Facebook Inc Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg launched a free Internet application in Colombia on Wednesday as part of a drive to bring developing markets online.

Colombia is the first nation in Latin America and the fourth in the world to receive the new Internet.org service, in partnership with local mobile phone provider Tigo. The aim is to push the app globally, Zuckerberg told Reuters.

The mobile app, aimed at low income and rural users, offers more than a dozen tools via the Android operating system - like encyclopedia Wikipedia, weather websites, job listings and health information, as well as Facebook's own social network and messaging service - without the user incurring any data charges. It has already been launched in three countries in Africa, including Zambia.