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Colombia is located in the north of South America (4°N, 72°W) and is part of Caribbean South America. It has sea borders with Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic to the east and Costa Rica and Guatemala to both east and west; and land borders with Panama (225 km/140 mi) to the northwest, Ecuador (590 km/367 mi) and Peru (1,496 km/930 mi) to the south, Brazil (1,643 km/1,021 mi) to the southeast, and Venezuela (2,050 km/1,274 mi) to the east. Colombia is the only South American country to have coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean (1,760 km/1,094 mi) and the Pacific Ocean (1,448 km/900 mi). Colombia has a total area of 1,138,910 square kilometers (439,736 sq. mi) being the fourth biggest country in South America after Brazil, Argentina and Peru and the seventh largest one in the the Americas. From this area, the land has 1,038,700 square kilometers (401,044 sq. mi) and the water area has 100,210 square kilometers (38,691 sq. mi). It has also an archipelago in the Caribbean sea (San Andres, Providencia and Santa Catalina) that forms the territory of the department San Andrés y Providencia. The mainland is divided into four major geographic regions: Andean highlands (composed of three mountain ranges and intervening valley lowlands); Caribbean lowlands; Pacific lowlands; and Ilanos and tropical rainforest of eastern Colombia. Colombia also possesses small islands in both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. A striking variety in temperature results primarily from differences in elevation, but there is little seasonal variation. Habitable areas consist of hot (below 900 m / 2,950 ft in elevation), temperate (between 900 & 1,980 m or 2,950 & 6,500 ft), and cold (from 1,980 m to about 3,500 m or from 2,950 ft to 11,500 ft) climatic zones. Precipitation generally moderate to heavy, with highest levels in Pacific lowlands and in parts of eastern Colombia; considerable year-to-year variations recorded. The Andes range is located in Colombia from Southwest (Ecuador boarder) toward Northeast (Venezuela boarder) and is divided in the Colombian Massif (Macizo Colombiano) in three ranges (East Range, Center Range and West Range) that form two long valleys, Magdalena and Cauca follow by the rivers of the same name. The highest mountain in Colombia is not in the Andes but in the Caribbean plain: Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta with its highest points named Pico Cristobal Colon (5,775 m or 18,947 ft) and Pico Simon Bolivar (same elevation). The eastern part of Colombia, comprising more than half its territory, is plain and composed by savanna and rainforest, crossed by rivers belonging to the Amazon and Orinoco basins. The northern part, called "Los Llanos" is a savanna region, mostly in the Orinoco basin (therefore called also Orinoquía). The southern part, usually called Amazonía, is covered by the Amazon rain forest and belongs mostly to the Amazon basin. At the north and west of the Andes there are coastal plains, the Caribbean plains to the north and the Pacific plains to the west. The five traditional natural regions are therefore: the Andean Region, the Caribbean Region, the Pacific Region, the Orinoquia Region and the Amazonia Region. Some people also include an Insular Region, separated from the coastal regions. |
Colombia Information: Inside
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