Colombia

Situated in the northwest of South America, between latitudes 12°N and 4°S, and longitudes 67° and 79°W, the Republic of Colombia is a unitary, constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. It has been ranked by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as one of seventeen mega diverse countries of the world.

Despite its relatively small size, Colombia is one of the two most biologically diverse countries on Earth, second only to Brazil. Its wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from different kinds of forests to Andean Páramo and open savannahs, provide perfect habitat for the most spectacular array of Neotropical plants and animals to thrive. Colombia is home to about 10% of the world’s living species. To this day, 56,343 life forms have been recorded for Colombia, with 9,153 of them endemic to the country.