Colombia

Six regions in one country

From tropical beaches to Andean peaks, and from the Amazon rainforest to Caribbean islands, Colombia holds six very different natural regions:

• Caribbean, with Cartagena, Santa Marta and the Sierra Nevada.
• Pacific, one of the rainiest places on Earth, where humpback whales arrive from July.
• Andean, three mountain ranges, the coffee country and Bogotá.
• Orinoquía, the great eastern plains shared with Venezuela.
• Amazon, a third of the country, covered by rainforest.
• Insular, the islands of San Andrés and Providencia in the Caribbean and Malpelo and Gorgona in the Pacific.

One of the most biodiverse countries on Earth

Colombia is home to more than 50,000 recorded species, and relative to its size it has more species than any other country. It ranks first in the world for birds and orchids, second for plants, amphibians, butterflies and freshwater fish, third for palms and reptiles, and fourth for mammals. The Colombian Biodiversity Information System keeps the figures up to date.

Cultural diversity

Each region has its own mix of Indigenous, European and African heritage, with its own accent, food, festivals and music. Colombia recognises 65 Indigenous languages alongside Spanish, as well as two Creole languages.

Music, as an example

Colombia is known as “the land of a thousand rhythms”, and the count of traditional rhythms passes that number.

The Colombian Music Map, created by congress host Juan David Leongómez, is an interactive guide to that diversity: it plots traditional, fusion and non-traditional musical examples across the country’s six regions, each with its own playable audio clip.

Beyond Bogotá

If you can add a few days to your trip, the rest of the country is a short flight away: the walled city of Cartagena and the beaches of Tayrona on the Caribbean coast, the coffee farms of the central Andes, Medellín, or the Amazon from Leticia. We are exploring an optional trip to the Caribbean coast after the congress (see the social programme).