The character of the population is varied. According to the Colombian statesman, Uribe, 66 per cent is composed of pure whites and of mestizos of white and Indian and white and negro origin, who through successive crossings during four centuries have acquired the traits of the Caucasian race, in some cases showing no traces of the extreme elements; the pure Indians are 14 per cent, pure black 4 per cent, and colored mixtures 16 per cent. The tendency is towards a closer fusion making a unique type which will give the desired national unification. There are about 600,000 Indians, the greater number more or less civilized; perhaps 150,000 wild Indians, some friendly, others hostile. How many there are in the forested Amazon region is uncertain; the recent census places the figure at a little over 100,000. Among all the Indians one hundred or more different languages are spoken.
A great diversity in social conditions is to be expected. A large proportion of the inhabitants dwell in the cities or smaller towns. In a number of these may be found the culture, dress, and refinements of European cities, splendid salons or modest drawing rooms with equal urbanity in each. The wants of the middle and lower classes and of the Indians would be quite different, and would depend further upon their place of residence; the requirements of dwellers in the tropical plains and valleys, and of those who live on or near the bleak paramos are obviously very diverse.
Education
Considerable attention is paid to education, which in the primary grades is free but not compulsory. The percentage of illiteracy is about 70. Bogotá has a National University with Schools of Medicine, Law, Political Science, Engineering, and Natural Science. Connected with it is the National Library, an Astronomical Observatory, a School of Fine Arts, and an Academy of Music. A free institute of learning is the Universidad Republicana; there is also a School of Arts and Trades, giving both general and technical instruction, as in printing, carpentry, etc.; a colegio or school for secondary instruction, La Salle Institute, the largest in Colombia, which prepares for the University; and a Homœopathic Institute, from which at least one woman has been graduated.
There are universities also at Cartagena, Popayán, Pasto, and Medellín; in the last named city, a School of Mines, which is a part of the National University. Elementary instruction is the most zealously promoted in Antioquia, Caldas, Boyacá, and Cauca; in the other Departments the school attendance is poor. In Colombia, Spanish is spoken with greater purity than in most of the other Republics.
Institutions giving instruction in agriculture, in arts and trades, and in general science are greatly needed, as also the teaching of sanitation and hygiene.
Press, Religion, etc.
Press. The Press is free, and bold in discussion.
Religion. The Constitution recognizes the Roman Catholic Religion as that of the country but permits other forms of worship.
Telegraph. The 700 telegraph offices are connected by 13,750 miles of line. Colombia has cable connection at Buenaventura, San Andrés, and Barranquilla; wireless stations at Santa Marta, Puerto Colombia, and Cartagena. An international wireless station is expected at Bogotá in 1921. Other stations will be at Barranquilla, Arauca, Cúcuta, Cali, Medellín. There are 13,000 miles of telephone wire.[3]