Editing Colombia (section)

== Etymology ==

The name "Colombia" is derived from the last name of the Italian navigator [[Christopher Columbus]] ({{langx|la|Christophorus Columbus}}, {{langx|it|Cristoforo Colombo}}, {{langx|es|link=no|Cristóbal Colón}}). It was conceived as a reference to all of the New World.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.banrepcultural.org/|title=La Red Cultural del Banco de la República|first=Subgerencia Cultural del Banco de la|last=República|website=banrepcultural.org|access-date=20 October 2020|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501114213/https://www.banrepcultural.org/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The name was later adopted by the [[Gran Colombia|Republic of Colombia]] of 1819, formed from the territories of the old [[Viceroyalty of New Granada]] (modern-day Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northwest Brazil).<ref name="LABLAA5">{{cite web |author=Carlos Restrepo Piedrahita |url=http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/febrero1992/febrero2.htm |title=El nombre "Colombia", El único país que lleva el nombre del Descubrimiento |work=Revista Credencial |date=February 1992 |access-date=29 February 2008 |language=es |archive-date=5 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105031144/http://www.lablaa.org/blaavirtual/revistas/credencial/febrero1992/febrero2.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

When Venezuela, Ecuador, and [[Cundinamarca Department (1820)|Cundinamarca]] came to exist as independent states, the former [[Provinces of the Republic of New Granada|Department of Cundinamarca]] adopted the name "[[Republic of New Granada]]". New Granada officially changed its name in 1858 to the [[Granadine Confederation]]. In 1863 the name was again changed, this time to [[United States of Colombia]], before finally adopting its present name – the Republic of Colombia – in 1886.<ref name="LABLAA5" />

To refer to this country, the Colombian government uses the terms {{lang|es|Colombia}} and {{lang|es|República de Colombia}}.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Helena Guedes|first=Maria|title=A Grande Colômbia!|publisher=Clube de Autores|pages=141}}</ref>