Colombia Culture & Language

Colombia is strongly regional and its people identify that way — paisa from Antioquia, costaño from the Caribbean coast, rolo from Bogotá — with accents, food and temperament that differ markedly.

Music is the most exported part of the culture: cumbia and vallenato from the Caribbean, salsa centred on Cali, and champeta from the Afro-Colombian communities of the coast. Vallenato and the Barranquilla carnival are both UNESCO-listed.

The Pacific coast has one of the largest Afro-descendant populations in the Americas, with distinct music, food and traditions, and there are over eighty Indigenous peoples speaking some sixty languages.

Coffee is the national product and the coffee-growing cultural landscape is UNESCO-listed. Gabriel García Márquez set his fiction in a recognisable Caribbean Colombia, and the country reads him as documentary as much as invention.

Spanish is the language, and Colombian Spanish — particularly the Bogotá variety — is often described as among the clearest and most neutral in Latin America, which makes it good for learners.

English is limited outside tourism and business. Sixty-five Indigenous languages also have official status in their territories.

Politeness is elaborate here: ¿cómo está?, por favor, gracias, and the affectionate ¿qué más? as a casual greeting. Brusqueness is noticed more than in neighbouring countries.