Global Sourcebook for International Data Management
by Graham Rhind
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COLOMBIA |
For supplementary information, see links to post office home pages here , to postal code pages here
and to other personal name and addressing issues pages here
.
1.234,45
(where , indicates the decimal separator and . the thousands separator)
The official language is Spanish . 78 other, mainly Indian, languages are spoken. The most widespread of these are: Cuaiquer
(20 000 speakers); Cubeo
(6 000 speakers); Embera-Baudó
(5 000 speakers); Emberá-Catío
(15 000 speakers); Emberá-Chamí
(11 000 speakers); Northern Embará
(15 000 speakers); Guahibo
(15 000 speakers); Guambiano
(9 000 speakers); Ica (5 272 speakers); Inga
(10 000 speakers); Jungle Inga
(5 000 speakers); Kogui
(5 000 speakers); Páez
(68 467 speakers); Wayuu
(150 000 speakers) and Western Caribbean Creole English
(15 000 speakers).
The abbreviation for Señorita used on Colombia is Srta. All mature women, whether married or not, will be addressed as Señora.
Each person usually has a given name followed by two family names, that of the father followed by that of the mother, for example:
Barbara Betancourt Perez
Upon marriage, females may choose to take their husband’s name as a further given name, in this way:
Barbara Betancourt Perez de Lopez
where the de indicates “(wife) of”. De usually indicates a married female, but may also be part of a name. Many females in Colombia now do not take their husband’s name upon marriage.
Professional people are often referred to by their qualification, followed by the given name and paternal family name (and sometimes the maternal family name):
Arquitecto (m) / Arquitecta (f) | Architect |
Doctor (m) / Doctora (f) (Dr/Dra) | Doctor |
Ingeniero (m) / Ingeniera (f) (Ing.) | Engineer |
Profesor (Prof.) | Professor |
Except for the title “Doctor”, this form is preceded by the standard form of address in this way:
Señor Ingeniero Juan Domínguez
Tables of names can be acquired: given names , surnames/family names
, family name prefixes
, forms of address
, job titles
The following company type may be found:
Ca. (Compañia) - company Comandita por acciones (SCA) EU (Empresa Unipersonal) - sole proprietorship Limitada (Ltda) SA (Sociedad Anónima) SAS (Sociedades anónimas simplificadas or Sociedad por Acciones Simplificada) S. en C. – Sociedad en Comandita – limited partnership Suc. de Descendants - successors of a previous company Unipersona
Comprehensive tables of these strings can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/addresses.htm
Addresses are written in the following format:
Form of address Recipient name {thoroughfare type[]}Thoroughfare name[, ]house number{[, ]floor etc. indicators} SETTLEMENT{[, ]PROVINCE[ ]sorting code}
For example:
Colombian addresses often have numbered streets and may contain directionals:
calle 18 sur no. 19-29
When addresses are written in Spanish, calle, the Spanish word for street, is rarely written except when the thoroughfare is numbered rather than named. The Spanish thoroughfare type, when included, is written before, and separately from, the thoroughfare name. It should be written with the first letter in lower case.
For further information about address components, please refer to the chapter on Spain.
A single-digit sorting code may be found in addresses in the larger cities.
The province name may be included for addresses for smaller settlements. The provinces, with standard abbreviation, are:
Province | Abbreviation (if different) |
Amazonas |
|
Antioquia |
ANT |
Arauca |
|
Atlántico |
ATL |
Bolívar |
BOL |
Boyaca |
BOY |
Caldas |
CAL |
Caquetá |
CAQ |
Casanare |
|
Cauca |
|
César |
|
Chocó |
|
Córdoba |
CORD |
Cundinamarca |
CUND |
Distrito Especial / Distrito Capital de Bogotá |
DE |
Guainía |
|
Guaviare |
|
Huila |
HUIL |
La Guajira |
GUAJIRA |
Magdalena |
MAG |
Meta |
|
Nariño |
NAR |
Norte de Santander |
NS |
Putumayo |
|
Quindio |
QUIND |
Risaralda |
RIS |
San Andrés y Providencia |
SAN ANDRES |
Santander |
SANT |
Sucre |
|
Tolima |
TOL |
Valle del Cauca |
VALLE |
Vaupés |
|
Vichada |
A table containing information about the relevant position of elements within address blocks can be acquired
The word for post office box is Apartado Postal, or AP; or Apartado Aéreo or AA.
Colombia has introduced a postal code (Código Postal) of 6 digits in this format:
999999
The first two digits represent the national department. The third and fourth digits represent a postal zone, whereby 00 indicates the capital of the department, 01-89 are for street addresses, and 90-99 for post office boxes. The final two numbers indicate further postal sub-districts. The position of this code in the address block has not yet been defined.
Metadata containing postal code formatting rules, exceptions and regular expressions can be acquired
\A\d{6,6}\Z
Refer to Exonyms in Colombia for full lists of place names in Colombia in other languages.
Alternate place name forms/postal code tables can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/settlements.htm
Other language place name data can be acquired at http://www.grcdi.nl/otherlanguageplace.htm
Any one of the 32 province names or 1 capital district name may be found in addresses. Please see the section ‘Address format’.
Colombian geographic numbers, when called from abroad, have an area code length of 1 and a subscriber number length of 7. Mobile numbers have an area code of 3 digits and a subscriber number of 7 digits. Mobile number area codes are 300, 310-313 and 315-316.
Tables of telephone number information/formats can be acquired – see http://www.grcdi.nl/telephone.htm
Every effort is made to keep this resource updated. If you find any errors, or have any questions or requests, please don't hesitate to contact the author.
All information copyright Graham Rhind 2017. Any information used should be acknowledged and referenced.