Colombia is the only country in South America that borders both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans

It shares borders with Venezuela and Brazil to the east, Ecuador and Peru to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the north, Panama to the northwest, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Additionally, Colombia has maritime borders with Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.

As part of the Pacific Ring of Fire - a region prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity - Colombia is dominated by the Andes Mountains.

In Colombia, the Andes split into three distinct ranges known as cordilleras:

- Cordillera Occidental, which runs along the Pacific coast and includes the city of Cali;

- Cordillera Central, situated between the Cauca and Magdalena river valleys and home to Medellín, Manizales, and Pereira;

- Cordillera Oriental, which extends northeast to the Guajira Peninsula and includes Bogotá, Bucaramanga, and Cúcuta.

Peaks in the Cordillera Occidental rise above 13,000 feet (4,000 m), while those in the Cordillera Central and Cordillera Oriental reach heights of up to 18,000 feet (5,500 m).

Bogotá, located at 8,800 feet (2,700 m), is the highest city of its size in the world

East of the Andes lie the vast savannas of Los Llanos, part of the Orinoco River basin, and farther southeast, the dense jungles of the Amazon rainforest. Together, these lowland regions cover more than half of Colombia’s territory but are home to less than 3% of the population.

To the north, the Caribbean coast - where about 20% of the population lives - features low-lying plains and major port cities like Barranquilla and Cartagena. This region also includes the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range, which contains Colombia’s highest peaks (Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar), as well as the arid Guajira Desert.

In contrast, the Pacific coastal lowlands are narrow, fragmented, and sparsely populated. Backed by the Serranía de Baudó mountains and blanketed in dense vegetation, this region's primary port is Buenaventura.