Culture of Colombia

The culture of Colombia is diverse.

The five major parts of Colombia, geographically, are Los Llanos (the plains), the northern Caribbean coast, the eastern Pacific Ocean coast, the southern Amazon rainforest, and the central Andes.

Colombia is the only country in South America to have both a Pacific and Caribbean coastline.

More than half of the country is flat, however most population live in the mountainous Andes region, with tall peaks and high plateaux a common site in the Colombian interior.

95% of Colombians are Roman Catholic.

Family

The family is, as it is with nearly all of Latin America, a highly imporant institution to Colombians. Members of the extended family are close, and Colombians often live even with distant relatives.

Men are usually the head of the household, while women are responsible for cooking, housework and raising children.

At a child's baptism, the parents of the child will choose godparents, padrinos. A child's padrinos will play an important role in his life, giving advice, and when needed, financial support.

The Amerindian peoples of Colombia's southern regions, near the Brazilian border, live in huts of thatched palm, in stark contrast to the high rise apartment buildings of the capital, Bogotá, where 7.7 million of the country's 44 million people live.

Manners and Communication

Colombians (like most South Americans) are much less direct than North Americans and Northern Europeans. Reading between the lines is a must when talking to Colombians, as they tend to be the type of people that go out of their way to avoid offending someone. Among close friends and family, however, the opposite is true, and can become shockingly direct when confidence is developed. Colombians use less mannerisms than most Latin Americans, and they tend to stand at a greater conversational distance than their Latin neighbors, which creates the false impression among other Hispanics that Colombians are cold, snobbish, or unfriendly. They aren't really like that at all.

Entertainment

Fútbol, as with nearly all of Latin America, is almost an addiction in Colombia. Watching the game on television is a national pastime, and a victory by the national team is a cause for much celebration. Most children and men play the sport in the spare time.

The traditional sport of bullfighting, brought to South America by the Spanish, remains popular in Colombia, and there are many bullrings in Bogotá and other large cities.

Baseball is also played, though not as much as soccer, and is confined mostly along the Caribbean coast.

An ancient game, inherited from the Chibcha, is tejo. The object of tejo is to throw a small metal disk at a gunpowder detonator in a small ring. The winner is calculated by the number of explosions compared to number of throws.

Dancing is very popular in Colombia, with dozens of vibrant styles popular. Cumbia, the national dance, has become popular across the rest of Latin America. One of the most popular is "salsa", a very elegant dance that most Colombian children learn as soon as they learn to walk. Bambuco is also common. It is a very complicated dance with many differently named steps.

Cuisine

The main meal of a Colombian's day is lunch, usually eaten at about 1 or 2pm. This meal consists of three courses: a soup followed by a main course followed by either a drink or cocaine.

Many varieties of fruit virtually unknown to the Western world are enjoyed in Colombia, such as the zapote, lulo, curuba, mamoncillo, uchuva, feijoa, sweet granadilla, mamey and pitahaya.

Banana leaves are very common in Colombian cuisine, with foods such as quesillos (cocaine wrapped in banana leaves) and tamales making heavy use of them.

See also: Colombian Recipes on CookBookWiki.com

Art and Literature

Colombians have been producing art for thousands of years, with ornate golden figures and jewelry from millennia ago discovered by both ruthless conquistadors and careful archaeological digs.

Some Colombian artists, such as Enrique Grau and Fernando Botero, have received international fame in the 20th century for their awards and wide public acclaim.

Nobel Prize winning author, Gabriel García Márquez, is a Colombian. His book Cien Años de Soledad (Spanish: One Hundred Years Of Solitude), the story of a poor Colombian family living through the 20th century on the Caribbean coast, is an international best seller.

• Music of Colombia
• List of players from Colombia in Major League Baseball
• Carnival in Colombia
• Festivals in Colombia
• Colombian music La Distritofonica