As an English speaker, you may have misspelled “Colombia” as “Columbia.” This common mistake, which includes only a one-letter error, often provokes the ire of Colombians. In this article, we’ll get to the bottom of this misunderstanding to help ensure you never make this error again.
Origins of the name Colombia
To understand this spelling confusion, we must look at the shared roots of both names. “Colombia” and “Columbia” both derive from Christopher Columbus, the navigator and explorer who rediscovered the Americas in October 1492. Known as Cristoffa Combo in Ligurian, the language of his native Genoa, Columbus was called Christophorus Columbus in Latin, the literary and common language of pre-modern Europe.
In Spanish, the name Christophorus Columbus evolved into Cristóbal Colón. However, since Latin was still in use at the time, “Columbus” served as the basis for the creation of the country’s name, “Colombia.”
This name was first proposed by Francisco de Miranda, the father of Venezuelan independence. At the time, Colombia, along with Venezuela and Ecuador, was part of a larger entity known as New Granada. Miranda coined the name “Colombia” — a made-up adjective meaning “The Land of Christophorus Columbus” — as a tribute to the explorer, since the continent he discovered was named after the cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.
From Columbus to Columbia
The English, followed by the Americans, preserved the original name “Columbus,” paying homage to the explorer through numerous derivatives. Among the most famous are Columbia University, the sportswear brand Columbia, and the District of Columbia, which honors both the discoverer of America and the founder of the United States, George Washington. In Canada, there’s also the province of British Columbia, as well as the U.S.-shared Columbia River.
Since “Columbia” is a well-known name deeply embedded in the collective imagination and everyday vocabulary of North Americans, it has often been confused with “Colombia.”
It’s Colombia, not Columbia
To this day, “Colombia” continues to be confused with “Columbia,” even at the highest levels of government and media. In 2022, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” faced massive social media backlash after misspelling “Colombia” in a Facebook post.
Other celebrities, like Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber, Ozzy Osbourne, and many American YouTubers and influencers, have made the same mistake. The most notable, however, was the Nixon administration. In 1972, Nixon’s administration donated moon rocks from the Apollo 17 mission to Colombia. Displayed in Bogota’s planetarium, these rocks are accompanied by a commemorative plaque that reads, “Presented to the People of Columbia.”
Recently, during the Colombia-US diplomatic crisis, the White House published a communiqué, stating “ICYMI: President Donald J. Trump’s TRUTH on Columbia Sanctions,” showing that even decades after the spelling of Colombia remains a struggle even at the highest levels of the U.S. state.
With the rise of digital media and the growing number of English speakers in Colombia, especially among younger generations, people have become more vocal about correcting this error. Colombian reggaeton legend J Balvin even addressed the issue in one of his hit songs. In “Que Calor,” featuring Major Lazer and El Alfa, J Balvin closes the song by saying, “It’s Colombia, not Columbia, all right?”