A multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Colombia
Colombia is the country of mestizaje, but also of ethnic diversity. According to the latest census of DANE (the Colombian statistics entity), in 2018, 87.6% of the population considered themselves mixed race or white. The white is mainly of European (mostly Spanish) or Middle Eastern origin. Mestizo, literally "the half-breed," indicates both Native American and white ancestry. The rest of the population is defined as having a particular ethnic origin: Afro-Colombian (9.34%), indigenous (4.4%) or Roma (0.006%). These figures are based on self-perception, and some indigenous people prefer to consider themselves as mestizos, because of the racial prejudice their community suffers from part of the society. But attitudes are changing. The progressive Constitution of 1991 recognizes Colombia as a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural state. A Colombia that is no longer afraid of its diversity, that is even proud of it, at least in words. The Constitution protects the collective rights of three ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the State - Afro-Colombians, Indigenous and Roma - who can legally live and express themselves according to their own languages, beliefs, customs and traditions.
The Indigenous. When the Spaniards arrived in what is now Colombia, there were an estimated 1 to 6 million Amerindians, belonging to three linguistic groups: Arawak, Carib and Chibcha. 90% of the indigenous peoples were decimated in a few decades, due to forced labor and especially diseases imported from Europe. Today, the Indians represent nearly 2 million people, belonging to 115 ethnic groups. They are mainly present in the departments of Amazonas, La Guajira, Vaupés and Vichada, Chocó, Cauca, Sucre, Córdoba, Nariño and Putumayo. The areas where the Amerindian communities enjoyed relative isolation are not resisting modern society, which tends to standardize the way of life. About twenty isolated groups having voluntarily not had contact with the "civilization" since tens or hundreds of years, would have been identified in the depths of the Colombian Amazon. How long will these nomadic peoples be able to remain isolated in the face of agricultural advance, deforestation and the whims of evangelist sects (such as the New Tribes Mission) that seek to contact them to "save" their souls as in the colonial era?
The largest Amerindian group is the Wayúu, with 380,000 members, or one in five indigenous people in Colombia. They live in the La Guajira peninsula, on the border with Venezuela (where the population is estimated at 413,000). They are the only indigenous group not to have been conquered by the Spanish settlers. They remain a proud and feared people. Organized in clans, the Wayúu have preserved their ancestral traditions(el encierro, la dote, etc.), while being involved in the economic activities (legal or clandestine) of this border area. In the Caribbean region, there are also the Wiwa, Kogui, Arhuaco and Kankuamo, scattered in communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. On the Pacific side, the Emberá and Wounaan are in the majority. In the Andean region, they are the Muisca, but there are also other ethnic groups, such as the U'was, Guambiano, Misak, Pijao... In the Amazon, there are the Tikuna, Huitoto, Coconuco, among others, and in the Orenoque basin, the Tunebo, Tiniqua, Piapoco... The 1991 Constitution recognized the collective rights of indigenous peoples over certain lands, ancestral or not, through the resguardos indigenas . This administrative and socio-political entity manages a collective land according to indigenous law. The guardia indigena (indigenous guard) is responsible for maintaining compliance with these rules and ensuring control of the territory against incursions by armed groups. The latter use the sometimes vast lands of the indigenous people for their illicit activities (coca cultivation, gold mining, etc.).
The Afro-Colombians. These are the descendants of African slaves brought in during the colonial era to replace the indigenous workforce. Colombia is now thethird country in Latin America with a large black population, after Brazil and Haiti. About 10% of the population considers itself Afro-Colombian, but several community organizations put the figure at a more realistic 25%. Blacks and mulatos (mestizos of Afro-European descent) now live mainly on the Pacific (90% of the population) and Caribbean coasts, as well as in major urban centers such as Medellín, Bogotá and especially Cali. They are the majority in San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina. In the archipelago, the 25,500 inhabitants with Afro-Anglo-Caribbean roots are called Raizales. The cultural and linguistic characteristics of this island people are clearly different from the rest of the Afro-Colombian population, with a language and culture similar to that of Jamaica and Barbados. Another officially recognized black minority is the Palenqueros. Originally from San Basilo de Palenque, they are direct descendants of the Cimarones (Maroons), slaves who fled from the Spanish haciendas to form an independent kingdom at the end of the 16th century. They are estimated to be 6,600 people, with a very particular culture, language and way of life. On May 21, Colombia celebrates the Día de la Afrocolombianidad, in honor of the cultural contributions of the Afro-Colombian population, officially freed from slavery in 1851.
The Roma. The comunidad gitana (or Pueblo Rom) arrived in colonial times, fleeing persecution in Europe. Los Gitanos formed caravans that traveled the country, with goods to sell and prophecies, such as those of Melquíades, the magician in One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez's masterpiece. The worsening of the armed conflict in the 1980s forced them to settle down. They gathered in kumpañy in some cities, such as Cucutá, Girón, San Pelayo (Córdoba), Ibagué (Tolima) and Bogotá, as well as in the department of Nariño, where a certain nomadic tradition still exists. It is estimated that there are currently 3,000 Gitanos in Colombia, many of whom are dedicated to trade and copper craftsmanship.
More recent migrations have enriched Colombia's ethnic mix and diversity. In the north of the country, particularly in Barranquilla, a large immigration from the Middle East arrived at the end of the nineteenth century and especially in the middle of the twentieth century. These Syrian, Lebanese, Jordanian or Palestinian traders, all called Turcos, actively participated in the development of the region. Barranquilla also received Jewish immigrants from Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Germany. In recent years, many Venezuelans (and long-time Colombians in the neighboring country) have been crossing the border in the hope of finding a better life in Colombia, sending money, food and medicine to their families back home. It is estimated that more than 4.5 million Venezuelans have left their country since Nicolás Maduro took power in 2013. Half of them have settled in Colombia. In February 2021, in the face of this massive influx and in the midst of Covid's health crisis, a "temporary protection status for Venezuelan migrants" (EPTV) was granted to more than 1.7 million refugees. Issued for ten years, this special visa offers the possibility of working legally and benefiting from the health system. Other immigrants include Cubans, Ecuadorians, Brazilians, but also Spaniards, Italians and French, tempted by a new life. Between 3 and 7 million Colombians live abroad, mainly in the United States, Spain, Ecuador and Chile.
A young and urban population
In Colombia, 40% of the population is under 25 years old and the median age is 31 years (42 years in France). But the number of children per woman is constantly decreasing, from 6 in the 1960s to less than 2 today, but with great differences between regions. The population is mainly concentrated in the Andean region and on the Caribbean coast, leaving large uninhabited territories, such as the Llanos and the Amazon, with less than 1 inhabitant per km². Almost 80% of Colombians live in urban areas, especially in one of the 7 metropolises with more than 1 million inhabitants: Bogotá (11 million), Medellín (4 million), Cali (3.2 million), Barranquilla (2.1 million), Cartagena (1.4 million), Bucaramanga (1.2 million) and Cúcuta (1.1 million). The rural exodus increased in the 1950s and 1960s, with the civil war and then with the armed conflict. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 7.5 million Colombians were victims of forced displacement between 1985 and 2017, largely Afro-Colombian and indigenous families. In 2021, nearly 73,000 Colombians fled their home territory under pressure from multiple armed groups (+181% compared to 2020).
Languages alive and well
Colombia is the second largest Spanish speaking country in the world, behind Mexico and ahead of Spain. It is an American Spanish with linguistic characteristics quite different from Spanish from Spain. The one spoken in the streets of Bogotá has the reputation of being the purest (or neutral) in the world! Due to the complex geography of the country, there are a large number of regional peculiarities and accents. There are even a dozen dialects: costeñol, spoken on the Caribbean coast, close to that spoken in Panamá or Venezuela; Pastuso, in the Pasto region, quite similar to the Spanish spoken in the Ecuadorian Andes; Paisa from the Medellín region; Valluno from the Cali region; Rolo from Bogotá; llanero from the Llanos; Cundiboyacensespoken in Cundinamarca and Boyacá; or Santandereano in Santander.
There are also 68 native languages in Colombia: 65 indigenous languages (many of them endangered), two Afro-Colombian languages, and Romani, spoken by the Roma people. The Afro-Colombian languages are Palenquero, a mixture of Spanish and African languages, spoken in San Basilio de Palenque, and Anglo-Caribbean Creole, spoken in San Andrés and Providencia. While the education system is supposed to be bilingual in some territories, the national curriculum rarely incorporates indigenous cultural elements. Instead, they tend to remove them from their traditional customs and practices and incorporate them into a Westernized society.
