10 more facts you might not know about Colombia

1-In recent history the country has enjoyed the longest period of democratic rule of any South American country (61 years).

2-Expenditure on education is one of the highest in Latin America. The literacy rate is 92.7%

3-Gabriel Garcia Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982.

4-Fernando Botero is one of the world´s most famous living painters.

5-Every two years the capital, Bogotá, has one of the world´s most important international theatre festivals. In 2016 there were 855 performances given by 170 theatre companies from 44 countries.

6-Famous for it´s walled, colonial centre Cartagena also hosts International music, cinema and Hay festivals.

7-The Festival de Flores in Medellin features one the world´s largest flower parades, ‘el desfile de silleteros’.

8-Cali hosts the Festival Mundial de Salsa, one of the largest of it´s kind in the world. Cali´s salsa dancers are renowned for the speed at which they move their feet and have won the World Championship several times.

9-Barranquilla is host to one of the world´s largest carnivals.

10-Master craftsmen make hundreds of masks for those participating in this carnival and these are now one of Colombia´s most famous artisan products.