Colombia

[ kuh-luhm-bee-uh; Spanish kaw-lawm-byah ]

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

Other words from Colombia

  • Co·lom·bi·an, adjective, noun

Words Nearby Colombia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Colombia in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Colombia

Colombia

/ (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)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Colombia

Colombia

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.

Notes for Colombia

Its major legal crop is coffee.

Notes for Colombia

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.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.