COLOMBIA 



1478 



COLOMBIA 



is shipped to Germany. The cotton is sent to 

 Liverpool and Havre. 



In the temperate western plateaus, potatoes, 



. corn and barley are grown, but the crop 



is not sufficient to supply the entire home 



demand. Wheat is imported from the United 



States and rye from Germany. Banana culti- 



COMPARATIVE AREAS 



Colombia compared with Texas, New Mexico 

 and Oklahoma. 



vation is extending, and about a million dol- 

 lars' worth of the fruit is sent to the United 

 States yearly- Hevea (rubber) trees and tolu 

 balsams are cultivated for their products, 

 though also found in large quantities. Wild 

 copaiba trees are likewise tapped. Dye-woods 

 and cedars are abundant on the Magdalena 

 River, but little lumber is exported. Inex- 

 haustible tracts of mangrove are found on the 

 coasts. Cattle-raising is an important industry, 

 and about two and a half million dollars' 

 worth of hides are exported to the United 

 States each year. 



According to the "Summary of Foreign 

 Commerce of the United States," there were 

 imported from Colombia in 1915 products of 

 a value of $19,900,000, the principal items being 

 coffee, $13,650,000; hides, $2,400,000; bananas, 

 $970,000; Panama hats, $850,000. The balance 

 was furnished by cocoa, India rubber, ivory, 

 nuts, etc. In the very near future live cattle 

 and meat will be sent also from Colombia, 

 where packing houses are being estabhshed. 



Mining and Manufactures. Colombia is rich 

 in precious metals, and nearly all the fine 

 emeralds mined to-day come from mines in 



that republic. Two emerald mines (at Muio 

 and Cosquez) belong to the government, and 

 th.y yield about $1,500,000 worth of stones 

 yearly. In the production of platinum Colom- 

 bia is next to Russia. 



Gold and silver abound in the mountainous 

 regions. The chief centers of gold-mining are 

 Antioquia and Cauca. The centers of silver- 

 mining are Tolima and Cauca. The annual 

 output of gold and silver is valued at $6,000,000, 

 an average of $20,000 each working day. The 

 platinum exported each year is valued at 

 almost $600,000. Other minerals which abound, 

 but which are little developed, are copper, 

 mercury, cinnabar and manganese. It is inter- 

 esting to note that salt mines, north of Bogota, 

 the capital, are a government monopoly and a 

 great source of revenue. Coal and petroleum 

 exist in extensive deposits and have begun to 

 attract the attention of American and British 

 capital. Iron works, north of Bogota, manufac- 

 ture wrought iron, rails, castings, etc., and large 

 steel mills are to be established at Pradera. 

 There are valuable pearl fisheries on the coasts, 

 obtainable through temporary contracts from 

 the government. 



Although manufacturing industries are still 

 of little importance, great strides are being 

 made in the manufacture of Suaza or Panama 

 hats from jipijapa and toquilla fiber; in 1914 

 the hats manufactured had" a value of $1,354,000. 

 At Barranquilla, the northern seaport, are a 

 great number of factories for the making of 

 matches, glassware, shoes, nails, cotton-goods 

 and ice. 



Transportation and Communication. Al- 

 though much of the inland traffic is by river on 

 the Magdalena and its branches, most of the 

 commercial intercourse must be carried on 

 over simple mule tracks and cart roads, for 

 there are only 708 miles of railway. The lines 

 are short, from twenty-five to a hundred miles 

 in length, and form no connective means of 

 travel. The 14,500 miles of telegraph lines are 

 owned by the government. Colombia is in 

 communication with America and Europe by 

 cable and regular lines of steamers. Colombia 

 has developed no important seaports on the 

 Pacific (its principal city on the western coast 

 being Buenaventura, with a population of lit- 

 tle more than 4,000), since to reach this coast 

 from ports on the North Atlantic has necessi- 

 tated, until recently, the immense journey 

 around the continent. Likewise, Colombian 

 ports on the Caribbean have been barred until 

 recently, by the Isthmus of Panama, from a 



