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Sunday, February 1, 2015

Colombia, Cool Facts #4

3. Panama <=                                                                                                                   => 5. Ecuador


1. First Conquistadors in Colombia

In 1525 the conquistadors defeated the resistance of the native Chibcha people. The Viceroyalty of Granada was established with Santa Marta as their first permanent settlement. Current Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia and Panama were all parts of the Viceroyalty of Granada. Bogota became the capital of the area. 


2. Colombia's name 

Colombia got its name from Christopher Columbus even though he never set foot on Colombian soil. What a man, a whole country is named after him without even setting foot there. 


3. El Dorado 

The Spanish conquistadors were searching the mythical city of El Dorado from Colombia. It was searched from the Laguna de Guatavita and from all the parts of the Amazon. Expeditions were made throughout the Amazon area. 


4. Simon Bolivar the first president

In 1819 Simon Bolivar's troops defeated the Spanish and New Granada was declared as independent Colombia. Bolivar became the first president of Colombia. Bolivar had the dream about the United States of South America and his Gran Colombia was first step in achieving this goal. 


5. Goethe and the flag of Colombia

In 1785 the Venezuelan freedom fighter Fransisco de Miranda was discussing with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe about Goethe's theory of colours. This was in Weimar Germany and Goethe told Miranda: "Your destiny is to create in your land a place where primary colors are not distorted." and later he said: "A country starts out from a name and a flag, and it then becomes them, just as a man fulfills his destiny."
Miranda was defeated by the spaniards in 1806 but when Bolivar declared Colombia independent he took Miranda's rebel flag as the official flag. And after the collapse of Grand Colombia Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia all used a variation of the original flag as their new flags which are still in use. 



Ecuador, Venezuela and Colombia

Timeline 

1499 Alonso de Ojeda first conquistador in Colombian soil 
1525 first permanent settlements are established
1811 Cartagena becomes independent
1813 Bogota becomes independent as Cundinamarca
1819 Bolivar declares Colombia independent
1830 Grand Colombia is divided into 3 separate countries: Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia
1851 and 1863-65 Civil wars between the liberals and conservatives
1899-1902 Civil war 
1903 Panama becomes independent
1948-57 Civil war
1960s FARC and ELN, left-wing guerrilla organizations are formed
1993 Pablo Escobar dies in a battle and the drug war against him ends 
1994 Football player Andres Escobar was shot in Colombia after he had scored own goal in the World Cup. 


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