fied as urban. The principal centers of population are in the Magdalena and Cauca river valleys and in the Caribbean coastal region. The concordat of 1973 preserves a privileged status for Roman Catholicism; about 95 percent of the people are Roman Catholic. Small Protestant and Jewish minorities exist. The official language of Colombia is Spanish, although a new constitution adopted in 1991 recognizes the languages of ethnic groups in their territories and provides for bilingual education.BPolitical Divisions and Principal Cities Colombia is divided into 32 departments and one capital district. The capital and largest city is Bogot, an industrial center with a population (1993 estimate) of 5,025,989. Other important commercial cities include the trading and textile centers of Medelln (1,594,967) and Cali (1,655,699); Barranquilla (1,033,951), which provides both a seaport and a major international airport; and Cartagena (707,092), a seaport and oil pipeline terminal.CEducation Elementary education is free and compulsory for five years. Much effort has been devoted to eliminating illiteracy, and 91 percent of all Colombians over age 15 could read and write by 1995. Courses in Roman Catholicism are compulsory in all public schools, most of which are controlled by the Roman Catholic church. Protestant churches maintain a number of schools, chiefly in Bogot. The national government finances secondary- and university-level schools and maintains primary schools in municipalities and departments that cannot afford to do so. In 1995 some 4.7 million pupils annually attended primary schools; 3.0 million students attended secondary schools, including vocational and teacher-training institutions. In the late 1980s Colombia had some 235 institutions of higher education; total enrollment in 1996 was 644,200. Among the largest universities are the National University of Colombia (1867) in Bogot (parts of which date from the 16th century), the Univer...
