In 1502 Columbus sailed along the northern coast, a fact which may have prompted the inhabitants to give the country his name. As early as 1508 Alonzo de Ojeda, who in 1499 had first touched Colombian soil, made settlements on the coast; and in 1536 Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada explored the interior as far as the site of Bogotá, where he founded a city after establishing friendly relations with the aborigines. The country was first named New Granada. By the middle of the century Spanish power was fairly established along the coast and in part of the interior. The territory was under the authority of the Viceroy at Lima, with a local presidency, until 1718, when a Viceroy, ruling Ecuador and Venezuela as well, was established at Bogotá. In 1810 an insurrection broke out against Spain, the war continuing at intervals until 1824. During those troublous years Simón Bolívar was the chief leader, both acting as commanding general and in 1821 becoming President. In 1819 Bolívar had inaugurated the Great Colombian Republic which united Venezuela and Ecuador with New Granada; but in 1829 Venezuela withdrew and in 1830, the year of Bolívar’s death, Ecuador also. In 1831 the Republic of New Granada was established, but disorders followed. Many changes occurred in the form of government, which was at one time a confederation, then the United States and now the Republic of Colombia. There have been strife and insurrections: in 1903 that of Panamá made the United States and its people extremely unpopular in Colombia and for some time unfavorably affected our commercial dealings. The adoption by the Senate of the Treaty of Bogotá will doubtless increase the already more friendly feeling on the part of Colombians, which can but be of value for our investments and trade. GOVERNMENT Since 1886 Colombia has been a unitary or centralized republic, the sovereignty of the States being abolished. The Departments, as they are called, have Governors appointed by the President, although each has an Assembly for the regulation of internal affairs. Besides the Departments, there are Territories of two varieties: Intendencias, directly connected with the Central Government and Comisarías, sparsely settled districts depending upon the nearest Department. The President is elected for four years by direct vote of the people. He has a Cabinet of eight members, the heads of the various departments: the Ministers of the Interior (_Gobierno_), Foreign Affairs (_Relaciones Exteriores_), Finance (_Hacienda_), War (_Guerra_), Public Instruction (_Instrucción Pública_), Agriculture and Commerce (_Agricultura y Comercio_), Public Works (_Obras Públicas_), Treasury (_Tesoro_). Instead of a Vice President two _Designados_, a first and a second, are elected annually by Congress to act as President in case of his death, absence from the country, or inability to serve.