Colombia Geography & Climate

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.

Colombia's proximity to the equator means temperature depends almost entirely on elevation rather than time of year -- each region keeps roughly the same temperature year-round, and "seasons" here mean wet or dry rather than hot or cold.

Bogotá and the Andean highlands stay cool and spring-like all year, typically 8-20°C (46-68°F), while lower-altitude cities like Cartagena stay hot and humid year-round, rarely dropping below 25°C (77°F) even at night.

Rainfall follows a bimodal pattern across most of the Andean interior -- two wetter stretches (April-May and October-November) and two drier ones -- while the Amazon and Pacific coast see rain nearly year-round.