Long-form name: Republic of Colombia

Type: republic; executive branch dominates government structure

Capital: Bogota

Administrative divisions: 23 departments (departamentos, singular--departamento), 5 commissariats* (comisarias, singular--comisaria), and 4 intendancies** (intendencias, singular--intendencia); Amazonas*, Antioquia, Arauca**, Atlantico, Bolivar, Boyaca, Caldas, Caqueta, Casanare**, Cauca, Cesar, Choco, Cordoba, Cundinamarca, Guainia*, Guaviare*, Huila, La Guajira, Magdalena, Meta, Narino, Norte de Santander, Putumayo**, Quindio, Risaralda, San Andres y Providencia**, Santander, Sucre, Tolima, Valle del Cauca, Vaupes*, Vichada*; note--there may be a new special district (distrito especial) named Bogota

Independence: 20 July 1810 (from Spain)

Constitution: 4 August 1886, with amendments codified in 1946 and 1968

Legal system: based on Spanish law; religious courts regulate marriage and divorce; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

National holiday: Independence Day, 20 July (1810)

Branches: president, bicameral legislature (Congress--Senate, House of Representatives), judiciary

Leader: @m5Chief of State and Head of Government--President Virgilio BARCO Vargas (since 7 August 1986), term ends 1990; President Designate Victor MOSQUERA Chaux

Suffrage: age 18 and over

Elections: every fourth year; presidential election held May 1986; congressional election held March 1986; first ever municipal election held March 1988

Political parties and leaders: Liberal Party--Virgilio Barco Vargas, Alfonso Lopez Michelsen, Julio Cesar Turbay; Luis Carlos Galan head of new Liberal faction, recently formally reincorporated into party; Conservative Party--Misael Pastrana Borrero, Alvaro Gomez Hurtado; Belisario Betancur leads a small faction; Patriotic Union (UP), is a political movement formed by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and Colombian Communist Party (PCC), Bernardo Jaramillo Ossa (Jaime Pardo Leal, the 1986 presidential candidate, was assassinated in October 1987)

Voting strength: (1986 presidential election) Virgilio Barco Vargas 59%, Alvaro Gomez Hurtado 36%, Jaime Pardo Leal 4% (assassinated in October 1987), others 1%

Communists: 18,000 members (est.), including Communist Party Youth Organization (JUCO)

Other political or pressure groups: Colombian Communist Party (PCC), Gilberto Vieira White; Communist Party/Marxist-Leninist (PCC/ML), Chinese-line Communist Party; Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC)

Member of: Contadora Group, FAO, G-77, GATT, Group of Eight (G-8), IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IRC, ISO, ITU, LAIA and Andean Sub-Regional Group, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPEB, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG, WTO

Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Victor MOSQUERA; Chancery at 2118 Leroy Place NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 387-8338; there are Colombian Consulates General in Chicago, Houston, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, and San Juan (Puerto Rico), and Consulates in Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Tampa; US--Ambassador Thomas E. MCNAMARA; Embassy at Calle 38, No.8-61, Bogota (mailing address is APO Miami 34038); telephone �57� (1) 285-1300 or 1688; there is a US Consulate in Barranquilla

Flag: three horizontal bands of yellow (top, double-width), blue, and red; similar to the flag of Ecuador which is longer and bears the Ecuadorian coat of arms superimposed in the center

NOTE: The information regarding Colombia on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Colombia Government 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Colombia Government 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.