Magdalena

Department in northeast Colombia, with a coastline on the Caribbean Sea; area 23,188 sq km/8,953 sq mi; population (1996) 1,127,691. Santa Marta is the capital and an important port. Although most of the department consists of tropical lowland, well-watered by the River Magdalena, a mountain range, the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, is located in the northeast. At its foot stand Colombia's great banana plantations, and coffee is grown in the foothills. Other important crops are sugar cane, cotton, and tobacco. Cattle farming is also of importance.

Magdalena

Principal river of Colombia; length 1,600 km/994 mi. The Magdalena rises in the Cordillera Central of the Andes in southwest Colombia, 56 km/35 mi south of Popayán, and runs in a northerly direction to join with the River Cauca 200 km/124 mi south of the Caribbean Sea, into which it flows at the port of Barranquilla. The river used to be the backbone of Colombia's transportation system. However, with the development of road, rail, and air transport, its importance as a communication artery has diminished. It is navigable by paddle boats for most of its length, up to the rapids near the Andean city of Honda. Its fertile valley in the upper and mid course produces coffee, sugar cane, tobacco, cacao, and cotton.