A great diversity of cultures inhabited our territory before the Spanish arrived, some so advanced and sophisticated as those that produced the statues of San Agustin in Huila, the tombs of Tierradentro in Cauca, or the Lost City (Buritaca 2000) in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
With the conquest and colonization, the white Europeans came from Spain, who in turn brought slaves from Africa. That is why Colombia is a multiethnic and multicultural society, where each region has its own characteristics that distinguish it from its neighbors.
Thus, one can speak of Andean culture, which feels more strongly the European ancestry; of Caribbean culture, an amalgam of indigenous and African heritage, of Pacific culture, rooted in Africa and the culture of the Orinoco and Amazon, essentially indigenous.
This complex mixture is expressed not only in the traditions, crafts and cuisine of Colombia, but also in the arts from architecture, painting and sculpture to literature, film and photography, through music, dance and theater.
Colombia is home to more than 87 indigenous peoples who use 64 native languages belonging to 22 language families, too, of several million Afro-Colombians; over 30 million mestizos, of 12 000 Roma and immigrant centers in different regions. In the archipelago of San Andres and Providencia, mostly native islander population speaks English.
