Colombia Geography

Colombia sits at the northern tip of South America, the only country on the continent with coastlines on both the Caribbean and the Pacific. The Andes split into three distinct ranges as they enter the country from the south, enclosing fertile highland valleys, including the one holding Bogotá, at altitudes over 2,500 meters.

East of the Andes, the landscape drops sharply into vast lowlands -- the Llanos, a tropical grassland plain, and the Amazon rainforest covering the entire southeastern third of the country, sharing its jungle border with Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador.

This range of terrain gives Colombia one of the highest biodiversity counts on Earth relative to its size -- more bird species than any other country in the world, and second only to Brazil in total biodiversity.