Bodies of Water of Colombia

Sometimes referred to as Amazônia, the Amazon Rainforest is a natural region and biome in northern South America that occupies the Amazon Basin, a drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries. Nine countries have some parts of the Amazon region within their borders.

Bahía Portete – Kaurrele National Natural Park is situated on the La Guajira Peninsula in the extreme north of Colombia, along the coast of the Caribbean Sea. It conserves important ecosystems that include sedimentary beds, seagrass meadows, coral formations, mangroves, beaches and rocky coastline.

The Caquetá River as it is known in Colombia, or the Japurá as it is known in Brazil, is a tributary of the Amazon River and has a total length of approximately 1,750 mi. About two-thirds of the tributary is in Colombia and the other one-third is in Brazil. The Caquetá-Japurá Basin is the ninth-largest tributary basin in the Amazon.

The Cauca River rises in southwestern Colombia and flows northward between the Occidental and Central cordilleras of the Colombian Andes until it joins with the Magdalena River before emptying into the Caribbean Sea. Its journey to the sea takes it through a spectacular canyon between the parallel mountain ranges.

The Gulf of Darién is the southernmost extension of the Caribbean Sea, situated off the northwestern coast of Colombia and the southeastern coast of Panama. The Darién Gap is a break across the North and South American continents within Central America.

The Gulf of Venezuela is an inlet of the Caribbean Sea bounded by Venezuela and Colombia. It is a shipping route for the petroleum-producing Maracaibo region. The Guajira Peninsula is located in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.

The Magdalena River is Colombia's principal river. It flows northward through the Andes of western Colombia and empties into the Caribbean Sea in the north. Home to 80% of the nation’s 48 million inhabitants, it is the principal driving force of the local economy.

Beginning high in the Sierra Parima Mountains of Venezuela and Brazil, the Orinoco River flows in a giant arc before discharging in the Atlantic Ocean in Venezuela. Its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and the llanos of Colombia.

The Río Negro, the largest blackwater river in the world, is a major tributary of the Amazon. The source of the Río Negro lies in eastern Colombia's rainforests. At Manaus, the Río Negro joins the Solimões River to form the Amazon River. It is at this point that the "meeting of the waters" phenomenon takes place.