Population: 49,059,221
Motto: Libertad y Orden (Liberty and Order)
Colombia is home to PINK DOLPHINS! Yes, they are really pink and no one really knows why. They aren’t born pink, but either through abrasions of the skin or to match the river mud, they turn pink.
There is an underground functional church made of salt. 650 feet underground in an abandoned salt mine lies the Salt Cathedral of Zipaquirá. A functional Catholic church, religious enthusiasts often make a pilgrimage to this cavern.
The world’s largest Salsa Festival (the dance, not the sauce), the World Salsa Festival is held in Cali, Colombia and draws over 44,000 people to the 4-day event.
The official national anthem is “National Anthem of the Republic of Colombia” (Himno Nacional de la República de Colombia):
Oh, unwithering glory!
Oh, immortal jubilance!
In furrows of pain,
goodness now germinates.The dreadful night has ceased.
Sublime Liberty
beams forth the dawn
of her invincible light.
All of humanity
that groans within its chains,
understands the words
of He who died on the cross.“Independence!” shouts
the American world;
The land of Columbus.
Is bathed in heroes’ blood.
But this great doctrine;
“The king is not the sovereign”,
resounds, and those who suffer
bless their passion.The Orinoco’s bed
Is heaped with plunder,
Of blood and tears
A river is seen to flow.
In Bárbula
neither souls nor eyes,
know whether admiration to feel
or fear to suffer.On the shores of the Caribbean,
a famished people fight,
preferring horror
to fickle health.
O, aye! from Cartagena
heavy is the hardship,
and death’s rubble her virtue disdainsFrom Boyacá in the fields,
the genius of glory,
from every sprig a hero
was crowned undefeated.
Soldiers without armor
won the victory;
their virile spirit
served them as a shield.Bolívar crosses the Andes
bathed by two oceans,
swords as though sparks
flash in Junín.
Indomitable centaurs
descend to the plains,
and a premonition begins to be felt,
of the epic’s end.The victorious trumpet
in Ayacucho loudly thunders,
as in every triumph grows
its formidable sound.
In its expansive thrust
Liberty is first felt,
from the American sky
forming a pavilion.In agony, the Virgin
Tears out her hair,
and bereft of her love,
leaves it to hang on a cypress.
Regretting her hope
covered by a cold headstone,
but glorious pride
hallows her fair skin.Thus the motherland is formed,
Thermopylaes bursting forth;
a constellation of cyclops
the night did brighten.
The trembling flower
finding the wind mortal,
underneath the laurels
safety sought.But it’s not complete glory
to defeat in battle,
the arm that fights
is encouraged by truth.
For independence alone
The great clamour doesn’t silence;
if the sun shines on everyone,
justice is liberty.Of men the rights
Listen to the national anthem.
Nariño’s preaching,
the soul of struggle
was prophetically taught.
Ricaurte in San Mateo,
in atoms flying,
“Duty before life,”
with flames he wrote.
Unofficial name: “¡Oh Gloria Inmarcesible!” (Oh Unfading Glory!)