South America and South Atlantic Islands

Colombia
Last reviewed: 02 June 2009

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GEOGRAPHY

Colombia lies entirely within the tropics, but climate and land use vary greatly according to altitude, ranging from the arid low-lying Guajira peninsula in the north-east and tropical lowlands of the Caribbean and Pacific coasts, to the bleak pastures of the Andean páramo (high moorlands). The Andes' western, central and eastern cordilleras (mountain ranges) run parallel south-west to north-east. The physical geography means that large areas are very sparsely populated.