Barrancabermeja

Port and oil-refining centre on the Magdalena River in the department of Santander, northeastern Colombia; population (2005) 168,300. The city was founded by the Spaniards in 1536 on the site of an Indian settlement and renamed after the red cliffs of the Magdalena River. Cattle ranching and the marketing of beef continue to be important activities of the area, though economic growth was boosted by the discovery of oil in 1921. The city has a major oil refinery in the De Mares fields, which is now linked by pipeline to Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. There is also an international airport.