Andean Community
Andean Community Comunidad Andina | |
|---|---|
Flag | |
| Motto: "Ésta es mi tierra, ésta es mi casa" (Spanish) "This is my homeland, this is my home" | |
| Seat of Secretariat | Lima, Peru |
| Largest city | Lima, Peru |
| Official languages | |
| Type | Trade bloc |
| Member states |
|
| Leaders | |
• Secretary General | Gonzalo Gutierrez Reinel |
| Establishment | |
• as the Andean Pact | 1969 |
• as the CAN | 1996 |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,781,914 km2 (1,460,205 sq mi) (7th) |
| Population | |
• 2010 estimate | 101,119,783b (12th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2017 estimate |
• Total | $902.86 billion (9th) |
• Per capita | $8,928.62 |
| HDI (2017) | 0.781 high |
| |
The Andean Community (Spanish: Comunidad Andina de Naciones, CAN) is an international organization in South America. It consists of the member states Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and aims at the economic, political and social integration of these states.
CAN is also a free trade area with the objective of creating a customs union comprising the South American countries. The organization was called the Andean Pact (Pacto Andino) until 1996 and came into existence when the Cartagena Agreement was signed in 1969. Since the reform by the Trujillo Protocol of 1997 it called Comunidad Andina de Naciones. Its headquarters are in Lima, Peru.
The Andean Community has 113 million inhabitants over an area of approximately 3,800,000 km2. Its GDP has gone up to US$745.300 billion in 2005, including Venezuela, which was a member at the time. Its estimated PPP of GDP for 2011 amounts to US$902.86 billion, excluding Venezuela.
The supranational characteristics of CAN are the reason why the Andean Community is considered the most robust subregional organization in Latin America and the Caribbean.