Colombia.

PIP: Reviewed in this discussion of Colombia are the following: the history of the country's demographic situation; the government's overall approach to population problems, statistical systems and development planning; institutional arrangements for the integration of population within development planning; the government's view of the importance of population policy in achieving development objectives; population size, growth and natural increase, morbidity and mortality; fertility; international migration; and spatial distribution. Colombia has no explicit policy to modify fertility or population growth. This is essentially because of the success of previous policies. The government does seek to modify spatial distribution as a means of achieving national economic integration. 7 censuses have been conducted in 1950, 1964, and 1973. In recent years, there have been several efforts to improve registration data. During the decade of the 1960s, Colombia's rate of natural increase was an estimated 32/1000 population. By 1979, it had declined to 21/1000, and given significant emigration, the annual rate of population growth was estimated to be 1.9%. Since the late 1920s Colombia has experienced a significant mortality decline. The crude death rate was an estimated 22/1000 during the 1939-1951 period; it was 9.0/1000 in 1973. Colombia's fertility transition has been as rapid as any on record. The crude birth rate was estimated at 45/1000 in the mid-1960s and 29.1/1000 in 1978. The total fertility rate is estimated to have declined from 6.5 during 1955-1956 to 4.2 during 1975-1976. The government considers population policy to encompass entire range of activities to improve the social well-being of the population.^ieng