Colombia

Colombia is the fourth largest country in South America and one of the most populated countries on the continent. It is located at the Northern portion of South America and its surrounded by both the Caribbean and the pacific ocean.

A common reference to Colombia is its amazing coffee and it's heavy production and exportation of cocaine. Both these notions are somewhat true to an extent but we must not judge an entire population on stereotypes.

Some of Colombia's claims to fame are:

The acclaimed author and Nobel laureate: Gabriel García Márquez who won the Nobel peace prize in literature for his novel Cien años de soledad or 100 years of solitude.
The new fitness craze: Zumba which is a workout based on dancing to latin american music was created by a Colombian man in his native country later trademarking it in Miami.  You can check out more on Zumba here:   http://www.zumba.com/us/about/  

The American show, "Ugly Betty" is based on the original Colombian novela Betty la fea

Sofia Vergara from Modern family

 

Shakira

Other famous faces who hail from Colombia: Shakira, Sofía Vergara from Modern Family, Grammy award winning artist and political activist Juanes, John Leguizamo in Ice age and Moulin Rouge. The list goes on.

Media in Colombia

Journalism in Colombia is prominent but a dangerous occupation. Only truly passionate journalists pursue to work in this field, openly knowing that by making this decision their life is in danger. Colombia has been plagued by a vicious rebel force known as: The Farc  among other guerrilla forces.It is a left wing revolutionary movement that specializes in kidnaps and drug dealing. According to BBC, more than 120 journalists were killed in the 1990's; many for reporting on drug trafficking and guerilla activity. 

Most Colombians refer to the television for information but along with that they have the press who are owned by large groups both private and state owned.