Santa Marta

Caribbean seaport and capital of Magdalena department in northern Colombia, located on a bay 75 km/47 mi northeast of Barranquilla and situated at the mouth of the River Manzanares; population (2005) 384,200. Coffee, cocoa, bananas, and hides are among its principal exports. The town has an oil terminal and is the main export centre for the banana industry. It is now also Colombia's premier seaside resort, although the beaches are polluted by the port activities.

There is a regular ferry service south along the coast to Cartagena and Barranquilla.

Santa Marta was the first town founded by the Spanish in Colombia, in 1525. It has close associations with the liberator of Latin America, Simón Bolívar, who died here in 1830, and whose house is open to the public.