Located in the northwest corner of the South American continent,
Colombia encompasses an area of more than 1.1 million square kilometers.
It is the only country in South America with both Caribbean (1,760
kilometers) and Pacific coastlines (1,448 kilometers). Colombia also has
international borders with five Latin American nations: Panama,
Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador. There were no major outstanding
international boundary problems between Colombia and its neighbors in
the late 1980s. All of the borders had long been delineated, and most
had been demarcated by surveys and the placement of markers, although
tropical jungle terrain and hostile Indians had impeded survey
operations in some areas along the borders with Venezuela and Brazil.
Colombia and Venezuela did, however, dispute sovereignty over the seabed
in the Golfo de Venezuela, an area of potential petroleum wealth.
In addition to its mainland territory, Colombia possesses a number of
small islands in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The
combined areas of all these islands do not exceed sixtyfive square
kilometers.
In the Caribbean, off the coast of Nicaragua and 640 kilometers from
the Colombian coast, Colombian territory includes an archipelago of
thirteen small cays grouped around the Isla de San Andr�s and the Isla
de Providencia. Other small islands, cays, and banks in the same
area--which belong to Colombia but also are claimed by Nicaragua--are
Isla de Santa Catalina, Cayos de Roncador, Banco de Quita Sue�o, Banco
de Serrana, and Banco de Serranilla. Several small islands also lie off
Colombia's Caribbean coast south of Cartagena. These include the Isla
del Rosario, Islas de San Bernardo, and Isla Fuerte.
In the Pacific, Colombian territory encompasses Isla de Malpelo,
which lies about 430 kilometers west of Buenaventura. Nearer the coast,
a prison colony is located on Isla Gorgona. Isla Gorgonilla lies off the
southern shore of Isla Gorgona.
<>Geographic Regions
Near the Ecuadoran frontier, the Andes Mountains divide into three
distinct, roughly parallel chains, called cordilleras, that extend
northeastward almost to the Caribbean Sea. Altitudes reach more than
5,700 meters, and mountain peaks are permanently covered with snow. The
elevated basins and plateaus of these ranges have a moderate climate
that provides pleasant living conditions and in many places enables
farmers to harvest twice a year. Torrential rivers on the slopes of the
mountains produce a large hydroelectric power potential and add their
volume to the navigable rivers in the valleys. In the late 1980s,
approximately 78 percent of the country's population lived in the Andean
highlands.
The Cordillera Occidental in the west, the Cordillera Central in the
center, and the Cordillera Oriental in the east have different
characteristics. Geologically, the Cordillera Occidental and the
Cordillera Central form the western and eastern sides of a massive
crystalline arch that extends from the Caribbean lowlands to the
southern border of Ecuador. The Cordillera Oriental, however, is
composed of folded stratified rocks overlying a crystalline core.
The Cordillera Occidental is relatively low and is the least
populated of the three cordilleras. Summits are only about 3,000 meters
above sea level and do not have permanent snows. Few passes exist,
although one that is about 1,520 meters above sea level provides the
major city of Cali with an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. The relatively
low elevation of the cordillera permits dense vegetation, which on the
western slopes is truly tropical.
The Cordillera Occidental is separated from the Cordillera Central by
the deep rift of the Cauca Valley. The R�o Cauca rises within 200
kilometers of the border with Ecuador and flows through some of the best
farmland in the country. After the two cordilleras converge, the Cauca
Valley becomes a deep gorge all the way to the Caribbean lowlands.
The Cordillera Central is the loftiest of the mountain systems. Its
crystalline rocks form an 800-kilometer-long towering wall dotted with
snow-covered volcanoes. There are no plateaus in this range and no
passes under 3,300 meters. The highest peak in this range, the Nevado
del Huila, reaches 5,439 meters above sea level. The second highest peak
is a volcano, Nevado del Ruiz, which erupted violently on November 13,
1985. Toward its northern end, this cordillera separates into several
branches that descend toward the Caribbean coast.
Between the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera Oriental flows the
R�o Magdalena. This 1,600-kilometer-long river rises near a point some
180 kilometers north of the border with Ecuador, where the Cordillera
Oriental and the Cordillera Central diverge. Its spacious drainage area
is fed by numerous mountain torrents originating high in the snowfields.
The R�o Magdalena is generally navigable from the Caribbean Sea as far
as the town of Neiva, deep in the interior, but is interrupted midway by
rapids. The valley floor is very deep; nearly 800 kilometers from the
river's mouth the elevation is no more than about 300 meters.
In the Cordillera Oriental at elevations between 2,500 and 2,700
meters, three large fertile basins and a number of small ones provide
suitable areas for settlement and intensive economic production. In the
basin of Cundinamarca, where the Spanish found the Chibcha Indians, the
European invaders established the town of Santa Fe de Bogot�
(present-day Bogot�) at an elevation of 2,650 meters above sea level.
To the north of Bogot�, in the densely populated basins of
Chiquinquira and Boyac�, are fertile fields, rich mines, and large
industrial establishments that produce much of the national wealth.
Still farther north, where the Cordillera Oriental makes an abrupt turn
to the northwest near the border with Venezuela, the highest point of
this range, the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy, rises to 5,493 meters above sea
level. In the department of Santander, the valleys on the western slopes
are more spacious, and agriculture is intensive in the area around
Bucaramanga. The northernmost region of the range around C�cuta is so
rugged that historically it has been easier to maintain communications
and transportation with Venezuela than with the adjacent parts of
Colombia.
Caribbean Lowlands
The Caribbean lowlands consist of all of Colombia north of an
imaginary line extending northeastward from the Golfo de Urab� to the
Venezuelan frontier at the northern extremity of the Cordillera
Oriental. The semiarid Guajira Peninsula, in the extreme north, bears
little resemblance to the rest of the region. In the southern part rises
the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, an isolated mountain system with peaks
reaching heights over 5,700 meters and slopes generally too steep for
cultivation.
The Caribbean lowlands region is in roughly the shape of a triangle,
the longest side of which is the coastline. Most of the country's
commerce moves through Cartagena, Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and the
other ports located along this important coast. Inland from these cities
are swamps, hidden streams, and shallow lakes that support banana and
cotton plantations, countless small farms, and, in higher places, cattle
ranches.
The Caribbean region merges into and is connected with the Andean
highlands through the two great river valleys. After the Andean
highlands, it is the second most important region in economic activity.
Approximately 17 percent of the country's population lived in this
region in the late 1980s.
Pacific Lowlands
In the 1980s, only 3 percent of all Colombians resided in the Pacific
lowlands, a region of jungle and swamp with considerable but
little-exploited potential in minerals and other resources. Buenaventura
is the only port of any size on the coast. On the east, the Pacific
lowlands are bounded by the Cordillera Occidental, from which numerous
streams run. Most of the streams flow westward to the Pacific, but the
largest, the navigable R�o Atrato, flows northward to the Golfo de Urab�,
making the river settlements accessible to the major Atlantic ports and
commercially related primarily to the Caribbean lowlands hinterland. To
the west of the R�o Atrato rises the Serran�a de Baudo, an isolated
chain of low mountains that occupies a large part of the region. Its
highest elevation is less than 1,800 meters, and its vegetation
resembles that of the surrounding tropical forest.
The Atrato Swamp--in Choc� Department adjoining the border with
Panama--is a deep muck sixty-five kilometers in width that for years has
challenged engineers seeking to complete the Pan American Highway. This
stretch, near Turbo, where the highway is interrupted is known as the
Tap�n del Choc� (Chocon Plug). A second major transportation project
involving Choc� Department has been proposed. A second interoceanic
canal would be constructed by dredging the R�o Atrato and other streams
and digging short access canals. Completion of either of these projects
would do much to transform this somnolent region.
Eastern Colombia
The area east of the Andes includes about 699,300 square kilometers,
or three-fifths of the country's total area, but Colombians view it
almost as an alien land. The entire area, known as the eastern plains,
was home to only 2 percent of the country's population in the late
1980s. The Spanish term for plains (llanos) can be applied only to the
open plains in the northern part, particularly the piedmont areas near
the Cordillera Oriental, where cattle raising is practiced.
The region is unbroken by highlands except in Meta Department, where
the Macarena Sierra, an outlier of the Andes, is of interest to
scientists because its vegetation and wildlife are believed to be
reminiscent of those that once existed throughout the Andes. Many of the
numerous large rivers of eastern Colombia are navigable. The R�o
Guaviare and the streams to its north flow eastward and drain into the
basin of the R�o Orinoco, the largest river in Venezuela. Those south
of the R�o Guaviare flow into the basin of the Amazon. The R�o
Guaviare divides eastern Colombia into the llanos subregion in the north
and the tropical rainforest, or selva, subregion in the south.
Colombia - Climate
The striking variety in temperature and precipitation results
principally from differences in elevation. Temperatures range from very
hot at sea level to relatively cold at higher elevations but vary little
with the season. At Bogot�, for example, the average annual temperature
is 15�C, and the difference between the average of the coldest and the
warmest months is less than 1�C. More significant, however, is the
daily variation in temperature, from 5�C at night to 17�C during the
day.
Colombians customarily describe their country in terms of the
climatic zones: the area under 900 meters in elevation is called the hot
zone (tierra caliente), elevations between 900 and 1,980 meters
are the temperate zone (tierra templada), and elevations from
1,980 meters to about 3,500 meters constitute the cold zone (tierra
fr�a). The upper limit of the cold zone marks the tree line and
the approximate limit of human habitation. The treeless regions adjacent
to the cold zone and extending to approximately 4,500 meters are high,
bleak areas (usually referred to as the p�ramos), above which
begins the area of permanent snow (nevado).
About 86 percent of the country's total area lies in the hot zone.
Included in the hot zone and interrupting the temperate area of the
Andean highlands are the long and narrow extension of the Magdalena
Valley and a small extension in the Cauca Valley. Temperatures,
depending on elevation, vary between 24�C and 38�C, and there are
alternating dry and wet seasons corresponding to summer and winter,
respectively. Breezes on the Caribbean coast, however, reduce both heat
and precipitation.
Rainfall in the hot zone is heaviest in the Pacific lowlands and in
parts of eastern Colombia, where rain is almost a daily occurrence and
rain forests predominate. Precipitation exceeds 760 centimeters annually
in most of the Pacific lowlands, making this one of the wettest regions
in the world; in eastern Colombia, it decreases from 635 centimeters in
portions of the Andean piedmont to 254 centimeters eastward. Extensive
areas of the Caribbean interior are permanently flooded, more because of
poor drainage than because of the moderately heavy precipitation during
the rainy season from May through October.
The temperate zone covers about 8 percent of the country. This zone
includes the lower slopes of the Cordillera Oriental and the Cordillera
Central and most of the intermontane valleys. The important cities of
Medell�n (1,487 meters) and Cali (1,030 meters) are located in this
zone, where rainfall is moderate and the mean annual temperature varies
between 19�C and 24�C, depending on the elevation. In the higher
elevations of this zone, farmers benefit from two wet and two dry
seasons each year; January through March and July through September are
the dry seasons.
The cold or cool zone constitutes about 6 percent of the total area,
including some of the most densely populated plateaus and terraces of
the Colombian Andes; this zone supports about onefourth of the country's
total population. The mean temperature ranges between 10�C and 19�C,
and the wet seasons occur in April and May and from September to
December, as in the high elevations of the temperate zone.
Precipitation is moderate to heavy in most parts of the country; the
heavier rainfall occurs in the low-lying hot zone. Considerable
variations occur because of local conditions that affect wind currents,
however, and areas on the leeward side of the Guajira Peninsula receive
generally light rainfall; the annual rainfall of thirty-five centimeters
recorded at the Uribia station there is the lowest in Colombia.
Considerable year-to-year variations have been recorded, and Colombia
sometimes experiences droughts.
Colombia's geographic and climatic variations have combined to
produce relatively well-defined "ethnocultural" groups among
different regions of the country: the Coste�o from the Caribbean coast;
the Caucano in the Cauca region and the Pacific coast; the Antioque�o
in Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda, and Valle del Cauca departments; the
Tolimense in Tolima and Huila departments; the Cundiboyacense in the
interior departments of Cundinamarca and Boyac� in the Cordillera
Oriental; the Santandereano in Norte de Santander and Santander
departments; and the Llanero in the eastern plains. Each group had
distinctive characteristics, accents, customs, social patterns, and
forms of cultural adaptation to climate and topography that
differentiates it from other groups. Even with rapid urbanization and
modernization, regionalism and regional identification continued to be
important reference points, although they were somewhat less prominent
in the 1980s than in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
