Indigenous lands called the land of Colombia home long before Europeans ever dreamed of the existence beyond their continent. It was the Chibcha Indians who dominated the area. Their tribe was one of the largest and most long standing of all pre-historic South American Tribes. They were expert farmers and prospered from the rich and fertile land of Colombia. They mined gold and emeralds and maintained an important religion involving sacrificing not only these items to their Gods, but also people. Their language was a very hard one to break and posed a major problem when the Europeans, namely the Spaniards, arrived in the 1500s. Yet it did not stop them from occupying shortly after arrival.
Tha Spaniards were claiming much of the land in South America and up to Central American and the Caribbean islands during this time. It was necessary to consolidate land in order to organize all that was newly acquired and they did so with Columbia becoming a part of " New Granada." Trouble was brewing however, the native peoples were outraged by the storming of their land. The people of New Granada decided to ban together and protest. Led by Simon Bolivar from Venezuela, revolt went underway. Over just over a decade they fought the Spanish government in attempt to overthrow the king's rule over their land. Eventually they were successful and New Granada separated into smaller provinces yet united under the new name, Gran-Colombia with Bolivar as President.
Turmoil continued in Colombia more than its neighbors. The people were divided between liberal and conservative beliefs and problems escalated to a Civil War. It was then the U.S. stepped in to assist and thus the creation of Panama underwent in order to separate northern Colombia from the rest of the country. Unfortunately, civil unrest and violence remained despite the new border.
In more recent years Colombia has been devastated with natural disasters, more political corruption and marxist guerrilla violence as well as violence surrounding its illegal drug production.
