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Colombia, Home of Cultural Diversity


I believe Colombia is an unique country: apart from having a huge variety of plants and animals, it also has an incredible cultural and ethnic diversity.

No everyone knows that Colombia registers more than 80 different indigenous groups. For example, in the Cundinamarca Department (where Bogotá is situated in) you can meet people that have Muisca ancestry. However, the majority of indigenous people live in the Amazon region and here you can find for instance the Andoke, Cocama and Desano ethnic groups. They still conserve their traditions and they are known especially for their ability in creating wonderful handicrafts made from materials like seeds, trunks, feathers and scales of Pirarucú.

If we move to the Pacific and Caribbean regions, we can find many Afro Colombians, that, as the name suggests, have origins from Africa. I think one of the most incredible cultural heritage of this group is without a doubt music. Probably the most representative singer is Joe Arroyo, if you come to visit Colombia you’re going to hear him a lot! It’s impossible to make a list of different kinds of music, there are too many, but I’d like to mention at least one called Bullerengue. I felt in love with it 3 weeks ago when I went to see a concert at the Colon Theater in Bogotá. This is a kind of music but also a dance that takes origin from black slaves in Cartagena and it’s performed in rituals to celebrate girls' passage from childhood to adult age. In fact, it’s a women only dance. The primary instruments are drums and the rhythm is tribal, heavy and there’s a main singer who is accompanied by a choir that follows the music by clapping their hands.

Last but not least, Colombia received migrants from Arabic, Asiatic and European countries. With such a big mix, it’s normal that the cultural variety is amazing!

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