Irrigated land: 5,300 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: highlands subject to volcanic eruptions; occasional earthquakes; periodic droughts
Environment—current issues: deforestation; soil damage from overuse of pesticides; air pollution, especially in Bogota, from vehicle emissions
Environment—international agreements:
party to: Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test
Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83,
Tropical Timber 94
signed, but not ratified: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol,
Desertification, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping
Geography—note: only South American country with coastlines on
both North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea
People
Population: 39,309,422 (July 1999 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 6,556,566; female 6,402,115)
15-64 years: 62% (male 11,966,306; female 12,593,685)
65 years and over: 5% (male 807,282; female 983,468) (1999 est.)
Population growth rate: 1.85% (1999 est.)
Birth rate: 24.45 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)