Geography |
The Republic of Colombia, located in the north-western part of South America, is bounded on the north by Panama and the Caribbean Sea, on the east by Venezuela and Brazil, on the south by Peru and Ecuador and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 1 138 918 km2.
Coastal lowlands lie along the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Those along the Caribbean are mostly agricultural lands. The arid, narrow Guajira Peninsula forms the northernmost tip of Columbia. The Pacific Lowlands consist mostly of swamps and dense forests. Heavy rains fall there nearly every day.
The Andes Mountains cover about a third of Colombia. They consist of three parallel ranges, the Cordillera Central, the Cordillera Oriental, and the Cordillera Occidental which stretch north-east across western Colombia. An isolated range of the Andes, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, rises from the Caribbean coast. It includes Colombia’s highest point, Pico Cristóbal Colón, 5 775 m above sea level, and several volcanoes, including Huila (5 750 m) and Tolima (5616 m). Between the cordilleras are high plateaux (some up to 2 400 above sea level) and fertile valleys.
The Cordillera Oriental descends to the east into vast areas of torrid lowlands. The Caquetá River and other tributaries of the Amazon River drain the southern portion of this region, which is covered by tropical rain forests. The northern part of the region is vast plains, or llanos, drained by the Meta and other tributaries of the Orinoco River. Other principal rivers are the Magdalena, the Cauca, and the Patía.
Elevation has a profound effect on Colombia’s climate. The low regions along the coast and in the Patía and Magdalena River valleys are torrid, with average annual temperatures of 24° to 27° C. From about 500 to 2300 m the climate is subtropical, and from about 2300 to 3000 m it is temperate. Above 3000 m a cold zone is found, where temperatures range from -18° to 13° C.
Temperatures vary little throughout the year. For instance, the January and July temperatures in Bogotá average 14° C and the averages for the same months in Barranquilla are 27° C and 28° C.
Throughout most of the country, three-month periods of rain and dry weather alternate. Along the Pacific coast precipitation is heavy, up to 8 000 mm. At Bogotá the annual rainfall averages about 1 060 mm and at Barranquilla it averages about 800 mm. Dry conditions prevail on the slopes of the Cordillera Oriental and on the Guajira peninsula.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.