8 DAY / 7 NIGHT TRIP TO
GEMSTONE MINES IN COLOMBIA
BOGATA, MUZO, COSQUEZ, COLOMBIA – OCTOBER 9 – 17

The II World Emerald Symposium will be held in Bogotá – Colombia on 12th – 14th of October. Organized by Fedesmeraldas National Emerald Trade association, the II World Emerald Symposium is a one of a kind event that will provide insights into opportunities and challenges of the emerald industry. The symposium will bring together leading field experts from the country and abroad to discuss the trends, developments, and future projections in emerald mining, acquisition, processing, and marketing industry.

Mineral Wealth

Located in the north-west of South America, Colombia is the only country on the continent with both Pacific and Atlantic coastlines. Its shares borders with Panama, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and maritime boundaries with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

With close to 50 million citizens, the country houses South America’s second largest population. Seven of its main cities exceed one million inhabitants. It also has Latin America’s fourth largest economy, after Brazil, Mexico and Argentina.

Named for Christopher Columbus, the 15th century voyager never actually saw Colombia. Instead, Alonso de Ojeda, a companion of the Italian explorer on his second voyage to the Americas, was the first European to set foot in the country in 1499.

But the territory had been inhabited for thousands of years before then, and boasted a rich history. As the only overland gateway to South America, it stood on the route traveled by the continent’s first human inhabitants, as they migrated from North and Central America. Certain well-known tribes, such as the Inca, headed further south and built major civilizations, while a number of independent tribes took over smaller areas throughout the Andean region and along the Pacific and Atlantic (or Caribbean) coasts.

The first European explorers were amazed by the wealth of the local Indians, and thus was born the legend of El Dorado, a mysterious kingdom abundant in gold and emeralds. Indeed, it was the belief that this newly discovered region contained the motherlode of precious metals and gemstones that led to the Spanish conquest of much of the continent.

In 1564, Spain established the Presidencia del Nuevo Reino de Granada, with authority in the hands of the governor, appointed by the king. At that time, it comprised of what today is Panama, as well as all of Colombia. Its population consisted of indigenous communities and the Spanish invaders, as well as slaves brought from Africa.

With the Spanish empire in Central and South America growing, in 1717 Bogotá became the capital of a new viceroyalty of Virreinato de la Nueva Granada, covering the territories of what are today Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela.

But as was the case in other colonies in the Americas, European domination of the continent became increasingly unpopular amongst its inhabitants, with slavery, taxes and duties giving rise to protests and eventually rebellion.

In 1812, the hero of the independence struggle, Simón Bolívar, burst onto the scene. After some initial success, and then a devastating setback, during which time he sought shelter in Jamaica, he returned by way of Venezuela, marching with his troops over the Andes into Colombia. The decisive battle took place at Boyacá on August 7, 1819, after which he made a triumphant entrance into Bogotá, and Colombia’s independence was declared.