Colombia, which has coasts on both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, has been a strategically important region for more than 500 years. Today, the Republic of Colombia is the fourth-largest country in South America. Many of Colombia's 40 million residents farm to survive, and coffee and other agricultural products remain the country's main legal exports. Over the past two decades the United States has helped the Colombian government crack down on its main illegal export -- cocaine and other drugs. Colombia remains one of the most important nations of Latin America. Book jacket.