33 Departments of Colombia

Colombia is a unitary republic made up of thirty-two regions and a Capital District. Each region has a governor (gobernador) and an Assembly, elected by popular vote for a four-year period. The governor cannot be re-elected in consecutive periods. Regions are country subdivisions and are granted a certain degree of autonomy.

The Amazonas Department is a department of Colombia in the south of the country. It is the largest department in area while also having the 3rd smallest population. Its capital is Leticia and its name comes from the Amazon River, which drains the department.

The Department of Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range. Antioquia has been part of many territorial divisions of former countries created over the present day territory of Colombia, and prior to the Colombian Constitution of 1886, Antioquia State had its own sovereign government.

Arauca Department is a department of Colombia located in the extreme north of the Orinoco Basin of Colombia, bordering Venezuela. The southern boundary of Arauca is formed by the Casanare and Meta Rivers, separating Arauca from the departments of Casanare and Vichada. To the west, Arauca borders the department of Boyacá. The Caño Limón oil fields located within Arauca account for almost a third of the Colombian oil output. Its capital is the town of Arauca.

Atlántico is a department of Colombia, located in northern Colombia with the Caribbean Sea to its north, the Bolívar Department to its west and south separated by the Canal del Dique, and the Magdalena Department to its east separated by the Magdalena River. It is the third-smallest of the country's departments but its population of 2,535,517 makes it one of the most densely populated.

Bolívar is a department of Colombia. It was named after one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia. It is located to the north of the country, extending roughly north–south from the Caribbean coast at Cartagena near the mouth of the Magdalena River, then south along the river to a border with Antioquia Department. The departments of Sucre and Córdoba are located to the west, and Atlántico Department is to the north and east. Across the Magdalena River to the east is Magdalena Department. The flag of the department bears a resemblance to the flag of Lithuania.

Boyacá is one of the thirty-two departments of Colombia, and the remnant of Boyacá State, one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia".

Caldas is a department of Colombia named after Colombian patriotic figure Francisco José de Caldas. It is part of the Paisa Region and its capital is Manizales. The population of Caldas is 998,255, and its area is 7,291 km². Caldas is also part of the Colombian Coffee-Growers Axis region along with the Risaralda and Quindio departments.

Caquetá Department is a department of Colombia. Located in the Amazonas region, Caquetá borders with the departments of Cauca and Huila to the west, the department of Meta to the north, the department of Guaviare to the northeast, the department of Vaupés to the east, the departments of Amazonas and Putumayo to the south covering a total area of 88,965 km², the third largest in the country. Its capital is the city of Florencia.

Casanare Department is a department in the central eastern region of Colombia.

Cauca Department is a Department of Colombia. Located in the southwestern part of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Valle del Cauca Department to the north, Tolima Department to the northeast, Huila Department to the east, and Nariño Department to the south. Putumayo and Caqueta Departments border the southeast portion of Cauca Department as well. It covers a total area of 29,308 km2 (11,316 sq mi), the 13th largest in Colombia. Its capital is the city of Popayán. The offshore island of Malpelo belongs to the department. It is located in the southwest of the country on the Andean and Pacific regions. The area includes 2.56% of the country.

Cesar Department or simply Cesar is a department of Colombia located in the north of the country in the Caribbean region, bordering to the north with the Department of La Guajira, to the west with the Department of Magdalena and Department of Bolivar, to the south with Department of Santander, to the east with the Department of North Santander, and further to the east with the country of Venezuela. The department capital city is Valledupar.

Chocó Department is a department of Colombia known for its large Afro-Colombian population. It is in the west of the country, and is the only Colombian department to have coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It contains all of Colombia's border with Panama. Its capital is Quibdó.

Córdoba Department is a Department of the Republic of Colombia located to the north of this country in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Córdoba faces to the north with the Caribbean Sea, to the northeast with the Sucre Department, east with the Bolívar Department and south with the Antioquia Department. Its capital is the city of Montería.

Department of Cundinamarca is one of the departments of Colombia. Its area covers 22,623 square kilometres (8,735 sq mi) and it has a population of 2,919,060 as of 2018. It was created on August 5, 1886 under the constitutional terms presented on the same year. Cundinamarca is located in the center of Colombia.

Guainía is a department of Colombia. It is in the east of the country, bordering Venezuela and Brazil. Its capital is Inírida. In 1963 Guainía was split off from Vaupés department. The northern part and the Inírida River are included in the Orinoco basin; the rest is part of the Amazon basin. The Guaviare River is the main area of colonization; many colonos come from the Colombian Andean zone, most of them from Boyacá. They are followed by the llaneros, people from the Eastern plains (Llanos). The population is mainly composed of Amerindians, and the largest ethnic groups are the Puinaves and the curripacos. There are a total of 24 ethnic groups in the department; many of them speak four Indigenous languages besides Spanish and Portuguese.

Guaviare is a department of Colombia. It is in the southern central region of the country. Its capital is San José del Guaviare. Guaviare was created on July 4, 1991 by the new Political Constitution of Colombia. Up until that point, it was a national territory that operated as a Commissariat, segregated from territory of the then Commissariat of Vaupés on December 23, 1977.

Huila is one of the departments of Colombia. It is located in the southwest of the country, and its capital is Neiva.

La Guajira is a department of Colombia. It occupies most of the Guajira Peninsula in the northeast region of the country, on the Caribbean Sea and bordering Venezuela, at the northernmost tip of South America. The capital city of the department is Riohacha.

Magdalena is a department of Colombia with more than 1.3 million people, located to the north of the country by the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Magdalena Department is Santa Marta and was named after the Magdalena River. It inherited the name of one of the original nine states of the United States of Colombia that its current territory integrated.

Meta is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known as the Llanos. Its capital is Villavicencio. The department has a monument placed in the very geographic centre of Colombia, at a place known as Alto de Menegua, a few kilometers from Puerto López.

Nariño is a department of Colombia named after independence leader Antonio Nariño. Its capital is Pasto. It is in the west of the country, bordering Ecuador and the Pacific Ocean.

North Santander is a department of Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.

Putumayo is a department of Colombia. It is in the south-west of the country, bordering Ecuador and Peru. Its capital is Mocoa.

Quindío is a department of Colombia. It is in the western central region of the country, crossed by the Andes mountains. Its capital is Armenia. It is famous for the quality of the coffee plantations, colorful architecture, benign weather, variety of hotel accommodations and tourist landmarks. This department is located in a strategic area, in the center of the triangle formed by the three main cities of the country: Bogotá, Medellín and Cali. Quindío is the second-smallest Colombian department with 12 municipalities. Ethnographically and culturally it belongs to the Paisa region.

Risaralda is a department of Colombia. It is located in the western central region of the country and part of the Paisa Region. Its capital is Pereira.

The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, or, in everyday language, San Andrés and Providencia, is one of the departments of Colombia. It consists of two island groups in the Caribbean Sea about 775 km (482 mi) northwest of mainland Colombia, and eight outlying banks and reefs. The largest island of the archipelago is called San Andrés and its capital is San Andrés. The other large islands are Providencia and Santa Catalina Islands which lie to the north-east of San Andrés; their capital is Santa Isabel.

Santander is a department of Colombia. Santander inherited the name of one of the nine original states of the United States of Colombia. It is located in the central northern part of the country, borders the Magdalena River to the east, Boyacá to the south and southeast, the Norte de Santander Department to the northeast, the Cesar Department to the north, and the Bolivar and Antioquia Departments to the west. Its capital is the city of Bucaramanga.

Sucre is a department in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. The department ranks 27th by area, 10,670 km2 (4,120 sq mi) and it has a population of 904,863, ranking 20th of all the 32 departments of Colombia. Sucre is bordered by the Caribbean on the northwest; by Bolívar Department on the east and by Córdoba Department on the west.

Tolima is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the Andean region, in the center-west of the country. It is bordered on the north and the west by the department of Caldas; on the east by the department of Cundinamarca; on the south by the department of Huila, and on the west by the departments of Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Quindío and Risaralda. Tolima has a surface area of 23,562 km2, and its capital is Ibagué. The department of Tolima was created in 1861 from a part of what was previously Cundinamarca.

Valle del Cauca, or Cauca Valley, is a department of Colombia. It is on the western side of the country, abutting the Pacific Ocean. Its capital is Santiago de Cali. Such other cities as Buenaventura, Buga, Valle del Cauca, Cartago, Palmira, Valle del Cauca and Tuluá have great economical, political, social and cultural influence on the department's life. Valle del Cauca has the largest number of independent towns with over 100,000 inhabitants in the country, counting six within its borders. Buenaventura has the largest and busiest seaport in Colombia, moving about 8,500,000 tons of merchandise annually.

Vaupés is a department of Colombia in the jungle covered Amazonas Region. It is located in the southeast part of the country, bordering Brazil to the east, the department of Amazonas to the south, Caquetá to the west, and Guaviare, and Guainía to the north; covering a total area of 54,135 km². Its capital is the town of Mitú.

Vichada Department is a department of the Republic of Colombia in South America. Vichada is located in the eastern plains of Colombia, in the Orinoquía Region within the Orinoco river basin bordering the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the north and east. To the north the department also borders with Arauca Department, to the northwest with Casanare Department, to the west with Meta Department, to the southwest narrowly bordering with Guaviare Department and to the south with Guainía Department. The department is the second largest in Colombia and scarcely populated in comparison to other departments.