Colombia has a population of 44.2 million people and is located in northwestern South America, bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, and Panama. However, Colombia has long struggled with powerful drug cartels that control vast areas of the country and fund private armies through the lucrative cocaine trade. As a result, Colombia has essentially had two governments - the true Colombian government and the "government" of organized crime, leading to over 120,000 deaths during the civil war that began in 2003.