Colombia (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

Republic of Colombia República de Colombia Timeline: Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum OTL equivalent: Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama
Flag Greater coat of arms
Motto:  Tierra de Gracia (Spanish) ("Land of Grace")
Anthem:  La Marsellesa Venezolana
Location of Colombia
Capital		Ciudad Bolívar
Other cities		Bogota; Caracas; Quito; Ciudad Panama
Official languages		Spanish
Ethnic groups		Multiracial; Whites; Afro-Colombian; Amerindian
Religion		Christianity; Irreligion; Judaism; Islam
Demonym		Colombian
Government		Federal state; Constitutional semi-parliamentary republic
-	President
-	Vice President
Legislature		Parliament of Colombia
-	Upper house	Senate Censors
-	Lower house	Chamber of Tribunes
Establishment
-	Independence from the Spanish Empire	November 28, 1821
Area
-	Total	2,571,236 km2  992,759 sq mi
Population
-	estimate	95,108,682
Currency		Colombian peso (COP)
Time zone		COT (UTC−5)
Internet TLD		.co
Calling code		+57

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia (Spanish: República de Colombia) is a federal constitutional republic in northwestern South America. It is bordered by the Central American Federation to the northwest, the West Indies to the northeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north; Guyana to the east; Peru, Bolivia and Brazil to the south; and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

Politics and government

The Palace of Government, the seat of Colombian executive.

Constitution of Colombia establishes four separate branches of government: the executive branch, consisted of the President and the cabinet; the legislative branch, exercised together by the Senate and the Chamber of Tribunes; the control branch, exercised by the Censors; and the judicial branch. The Colombian constitution was modeled on American and British constitutions, mixing the elements of presidential and parliamentary systems following Simón Bolívar's Vision of Angostura.

As the head of the executive branch, the President of the Republic (Presidente de la República) serves as the country's head of state. The President is popularly elected to serve at maximum for two four-year terms. They are accompanied by the Vice President (Vicepresidente de la República), three Secretaries of State (Secretarios de Estado), and other ministers, who together forms the cabinet with the former serves as its presiding officer. The Vice President and the Secretaries of State are appointed by the President and serves at the former's pleasure, but the appointments should be confirmed by a simple majority of the joint sitting of parliament.

The Capitolio Federal, the seat of Legislative Body of Colombia.

The parliament of Colombia is tricameral, the only parliament in the world having the arrangement consisted of the Senate, the Chamber of Tribunes and the Censors, collectively termed as the Legislative Body (Cuerpo Legislativo). The parliament wields two separate powers: legislative and control powers. Law-making function of the parliament is exercised by the Senate (Cámara de Senadores) and the Chamber of Tribunes (Cámara de Tribunos). The members of the Senate are appointed for life by the President or elected by the Senate itself if a senator dies or resigns, while the Tribunes is popularly elected in electoral districts to serve four-year terms.

Colombian constitutional framework is unique for established the fourth element of the government, the Censors (Cámara de Censores), to supervise and censure other government officials. The Censors is popularly elected from a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation to serve six-year terms. The political system of Colombia is characterized as a "semi-parliamentary republic" where the executive and legislative powers are strictly separated, but the executive, except the President of the Republic, can be impeached by the Censors, a "confidence power" separate from other chambers.

The Palace of Justice, the seat of judiciary of Colombia

The judicial branch is headed by three high courts, consisting of the Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia) which deals with penal and civil matters, the Council of State (Consejo de Estado), which has special responsibility for administrative law and also provides legal advice to the executive and the Constitutional Court (Corte Constitucional), responsible for assuring the integrity of the Colombian constitution. Colombia operates a system of civil law, which since 2005 has been applied through an adversarial system.

Administrative Divisions

Flag + Name	Capital	Population	Area (sq km)
New Granada	Bogotá	44,726,254	1,141,748
Venezuela	Caracas	29,789,730	916,445
Ecuador	Quito	8,824,930	437,626
Federal Capital District	Ciudad Bolívar	7,430,000	1,200
Panama	Ciudad Panama	4,337,768	75,417

History

Colonization (1522–1821)

The founding of Santa Fe de Bogotá (1538)

Spanish colonization in the area that is known today as Colombia started at the present-day city of Cumaná in 1522, establishing its first permanent South American settlement. It was followed by the founding of Santa Marta in 1525 and Cartagena in 1533. Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada led an expedition to the extensive highlands of the interior, by following the Magdalena River into the Andean cordillera in 1535. Quesada then founded the "New City of Granada", the name of which soon changed to "Santa Fé de Bogotá", and named the region the "New Kingdom of Granada" (Spanish: Nuevo Reino de Granada).

In 1542, the region of New Granada, along with all other Spanish possessions in South America, became part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, with its capital at Lima. A royal audiencia, a type of superior court that combined executive and judicial authority, was created at Santa Fé de Bogotá by a royal decree in 1549. The Viceroyalty of New Granada was originally created first in 1717 and permanently in 1739, with Santa Fé de Bogotá as its capital. By the early 19th century, there were three viceroyalties of Spain (New Granada, Peru and Rio de la Plata) and two autonomous captaincies-general (Venezuela and Chile) in South America.

War of Independence (1821–1826)

El Libertador Simon Bolívar delivers a speech on the Congress of Angostura, 1819

With the arrival of news in May 1810 that southern Spain had been conquered by Napoleon's forces, that the Spanish Supreme Central Junta had dissolved itself on January 29, 1810. On August 10, 1809, that the first call for the independence from Spain was made in Quito, under the leadership of the city's criollos. Although it lasted no more than two months, it followed by other declarations of independence in Gran Colombia (1810), Venezuela and Paraguay (1811) and other territories, that established their own governments.

The idea of independence, however, was not the initial concern of those juntas. It was only on February 15, 1819 when the twenty-six delegates from Venezuela and New Granada convened at Angostura to consolidate independence for the Andean region of South America in the form of a large, unified republic. On December 17, 1819, the Congress declared the independence of the Republic of Colombia that consisted of departments of Cundinamarca, Venezuela, and Quito. Francisco Antonio Zea was elected President, while Simon Bolívar was appointed as the supreme commander of the army, granted the title as the "Liberator, Protector, and Lord Marshal of the Nation."

Francisco Antonio Zea (1766–1822), the first President of Colombia (1819–1822)

The Congress was reassembled in Cúcuta on August 30, 1821, approving the first Colombian constitution, the Constitution of Cúcuta. It established a high degree of centralization, because numerous New Granadan and Venezuelan delegates, who had previously been fervent federalists, now believed that centralism was needed in the campaign against the royalists. The departments of Venezuela, Cundinamarca, and Quito were divided into smaller parts to weaken regionalist sentiments and establish efficient central control. Acknowledging that not all regions were included as large portions of the country were still in royalist grip, the congress also called for a new constituent assembly to gather after 10 years.

On November 28, 1822, President Zea died in office, necessitating for another congress to meet. By the new Congress assembled in Bogota, Bolívar, who led the military campaign in Ecuador, was elected new president in absentia on December 11, 1822. Since Bolívar continued to lead the military campaigns in Peru, Vice President Francisco de Paula Santander became the acting president.

The war against the royalist forces lasted until 1826, when Spain was finally forced to negotiate with the pro-independence leaders and recognize the emancipation. The Congress of Cúcuta took place in 1821 and promulgated the first constitution of the Republic of Colombia. The United States recognized the independence of Colombia in 1822. Britain waited until 1825, after the Battle of Ayacucho in Mexico, to recognize Colombia as a sovereign state. Both nations also recognized more Latin American states in the next few years.

Further readings