MULTICULTURAL ELEMENTS

The essence of Colombian culture lies in the mixing of Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures. The greatest expression of the mélange is perhaps the Carnival of Barranquilla, whose rhythm is the cumbia, and which was proclaimed by UNESCO in November 2003 as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. The culture of Spain is still very dominant in Colombia: the layout of towns, bull fighting, holy week processions, and the "refined" dialect of Bogotá are part of its legacy. Afro-Colombians have historically been marginalized from society. Nonetheless, they have contributed greatly to Colombian culture, including its music, dance and folklore. Cumbia is said to be derivative of the cumbe dance of Equatorial Guinea. Small numbers of Roma or "gypsies" are scattered throughout the country. Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazi Jews exist in several of the larger cities; Bogotá has five synagogues. Germans settled in parts of Santander, including Bucaramanga. They also brought the accordion to Valledupar, which would become a key instrument in the very popular vallenato music gender.