Colombia, a country that, like a silent warrior, is often underestimated by those who don’t know it deeply. From the outside, some see it as just another Latin American country, but those who look closer discover something entirely different: a country full of potential, almost as if it's destined for greatness, but its people often don’t believe in themselves.

It’s a country of “almosts.” Sometimes it feels like we could be bigger, but other times, it seems impossible—like we are under some kind of curse.

The first thing that grabs your attention about Colombia is its diversity. And I’m not just talking about biodiversity, although that’s important too. But beyond that, what truly defines Colombia is its human diversity.

The history of this country is a blend of cultures, races, and traditions that have intertwined over the centuries, creating a unique, strong, and resilient identity. It’s funny how almost everyone who comes to Colombia looking for a fresh start manages to turn their lives around—like Venezuelans, or the singer Nicky Jam. They all rise again here. I’ve seen how many Venezuelans start businesses and succeed in Colombia. It’s as if Colombia is a land of second chances for everyone except for Colombians.

A Story of Survival

Colombia, like many other nations in Latin America, was shaped by Spanish colonization. The Spanish arrived in the 16th century, as always, in search of gold and riches. But they didn’t find the Inca Empire, nor the pyramids of the Maya or the Aztecs.

They encountered the Chibchas, a people who, though lesser-known, had reached an impressive level of civilization. Expert farmers, the Chibchas cultivated terraces with sophisticated irrigation systems and built roads and bridges that connected their towns. These warriors had a unique relationship with gold, a tradition that would later give rise to the legend of El Dorado.

The arrival of the Spanish not only brought conquest but also a process of mestizaje (racial mixing) that would change Colombia’s identity forever. Today, more than 85% of Colombia’s population is mestizo or white, a product of the fusion between European colonizers and native peoples. However, the European impact was not uniform. While countries like Argentina and Uruguay received large waves of European immigrants in the 19th century, Colombia remained relatively isolated from this process.

What is surprising, however, is the influence of the Basques. In the region of Antioquia, approximately 40% of the population has Basque ancestry. These immigrants didn’t just arrive—they thrived, becoming a dominant force in business and production. That entrepreneurial and hard-working mindset that defines many Antioquians can be traced back to those Basque roots.

The Power of Adaptation

But Colombia’s story doesn’t end there. What truly sets this nation apart is its ability to adapt and evolve. At the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, while most European immigrants headed to the United States, Canada, or the Southern Cone, Colombia began receiving immigrants from the Middle East, especially Christian Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians.

These immigrants, like skilled strategists, arrived with few resources but quickly climbed the social ladder. They started as humble merchants on the Caribbean coast but soon moved into politics, cattle farming, and the media, becoming part of a powerful elite. Today, Colombia has the largest population of Arab descent in Latin America, with more than 3 million descendants.

Then there’s the African heritage. You can’t talk about the real Colombia without recognizing the contribution of Afro-descendants. Africans arrived as slaves around the same time as Europeans, but their story isn’t just one of oppression.

These men and women demonstrated incredible strength. In the 16th century, fugitive slaves founded the first free town in the Americas, San Basilio de Palenque, a place where, even today, Palenquero Creole is spoken—a language that blends Spanish with African languages.

Today, between 10% and 25% of Colombia’s population has African ancestry, and their influence is evident in the country’s culture, music, and art. On the Pacific and Caribbean coasts, the Afro-descendant population is dominant, while in the mountainous interior, mestizos and whites occupy the center.

This geographical distribution reflects how Colombia’s terrain has shaped its ethnic composition and, in turn, how different groups have influenced the national culture.

What Can We Learn from Colombia?

First and foremost, true strength does not come from homogeneity or uniformity. Just like in life, adversity and diversity are what truly shape champions.

Colombia has been influenced by Europeans, Africans, Arabs, and, of course, its native peoples. But instead of breaking under the weight of these influences, Colombia has embraced them, turning them into sources of pride and resilience.

So, what can you learn from Colombia? That it doesn’t matter where you come from—we are not a xenophobic country.

It’s impossible to be one, considering we have Africans, Europeans, Arabs, and natives all mixed together. Very few nations in the world have such a rare and extraordinary combination.

Maybe for a gringo the idea of leaving the country to find better opportunities, starting from cero a new life and potentially endangering its own life is a foreign concept. Here (and maybe is a Latin-American phenomena) is more usual to do that.

First of all, the most common number I found was that 5 million Colombians live outside Colombia. In perspective that is a LOT, almost 10% of the overall population. I knew it was a lot but still was a surprised.

Colombia is a country that has been in conflict since 1948. The political conflict has altered the dynamic of our country, we have become a nation of migrants, first, people have to be internally displaced, a lot of people had to flee their farms and lands to escape. That is the story of my grandmother, she and 7 more siblings had to flee to Bogota, without knowing anyone in the city they had to start a new life in the 1950s.

I bet Colombia is the country with one of the highest number of internal displacement.

Now, since the 1980 with the narcotrafic and violence, the wave has pushed people to keep migrating. Since then, migration abroad was steady and significant, and lots of people migrated to the US, the main host country.

We Colombians always have had a fascination and some sort of conecetion with US. A lot of people still keep as their dream and goal to be able to travel there, go to the Orlando parks, Miami, New York… Its a cultural and a political affinity towards America, and is a trend that I am sure is not going away.

Data says that around 1.5 millions of Colombians are in the US, here is its distribution according to birth:

A lot of them reside in Florida. As you know the latino community there is big and I can imagine a network of “support” among Colombians there. I can imagine people arriving there and bringing over new people by the testimonies they have.

Also language barrier could make Florida a big hub for Colombians. As you can imagine, English levels here are not that high, people in high school are not really interested in learning English, which I find stupid because the best thing Colombian schools do is having English classes, in which sometimes they have extra emphasis on it. My friends didn’t really care about it, and many of them migrated to US and Australia, having trouble at the beginning because they never learnt the language. How ironic.

But also I can relate to all people trying to migrate to US. US is the land of the opportunities and that mindset still ingrained in us Colombians. We are used to work and receive a salary that does not really align with the effort nor it always is a lot of money, many people here live their lives day by day. So I can see the lure of having the opportunity to earn in dollars, working hard yes, but at least having money to save some and send back home.

Which brings me to the next big topic that is money coming from abroad: remittances.

According to the World Bank, received remittances correspond to the 2.8% of the GDP in 2022. That is a lot of money.

People here depend on people abroad. As I mentioned you, is not hard to meet people who have family or friends living abroad.

Lastly, one thing I found touching is the attachment people still have with Colombia. People leave and never know when they will come back, specially the people that know that are going to stay as without migrant status. People contact their family on daily basis, which confirm a constant attachment to the country, family is the main core that can explains many of the cultural behaviours in Colombia, just look this graphic:

Colombians represent a reality of the country: Colombia is a country that is always in crisis but never implodes nor becomes unliveable. People want to get better opportunities and sadly here they never find the right way to do it. Migrating help a lot of people and their families. Up to the point that people would have a doubt of coming back to Colombia:

“Most of the survey participants (47%) planned on staying outside Colombia lifelong. Another 30% planed on staying for longer than five years. Nevertheless, a significant share (23%) planed on returning after 5 or fewer years. More specifically, a small percentage (2%) already returned to Colombia, 6% planned on returning in less than two years, 7% planned to return in 2-3 years, and 8% in 4-5 years.”

People settle and make home and life outside their country. Which propose a challenge like talent leaving the country as well money. People would prefer not to risk their economic stability by coming back home. The information and numbers were taken from this PDF ig you are interested into looking at it: https://growthlab.hks.harvard.edu/files/growthlab/files/2021-05-cid-wp-397-diaspora-internationalization-colombian-economy.pdf

This is just a brief description of how Colombians would think about migrating and leaving the country, the reasoning behind and why they make the decision. US still propose a lifestyle that is appealing to many of the people here. As I mentioned when starting this article, this idea of starting a new life is hard and foreign for many Americans and europeans, not many of them would leave everything behind to go to Colombia and start all over.

Colombia is a country that you can come and enjoy with money and a sweet income in dollars, it makes the Colombia experience way better, thats what is happening now and why many people are interested in this beautiful country.