[Quemuenchatocha]]<br /><small>(† 1537)</small>
| image2 = AQUIMINZAQUE.jpg
| width2 = 140
| alt2 = Aquiminzaque
| link2 = Aquiminzaque
| caption2 = [[Aquiminzaque]]<br /><small>(† 1539)</small>
| footer = Aquiminzaque, as successor of Quemuenchatocha, defeated in his home in [[Tunja|Hunza]], on August 20, 1537, was the last sovereign ruler of the Muisca and was decapitated by the Spanish, as would happen to [[Túpac Amaru]] of the [[Inca Empire|Inca]], 34 years later.
| footer_align = center
}}
The Spanish advance inland from the Caribbean coast began independently from three different directions, under [[Jimenéz de Quesáda]], [[Sebastián de Benalcázar]] (known in Colombia as Belalcázar), and [[Nikolaus Federmann]]. Although the Indian treasures drew all three, none intended to reach the [[Muisca people|Muisca]] territory where they finally met.<ref>Lonely Planet, "History of Colombia", http://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/history {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127014107/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/history |date=2020-11-27 }}. Accessed 6 May 2013.</ref> In August 1538, Quesáda founded Santa Fe de [[Bogotá]] on the site of Muisca village of Bacatá.

In 1549, the institution of the Spanish Royal [[Audiencia Real|Audiencia]] in Bogotá gave that city the status of capital of [[New Kingdom of Granada|New Granada]], which comprised in large part what is now the territory of Colombia. As early as the 1500s, however, secret anti-Spanish discontentment was already brewing for Colombians since Spain prohibited direct trade between the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]], which included [[Colombia]], and the [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]], which included the Philippines, the source of Asian products like silk and porcelain which was in demand in the Americas. Illegal trade between Peruvians, Filipinos, and Mexicans continued in secret, as smuggled Asian goods ended up in [[Córdoba Department|Córdoba, Colombia]], the distribution center for illegal Asian imports, due to the collusion between these peoples against the authorities in Spain. They settled and traded with each other while disobeying the forced Spanish monopoly in more expensive silks and porcelain made in homeland Spain.<ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1515/sai-2022-0008 | title=El Galeón de Manila y el comercio de Asia: Encuentro de culturas y sistemas | journal=Interacción Sino-Iberoamericana / Sino-Iberoamerican Interaction | date=March 2022 | volume=2 | issue=1 | pages=85–109 | last1=Villamar | first1=Cuauhtemoc | s2cid=249318172 | doi-access=free }}</ref>  In 1717, the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] was originally created, and then it was temporarily removed, to finally be reestablished in 1739. Felipe Salonga a rebel Filipino who mixed Christianity with Islam and was from the formerly Muslim kingdom Manila and who was implicated in the [[Tondo Conspiracy]], was presumably exiled to the location of what is now the [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] (Named after a formerly Islamic kingdom in Spain) in the Viceroyalty of Nueva Granada he fomented opposition against Spain among the oppressed Native Americas.<ref>(Title: The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, V7, 1588-1591. Author: Emma Helen Blair) [https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13701/13701-h/13701-h.htm "Don Phelipe Salonga, chief of the village of Polo, was sentenced to exile in Nueva España for six years. Half of his property was to be set aside for the treasury of the king, our sovereign, and half for judicial expenses. He and the fiscal appealed to the royal Audiencia; but the case was returned to the captain-general, in order that justice might be done." (Page 97)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241206132007/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/13701/13701-h/13701-h.htm |date=2024-12-06 }} AGI, Fil., 18a, 7, no.4. Letter from the Audiencia of Manila. Manila, May 20, 1589.</ref> The viceroyalty had Santa Fé de Bogotá as its capital. This viceroyalty included some other provinces of northwestern South America which had previously been under the jurisdiction of the [[New Spain|viceroyalties of New Spain]] or [[Viceroyalty of Peru|Peru]] and correspond mainly to today's [[Venezuela]], [[Ecuador]] and [[Panama]]. [[Bogotá]] became one of the principal administrative centers of the Spanish possessions in the New World, along with [[Lima, Peru|Lima]] and [[Mexico City]].

{{clear}}

== Gran Colombia: independence re-claimed ==
{{main|Colombian Declaration of Independence|Gran Colombia}}
[[Image:Puente Boyaca.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Puente de Boyacá|Boyaca bridge]] was crucial in the [[Battle of Boyacá]].]]

From then on, the long independence struggle was led mainly by [[Simón Bolívar|Bolívar]] and [[Francisco de Paula Santander]] in neighboring Venezuela. Bolívar returned to New Granada only in 1819 after establishing himself as leader of the pro-independence forces in the Venezuelan ''[[llanos]]''. From there he led an army over the Andes and captured New Granada after a quick campaign that ended at the [[Battle of Boyacá]] on August 7, 1819. (''For more information. see [[Military career of Simón Bolívar]]''.)

That year, the [[Congress of Angostura]] established the Republic of Gran Colombia, which included all territories under the jurisdiction of the former Viceroyalty of New Granada. Bolívar was elected the first president of Gran Colombia<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.panorama.it/news/esteri/venezuela-storia-foto-spagnoli-maduro/|title=Il Venezuela: la storia in foto dagli Spagnoli a Maduro (1498-2017) - Panorama|last=Frittoli|first=Edoardo|date=2017-08-01|work=Panorama|access-date=2018-09-04|language=it-IT|archive-date=2018-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904193423/https://www.panorama.it/news/esteri/venezuela-storia-foto-spagnoli-maduro/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Santander, vice president.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-de-Paula-Santander|title=Francisco de Paula Santander {{!}} Colombian statesman and soldier|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2018-12-31|archive-date=2019-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101003340/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-de-Paula-Santander|url-status=live}}</ref>

As the Federation of Gran Colombia was dissolved in 1830, the Department of Cundinamarca (as established in Angostura) became a new country, the [[Republic of New Granada]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Viceroyalty-of-New-Granada|title=Viceroyalty of New Granada {{!}} historical territory, South America|work=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=2018-06-11|language=en|archive-date=2022-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125084023/https://www.britannica.com/place/Viceroyalty-of-New-Granada|url-status=live}}</ref>

Colombia was the first nation in the [[Andes|Andean]] area to believe that racial inferiority was the cause of many of its initial problems. Creoles in the country believed that non-white citizens, mainly Indians and Africans, were lazy and holding the nation back. This led to an attempt to make a homogenous society that reflected the so-called good qualities of white people. These ideals led to a long-lasting racial and geographical segregation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Larson |first=Brooke |title=Trials of nation making: liberalism, race, and ethnicity in the Andes, 1810-1910 |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-56171-6 |location=Cambridge}}</ref>

However, Colombia demonstrated a notable commitment to civil rights during the nineteenth century. The Colombian Constitution of 1863 made liberal promises for a broad range of civil rights, reflecting principles similar to those found in the United States Constitution, such as freedom of association, press, speech, religion, and due process. Colombia also abolished the death penalty during this time. Lastly, Colombian society embraced inclusivity, emphasizing that rights should be granted "universally without notice of sex nor differences of color nor unjust preferences of fortune, nor distinctions of age".<ref name="Sanders">{{cite journal |last1=Sanders |first1=James |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Contesting Modernity in Nineteenth Century Latin America |journal=Latin America Research Review |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=104–126 |ref=Sanders}}</ref>

== The Republic: Liberal and Conservative conflict ==
{{further|Thousand Days War|La Violencia|Colombian economy and politics 1929–58}}
{{History of the Republic of Colombia}}
{{multiple image|perrow=1|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| image1 = AGHRC (1890) - Carta XI - División política de Colombia, 1824.jpg|caption1=Map showing the shrinking territory of [[Gran Colombia]] from 1824 to 1890 (red line). Panama declared its [[separation of Panama from Colombia|independence from Colombia]] in 1903.
| image2 = United States of Colombia.GIF|caption2=Map of the [[United States of Colombia]] 1863–1886
}}

In 1863 the name of the republic was changed officially to "[[United States of Colombia]]," and in 1886 the country adopted its present name: "Republic of Colombia".

Two political parties grew out of conflicts between the followers of Bolívar and Santander and their political visions—the [[Colombian Conservative Party|Conservatives]] and the [[Colombian Liberal Party|Liberals]] – and have since dominated Colombian politics. Bolívar's supporters, who later formed the nucleus of the Conservative Party, sought strong centralized government, alliance with the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and a limited franchise. Santander's followers, forerunners of the Liberals, wanted a decentralized government, state rather than church control over education and other civil matters, and a broadened suffrage. During the mid-19th century, Colombia embraced a vision of "American republican modernity,"<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanders |first=James |title=The Vanguard of the Atlantic World: Creating Modernity, Nation, and Democracy in Nineteenth-Century Latin |date=October 3, 2014 |publisher=Duke University Press Books |isbn=978-0822357803}}</ref> which emphasized democratic republicanism, universal male suffrage, and civil rights as markers of progress, positioning the country as a leader in the Atlantic World. This period saw Colombia enact significant political reforms, such as the 1853 Constitution, which eliminated property and literacy requirements for voting, making it one of the most democratic nations of its time. However, by the 1880s, Colombia shifted toward Western industrial modernity, prioritizing economic development and state centralization over the earlier focus on political rights, leading to the adoption of the 1886 Constitution and the end of its republican experiment.

Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, each party held the presidency for roughly equal periods of time. Colombia maintained a tradition of civilian government and regular, free elections. The military has seized power three times in Colombia's history: in 1830, after the dissolution of Great Colombia; again in 1854 (by General [[José María Melo]]); and from 1953 to 1957 (under General [[Gustavo Rojas Pinilla]]). Civilian rule was restored within one year in the first two instances.

Notwithstanding the country's commitment to democratic institutions, Colombia's history has also been characterized by widespread, violent conflict. Two civil wars resulted from bitter rivalry between the Conservative and Liberal parties. The [[Thousand Days' War]] (1899–1902) cost an estimated 100.000 lives, and up to 300.000 people died during "[[La Violencia]]" of the late 1940s and 1950s, a bipartisan confrontation which erupted after the assassination of Liberal popular candidate [[Jorge Eliécer Gaitán]]. [[United States]] activity to influence the area (especially the [[Panama Canal]] construction and control) led to a military uprising in the [[Isthmus Department]] in 1903, which resulted in the [[Panama–Colombia separation|separation]] and independence of [[Panama]].

A military coup in 1953 toppled the right-wing government of Conservative [[Laureano Gómez]] and brought General [[Gustavo Rojas Pinilla]] to power. Initially, Rojas enjoyed considerable popular support, due largely to his success in reducing "[[La Violencia]]." When he did not restore democratic rule and occasionally engaged in open repression, however, he was overthrown by the military in 1957 with the backing of both political parties, and a provisional government was installed.

== The National Front regime (1958–1974) ==
{{Main|National Front (Colombia)}}
In July 1957, former Conservative President Laureano Gómez (1950–1953) and former Liberal President [[Alberto Lleras Camargo|Alberto Lleras]] (1945–1946. 1958–1962) issued the "Declaration of Sitges," in which they proposed a "National Front," whereby the Liberal and Conservative parties would govern jointly. The presidency would be determined by an alternating conservative and liberal president every 4 years for 16 years; the two parties would have parity in all other elective offices.

The National Front ended "[[La Violencia]]," and National Front administrations attempted to institute far-reaching social and economic reforms in cooperation with the Alliance for Progress. In particular, the Liberal president [[Alberto Lleras Camargo]] (1958–1962) created the [[Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform]] (INCORA), and [[Carlos Lleras Restrepo]] (1966–1970) further developed land entitlement. In 1968 and 1969 alone, the INCORA issued more than 60.000 land titles to farmers and workers.

In the end, the contradictions between each successive Liberal and Conservative administration made the results decidedly mixed. Despite the progress in certain sectors, many social and political injustices continued.

The National Front system itself eventually began to be seen as a form of political repression by dissidents and even many mainstream voters, and many protesters were victimized during this period. Especially after what was later confirmed{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}} as the fraudulent election of [[Colombian Conservative Party|Conservative]] candidate [[Misael Pastrana Borrero|Misael Pastrana]] in 1970, which resulted in the defeat of the relatively populist candidate and former president (dictator) [[Gustavo Rojas Pinilla]]. The [[19th of April Movement|M-19]] guerrilla movement, "Movimiento 19 de Abril" (19 April Movement), would eventually be founded in part as a response to this particular event. The [[FARC]] was formed in 1964 by [[Manuel Marulanda Vélez]] and other Marxist–Leninist supporters after a military attack on the community of [[Marquetalia, Caldas|Marquetalia]].

Although the system established by the Sitges agreement was phased out by 1974, the 1886 Colombian constitution — in effect until 1991—required that the losing political party be given adequate and equitable participation in the government, which, according to many observers and later analysis, eventually resulted in some increase in corruption and legal relaxation. The current 1991 constitution does not have that requirement, but subsequent administrations have tended to include members of opposition parties.

== Post-National Front ==
From 1974 until 1982, different presidential administrations chose to focus on ending the persistent [[Insurgency|insurgencies]] that sought to undermine Colombia's traditional political system. Both groups claimed to represent the poor and weak against the rich and powerful classes of the country, demanding the completion of true land and political reform from an openly [[Communist]] perspective.

By 1974, another challenge to the state's authority and legitimacy had come from [[19th of April Movement]] (M-19), a mostly urban guerrilla group founded in response to an alleged electoral fraud during the final National Front election of [[Misael Pastrana Borrero]] (1970–1974) and the defeat of former dictator [[Gustavo Rojas Pinilla]].<ref name=pedraja>{{cite book|last1=René De La Pedraja|title=Wars of Latin America, 1948–1982: The Rise of the Guerrillas|date=2013|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476602936|page=223|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FChAqNQgjwC&q=m-19+gustavo+rojas&pg=PA223|access-date=30 September 2015}}</ref> Initially, the M-19 attracted a degree of attention and sympathy from mainstream Colombians that the [[FARC]] and [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army (ELN)]] had found largely elusive earlier due to extravagant and daring operations, such as stealing a sword that had belonged to Colombia's Independence hero [[Simon Bolívar]]. At the same time, its larger profile soon made it the focus of the state's counterinsurgency efforts.

The ELN guerrilla had been seriously crippled by military operations in the region of Anorí by 1974, but it managed to reconstitute itself and escape destruction, in part due to the administration of [[Alfonso López Michelsen]] (1974–1978) allowing it to escape encirclement, hoping to initiate a peace process with the group.

By 1982, the perceived passivity of the [[FARC]], together with the relative success of the government's efforts against the M-19 and ELN, enabled the administration of the Liberal Party's [[Julio César Turbay Ayala|Julio César Turbay]] (1978–1982) to lift a state-of-siege decree that had been in effect, on and off, for most of the previous 30 years. Under the latest such decree, president Turbay had implemented security policies that, though of some military value against the M-19 in particular, were considered highly questionable both inside and outside Colombian circles due to numerous accusations of military [[human rights abuse]]s against suspects and captured guerrillas.

Citizen exhaustion due to the conflict's newfound intensity led to the election of president [[Belisario Betancur]] (1982–1986), a Conservative who won 47% of the popular vote, directed peace feelers at all the insurgents, and negotiated a 1984 cease-fire with the FARC and M-19 after a 1982 release of many guerrillas imprisoned during the previous effort to overpower them. The ELN rejected entering any negotiation and continued to recover itself through the use of extortions and threats, in particular against foreign oil companies of European and U.S. origin.

As these events were developing, the growing [[illegal drug trade]] and its consequences were also increasingly becoming a matter of widespread importance to all participants in the Colombian conflict. Guerrillas and newly wealthy drug lords had mutually uneven relations, and thus numerous incidents occurred between them. Eventually, the kidnapping of drug cartel family members by guerrillas led to the creation of the 1981 ''Muerte a Secuestradores'' (MAS) death squad ("Death to Kidnappers"). Pressure from the U.S. government and critical sectors of Colombian society was met with further violence, as the [[Medellín Cartel]] and its hitmen bribed or murdered numerous public officials, politicians and others who stood in its way by supporting the implementation of [[extradition]] of Colombian nationals to the U.S. Victims of cartel violence included Justice Minister [[Rodrigo Lara Bonilla|Rodrigo Lara]], whose assassination in 1984 made the Betancur administration begin to directly oppose the drug lords.

The first negotiated cease-fire with the M-19 ended when the guerrillas resumed fighting in 1985, claiming that the cease-fire had not been fully respected by official security forces, saying that several of its members had suffered threats and assaults, and also questioning the government's real willingness to implement any accords. The Betancur administration, in turn, questioned the M-19's actions and its commitment to the peace process, as it continued to advance high-profile negotiations with the FARC, which led to the creation of the [[Patriotic Union (Colombia)]] (UP), a legal and non-clandestine political organization.

On November 6, 1985, the M-19 [[Palace of Justice siege|stormed the Colombian Palace of Justice]] and held the Supreme Court magistrates hostage, intending to put president Betancur on trial. In the ensuing crossfire that followed the military's reaction, scores of people lost their lives, as did most of the guerrillas, including several high-ranking operatives. Both sides blamed each other for the outcome.

Meanwhile, individual FARC members initially joined the UP leadership in representation of the guerrilla command, though most of the guerrilla's chiefs and militiamen did not demobilize nor disarm, as that was not a requirement of the process at that point in time. Tension soon significantly increased as both sides began to accuse each other of not respecting the cease-fire. Political violence against FARC and UP members (including presidential candidate [[Jaime Pardo Leal|Jaime Pardo]]) was blamed on drug lords and also on members of the security forces (to a much lesser degree on the argued inaction of Betancur administration). Members of the government and security authorities increasingly accused the FARC of continuing to recruit guerrillas. as well as kidnapping, extorting and politically intimidating voters even as the UP was already participating in politics.

The [[Virgilio Barco Vargas|Virgilio Barco]] (1986–1990) administration, in addition to continuing to handle the difficulties of the complex negotiations with the guerrillas, also inherited a particularly chaotic confrontation against the drug lords, who were engaged in a campaign of [[terrorism]] and murder in response to government moves in favor of their extradition overseas. The UP also suffered an increasing number of losses during this term (including the assassination of presidential candidate [[Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa|Bernardo Jaramillo]]), which stemmed both from private proto-[[paramilitary]] organizations, increasingly powerful drug lords and a number of would-be paramilitary-sympathizers within the armed forces.

== Post-1990 ==
Following administrations had to contend with the guerrillas, paramilitaries, narcotics traffickers and the violence and corruption that they all perpetuated, both through force and negotiation. Narcoterrorists assassinated three presidential candidates before [[César Gaviria Trujillo|César Gaviria]] was elected in 1990. Since the death of [[Medellín]] cartel leader [[Pablo Escobar]] in a police shootout in December 1993, indiscriminate acts of violence associated with that organization have abated as the "cartels" have broken up into multiple smaller and often-competing trafficking organizations. Nevertheless, violence continues as these drug organizations resort to violence as part of their operations but also to protest government policies, including extradition.

The M-19 and several smaller guerrilla groups were successfully incorporated into a peace process as the 1980s ended and the 1990s began, which culminated in the elections for a [[Constituent Assembly of Colombia]] that would write a new constitution, which took effect in 1991. The new Constitution brought about a considerable number of institutional and legal reforms based on principles that the delegates considered as more modern, humanist, democratic and politically open than those in the 1886 constitution. Practical results were mixed and mingled emerged (such as the debate surrounding the constitutional prohibition of extradition, which later was reversed), but together with the reincorporation of some of the guerrilla groups to the legal political framework, the new Constitution inaugurated an era that was both a continuation and a gradual, but significant, departure from what had come before.

{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=400|caption_align=center
| image1 = Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) insurgents.GIF|caption1=[[FARC]] insurgents in 1998
| image2 = FARC guerrillas marching during the Caguan peace talks (1998-2002).jpg|caption2=FARC guerrillas marching in formation during the Caguan peace talks (1998–2002)
}}

Contacts with the FARC, which had irregularly continued despite the generalized [[de facto]] interruptions of the ceasefire and the official 1987 break from negotiations, were temporarily cut off in 1990 under the presidency of [[César Gaviria Trujillo|César Gaviria]] (1990–1994). The Colombian Army's assault on the FARC's ''Casa Verde'' sanctuary at [[La Uribe]], [[Meta Department|Meta]], followed by a FARC offensive that sought to undermine the deliberations of the Constitutional Assembly, began to highlight a significant break in the uneven negotiations carried over from the previous decade.

President [[Ernesto Samper Pizano|Ernesto Samper]] assumed office in August 1994. However, a political crisis relating to large-scale contributions from drug traffickers to Samper's presidential campaign diverted attention from governance programs, thus slowing, and in many cases, halting progress on the nation's domestic reform agenda. The military also suffered several setbacks in its fight against the guerrillas when several of its rural bases began to be overrun and a record number of soldiers and officers were taken prisoner by the FARC (which since 1982 was attempting to implement a more "conventional" style of warfare. seeking to eventually defeat the military in the field).

On August 7, 1998, [[Andrés Pastrana Arango|Andrés Pastrana]] was sworn in as the President of Colombia.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schemo |first1=Diana Jean |title=Colombia Installs New President Who Plans to Talk to Rebels |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/08/world/colombia-installs-new-president-who-plans-to-talk-to-rebels.html |work=The New York Times |date=8 August 1998}}</ref> A member of the Conservative Party, Pastrana defeated Liberal Party candidate Horacio Serpa in a run-off election marked by high voter turnout and little political unrest. The new president's program was based on a commitment to bring about a peaceful resolution of Colombia's longstanding civil conflict and to cooperate fully with the United States to combat the trafficking of illegal drugs.

While early initiatives in the Colombian peace process gave reason for optimism, the Pastrana administration also has had to combat high unemployment and other economic problems, such as the fiscal deficit and the impact of global financial instability on Colombia. During his administration, unemployment has risen to over 20%. Additionally, the growing severity of countrywide guerrilla attacks by the FARC and ELN. and smaller movements, as well as the growth of drug production, corruption and the spread of even more violent paramilitary groups such as the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia ([[United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia|AUC]]) has made it difficult to solve the country's problems.

Although the FARC and ELN accepted participation in the peace process, they did not make explicit commitments to end the conflict. The FARC suspended talks in November 2000, to protest what it called "paramilitary terrorism" but returned to the negotiating table in February 2001 following 2 days of meetings between President Pastrana and FARC leader Manuel Marulanda. The Colombian Government and ELN in early 2001 continued discussions aimed at opening a formal peace process.

== From 2004 and on ==
[[File:Marchapaz.jpg|thumb|Colombia's peace protests, 2007]]

By 2004, the security situation of Colombia had shown improvement, and the economy, while still fragile, had also shown some positive signs. On the other hand, relatively little had been accomplished in structurally solving most of the country's other grave problems, in part due to legislative and political conflicts between the administration and the Colombian Congress (including those over the controversial 2006 project to give President [[Álvaro Uribe]] the right to be re-elected), and a relative lack of freely allocated funds and credits. In October 2006, Uribe was [[2006 Colombian presidential election|re-elected]] by a landslide.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colombian President Uribe Re-elected in Landslide |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-05-28-voa12/320086.html |work=VOA |language=en |archive-date=2023-05-11 |access-date=2022-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511000613/https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-05-28-voa12/320086.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some critical observers consider in retrospect that Uribe's policies, while admittedly reducing crime and guerrilla activity, were too slanted in favor of a military solution to Colombia's internal war, neglecting grave social and human rights concerns to a certain extent. They hoped that Uribe's government would make serious efforts towards improving the human rights situation inside the country, protecting civilians and reducing any abuses committed by the armed forces.

Uribe's supporters in turn believed that increased military action was a necessary prelude to any serious negotiation attempt with the guerrillas and that the increased security situation would help the government, in the long term, to focus more actively on reducing most wide-scale abuses and human rights violations on the part of both the armed groups and any rogue security forces that might have links to the paramilitaries. In short, these supporters maintained that the security situation needed to be stabilized in favor of the government before any other social concerns could take precedence. In February 2010, the constitutional court blocked President Alvaro Uribe from seeking re-election again.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colombia's Uribe blocked from re-election |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-uribe-idUSTRE61P5PX20100227 |work=Reuters |date=27 February 2010 |language=en}}</ref> Uribe left the presidency in 2010.

{{Multiple image
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 | image1 = Carro bomba Caracol Radio 20100812.jpg
 | caption1 = On 12 August 2010, a terrorist attack by the FARC with a car bomb at the headquarters of [[Caracol Radio]]left 43 people injured.
 | image2 = 2012 car bombing in bogota colombia.JPG
 | caption2 = 2012 car bombing targeting the former minister [[Fernando Londoño]]
}}

In 2010, [[Juan Manuel Santos]] was [[2010 Colombian presidential election|elected]] president; he was supported by ex-president Uribe, and he owed his election mainly through having won over former Uribe supporters.<ref>{{cite news |title=Juan Manuel Santos wins Colombia presidential election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jun/21/juan-manuel-santos-colombia-president |work=the Guardian |date=21 June 2010 |language=en}}</ref> But two years after winning the presidential election, Santos (to widespread surprise) began peace talks with FARC. which took place in Havana.<ref>{{cite news |title=Colombia confirms October peace talks with FARC |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20120904-colombia-farc-juan-manuel-santos-government-confirms-peace-talks-norway-october |work=France 24 |date=4 September 2012 |language=en |archive-date=23 August 2022 |access-date=2 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220823222612/https://www.france24.com/en/20120904-colombia-farc-juan-manuel-santos-government-confirms-peace-talks-norway-october |url-status=live }}</ref> [[2014 Colombian presidential election|Re-elected]] in 2014,<ref>{{cite news |title=Colombia vote: Santos re-elected as president |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27862555 |work=BBC News |date=16 June 2014 |archive-date=23 May 2022 |access-date=2 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220523211826/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-27862555 |url-status=live }}</ref> Santos revived an important infrastructure program, which had been planned during the Uribe administration. Focused mainly on the provision of national highways, the program was led by former vice-president Germán Vargas Lleras.

In 2015, Colombia's Congress limited presidency to single term, preventing the president from seeking re-election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=L |first1=Elizabeth Reyes |title=Colombian lawmakers approve a one-term limit for presidents |url=https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/06/04/inenglish/1433416990_898964.html |work=EL PAÍS English Edition |date=4 June 2015 |language=en-us |archive-date=22 September 2020 |access-date=2 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922023726/https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/06/04/inenglish/1433416990_898964.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Talks between the government and the guerrillas resulted in the announcement of a peace agreement.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/mesadeconversaciones/index.html|title= Colombia's peace deals|publisher= altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co|access-date= 6 September 2017|archive-date= 14 September 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170914085318/http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/mesadeconversaciones/index.html|url-status= live}}</ref> However, a [[Colombian peace agreement referendum, 2016|referendum]] to ratify the deal was unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37537252 |title=Colombia referendum: Voters reject Farc peace deal |work=[[BBC News]] |date=3 October 2016 |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=30 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930152644/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-37537252 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Plebiscito 2 octubre 2016 – Boletín Nacional No. 53 |url=http://plebiscito.registraduria.gov.co/99PL/DPLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ_L1.htm |publisher=Registraduría Nacional de Estado Civil |date=2 October 2016 |access-date=2 November 2016 |archive-date=3 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161003083638/http://plebiscito.registraduria.gov.co/99PL/DPLZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ_L1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Afterward, the Colombian government and the FARC signed a revised [[Colombian peace process|peace deal]] in November 2016,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38096179 |title=Colombia signs new peace deal with Farc |date=24 November 2016 |work=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=28 December 2016 |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228195756/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-38096179 |url-status=live }}</ref> which the [[Colombian congress]] approved.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/colombian-congress-approves-historic-peace-deal/2016/11/30/9b2fda92-b5a7-11e6-939c-91749443c5e5_story.html |title= Colombia's congress approves historic peace deal with FARC rebels |date= 30 November 2016 |newspaper= Washington Post |archive-date= 1 December 2016 |access-date= 18 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161201090410/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/colombian-congress-approves-historic-peace-deal/2016/11/30/9b2fda92-b5a7-11e6-939c-91749443c5e5_story.html |url-status= live }}</ref> In 2016, President Santos was awarded the [[2016 Nobel Peace Prize|Nobel Peace Prize]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2016/santos-lecture_en.html|title= Nobel Lecture by Juan Manuel Santos, Oslo, 10 December 2016|publisher= nobelprize.org|access-date= 10 December 2016|archive-date= 10 December 2016|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161210204701/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2016/santos-lecture_en.html|url-status= live}}</ref> The government began a process of attention and comprehensive reparation for victims of conflict.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unidadvictimas.gov.co/normatividad/LEY+DE+VICTIMAS.pdf |title=The Victims and Land Restitution Law |publisher=unidadvictimas.gov.co |access-date=21 December 2014 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925110822/http://www.unidadvictimas.gov.co/normatividad/LEY%2BDE%2BVICTIMAS.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2015 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.restituciondetierras.gov.co/inicio |title= the Land Restitution Unit |publisher= restituciondetierras.gov.co |access-date= 23 March 2013 |archive-date= 4 January 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160104000003/https://www.restituciondetierras.gov.co/inicio |url-status= dead }}</ref> Colombia under President Santos showed some progress in the struggle to defend human rights, as expressed by [[Human Rights Watch|HRW]].<ref>[http://colombiareports.co/colombia-has-improved-under-santos-human-rights-watch/ The country has improved its political climate, public debate, in all manner of things including obviously in the subject of human rights: Human Rights Watch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413201236/http://colombiareports.co/colombia-has-improved-under-santos-human-rights-watch/ |date=2015-04-13 }}. colombiareports.co (12 October 2011).</ref> A [[Special Jurisdiction of Peace]] was created to investigate, clarify, prosecute and punish serious human rights violations and grave breaches of [[international humanitarian law]] which occurred during the armed conflict and to satisfy victims' right to [[justice]].<ref>{{cite web|title=ABC Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz|url=http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/Documents/informes-especiales/abc-del-proceso-de-paz/abc-jurisdiccion-especial-paz.html|publisher=Oficina del Alto Comisionado para la Paz|access-date=24 August 2016|archive-date=5 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005125954/http://www.altocomisionadoparalapaz.gov.co/Documents/informes-especiales/abc-del-proceso-de-paz/abc-jurisdiccion-especial-paz.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During his visit to Colombia, [[Pope Francis]] paid tribute to the victims of the conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/08/pope_at_colombia_prayer_meeting_for_reconciliation_weeps_wit/1335635 |title=Pope at Colombia prayer meeting for reconciliation weeps with victims |date=2017-09-08 |website=radiovaticana.va |access-date=2018-02-18 |archive-date=2017-09-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909034315/http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/09/08/pope_at_colombia_prayer_meeting_for_reconciliation_weeps_wit/1335635 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2018, [[Iván Duque|Ivan Duque]], the candidate of the conservative Centro Democrático ([[Democratic Center (Colombia)|Democratic Centre]]), won the presidential [[2018 Colombian presidential election|election]]. On 7 August 2018, he was sworn in as the new [[president of Colombia]].<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45107063|title = Iván Duque: Colombia's new president sworn into office|work = BBC News|date = 8 August 2018|archive-date = 30 October 2020|access-date = 21 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201030105110/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45107063|url-status = live}}</ref>

[[2010 Colombia–Venezuela diplomatic crisis|Colombia's relations with Venezuela]] have fluctuated due to the ideological differences between both governments.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-10926003 Colombia and Venezuela restore diplomatic relations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613030309/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-10926003 |date=2018-06-13 }}. bbc.com (11 August 2010).</ref> Colombia has offered [[Humanitarian aid|humanitarian support]] with food and medicines to mitigate the shortage of supplies in Venezuela.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://es.presidencia.gov.co/noticia/180111-Colombia-reitera-ofrecimiento-de-ayuda-humanitaria-a-Venezuela |title= Colombia reitera ofrecimiento de ayuda humanitaria a Venezuela |date= 11 January 2018 |language= es |website= presidencia.gov.co |access-date= 18 February 2018 |archive-date= 12 January 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180112025350/http://es.presidencia.gov.co/noticia/180111-Colombia-reitera-ofrecimiento-de-ayuda-humanitaria-a-Venezuela |url-status= live }}</ref> Colombia's Foreign Ministry said that all efforts to resolve [[Crisis in Venezuela (2012–present)|Venezuela's crisis]] should be peaceful.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://es.presidencia.gov.co/noticia/170812-Comunicado-de-prensa-del-Ministerio-de-Relaciones-Exteriores |title= Comunicado de prensa del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores |date= 2 June 2017 |language= es |website= presidencia.gov.co |access-date= 18 February 2018 |archive-date= 13 August 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170813113834/http://es.presidencia.gov.co/noticia/170812-Comunicado-de-prensa-del-Ministerio-de-Relaciones-Exteriores |url-status= live }}</ref> Colombia proposed the idea of the [[Sustainable Development Goals]] and a final document was adopted by the [[United Nations]].<ref>{{Cite web|url= http://impakter.com/short-history-sdgs/|title= A Short History of the SDGS.|date= 20 September 2016|publisher= impakter.com|access-date= 8 October 2017|archive-date= 8 October 2017|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171008122103/http://impakter.com/short-history-sdgs/|url-status= live}}</ref> In February 2019, Venezuelan president [[Nicolás Maduro]] cut diplomatic relations with Colombia after Colombian President Ivan Duque helped Venezuelan opposition politicians deliver humanitarian aid to their country. Colombia recognized Venezuelan opposition leader [[Juan Guaidó|Juan Guaido]] as the country's legitimate president. In January 2020, Colombia rejected Maduro's proposal that the two countries restore diplomatic relations.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-venezuela-idUSKBN1ZT30R|title = Colombia rejects Venezuelan proposal to resume diplomatic relations|newspaper = Reuters|date = 30 January 2020|archive-date = 21 April 2021|access-date = 21 April 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210421065909/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-venezuela-idUSKBN1ZT30R|url-status = live}}</ref>

The 19 June 2022 [[2022 Colombian presidential election|election]] run-off vote ended in a win for former guerrilla [[Gustavo Petro]], taking 50.47% of the vote compared to 47.27% of right-wing [[Rodolfo Hernández Suárez|Rodolfo Hernández]]. The single-term limit for the country's presidency prevented president Iván Duque from seeking re-election. Petro became the country's first leftist president-elect. On 7 August 2022, he was sworn in.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former guerrilla Gustavo Petro wins Colombian election to become first leftist president. |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/20/former-guerrilla-gustavo-petro-wins-colombian-election-to-become-first-leftist-president |work=the Guardian |date=20 June 2022 |language=en |archive-date=2 August 2022 |access-date=2 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802080758/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/20/former-guerrilla-gustavo-petro-wins-colombian-election-to-become-first-leftist-president |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ex-rebel takes oath as Colombia's first left-wing president |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/8/gustavo-petro-ex-rebel-fighter-sworn-in-as-colombias-president |work=www.aljazeera.com |language=en |archive-date=2022-08-08 |access-date=2022-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808091808/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/8/gustavo-petro-ex-rebel-fighter-sworn-in-as-colombias-president/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Colombia|History}}
* [[Colombia during World War II]]
* [[Economic history of Colombia]]
* [[History of the Americas]]
* [[History of Latin America]]
* [[History of South America]]
* [[List of presidents of Colombia]]
* [[Politics of Colombia]]
* [[Spanish colonization of the Americas]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |author=Ocampo López, Javier |author-link=:es:Javier Ocampo López |year=2007 |title=Grandes cultures indígenas de América |trans-title=Great indigenous cultures of the Americas |location=Bogotá, Colombia |publisher=Plaza & Janes Editores Colombia S.A. |isbn=978-958-14-0368-4 |language=es}}

== Further reading ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Alesina, Alberto, ed. ''Institutional reforms: The case of Colombia'' (MIT press, 2005).
* Earle, Rebecca. ''Spain and the Independence of Colombia, 1810–1825''. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-85989-612-9}}
* Echavarría, Juan José, María Angélica Arbeláez, and Alejandro Gaviria. "Recent economic history of Colombia." in ''Institutional Reforms: The Case of Colombia'' (2005): 33–72.
* Echeverry, Juan Carlos, et al. "Oil in Colombia: history, regulation and macroeconomic impact." ''Documento CEDE 2008-10'' (2008). [https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/8105/dcede2009-10.pdf?sequence=1 online]
* Etter, Andrés, Clive McAlpine, and Hugh Possingham. "Historical patterns and drivers of landscape change in Colombia since 1500: a regionalized spatial approach." ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' 98.1 (2008): 2-23.
* Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. ''Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men, and Women in Colombia's Industrial Experiment, 1905–1960''. Duke University Press 2000.
* Fisher, J.R. Allan J. Kuethe, and Anthony McFarlane. ''Reform and Insurrection in Bourbon New Granada and Peru''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press 1990.
* Flores, Thomas Edward. "Vertical inequality, land reform, and insurgency in Colombia." ''Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy'' 20.1 (2014): 5-31. [http://www.thomas-flores.com/uploads/1/6/7/1/16717758/2014._flores_vertical_inequality_land_reform_and_insurgency_in_colombia.pdf online]
* Harvey, Robert. "Liberators: Latin America's Struggle for Independence, 1810–1830". John Murray, London (2000). {{ISBN|0-7195-5566-3}}
* Kuethe, Allan J. ''Military Reform and Society in New Granada, 1773–1808''. Gainesville: University of Florida Press 1978.
* LeGrand, Catherine. ''Frontier Expansion and Peasant Protest in Colombia, 1850–1936''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 1986.
* López-Pedreros, A. Ricardo. ''Makers of democracy: a transnational history of the middle classes in Colombia'' (Duke University Press, 2019).
* McFarlane, Anthony. ''Colombia Before Independence: Economy, Society, and Politics under Bourbon Rule''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. {{ISBN|978-0-521-41641-2}}
* Martz, John D. ''The politics of clientelism in Colombia: Democracy and the state'' (Routledge, 2017).
* Murillo, Mario A., and Jesus Rey Avirama. ''Colombia and the United States: war, unrest, and destabilization'' (Seven Stories Press, 2004).
* Phelan, John Leddy. ''The People and the King: The Comunero Revolt in Colombia, 1781''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press 1978.
* Racine, Karen. "Simón Bolívar and friends: Recent biographies of independence figures in Colombia and Venezuela" ''History Compass'' 18#3 (Feb 2020) https://doi.org/10.1111/hic3.12608
* Roldán, Mary. ''Blood and Fire: La Violencia in Antioquia, Colombia 1946–1953''. Durham: Duke University Press 2002.
* Safford, Frank. ''Colombia: Fragmented Land, Divided Society''. New York: Oxford University Press 2002.
* Sharp, William Frederick. ''Slavery on the Spanish Frontier: The Colombia Chocó, 1680–1810''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1976.
* Thorp, Rosemary, and Francisco Durand. "8. A Historical View of Business-State Relations: Colombia, Peru, and Venezuela Compared." in ''Business and the state in developing countries.'' (Cornell University Press, 2018) pp.&nbsp;216–236.
* Twinam, Ann. ''Miners, Merchants, and Farmers in Colonial Colombia''. Austin: University of Texas Press 1983.
* West, Robert C. ''Colonial [[Placer mining|Placer Mining]] in Colombia''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press 1952.

===In Spanish===

* Arciniegas, Germán. ''Los comuneros''. Caracas: Bibliotecta Ayacucho 1992.
* Colmenares, Germán. ''Historia económica y social de Colombia, 1537–1719''. Cali 1973.
* González, Margarita. ''El resguardo en el Nuevo Reino de Granada''. 3rd edition. Bogotá: El Ancora 1992.

{{div col end|2}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web |url=http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/colombia/#history |title= Colombia: History |author= Latin American Network Information Center |publisher= University of Texas at Austin |location=USA }}
* [https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35754.htm U.S. State Department Background Note: Colombia]

{{History of South America}}
{{Colombia topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Colombia}}
[[Category:History of Colombia| ]]