The Republic of Colombia occupies the northwestern corner of South America. Connected to North America by the Isthmus of Panama, Colombia has coasts facing west on the Pacific Ocean and northwest on the Caribbean Sea. Colombia was colonized by Spain early in the 16th century and was ruled as part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada until the viceroyalty won its independence in a complex struggle in 1810-1819. The former viceroyalty, known as Gran Colombia, fell apart in 1831, creating the nations of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Colombia continued to include the area of Panama until that country became independent in 1903. Colombia is divided into 33 departments (departamentos). This page includes the lighthouses of the eight mainland departments of the Colombian Caribbean; there are separate pages for the Pacific Coast and for the Caribbean island department of San Andrés and Providencia. The word for a lighthouse is faro in Spanish; smaller lighthouses are often called balizas (beacons). In Spanish isla is an island, cabo is a cape, punta is a promontory or point of land, péñon is a rock, arrecife is a reef, bahía is a bay, ría is an estuary or inlet, estrecho is a strait, río is a river, and puerto is a port or harbor. Aids to navigation in Colombia are owned by the Autoridad Marítima Colombia and maintained by the Dirección General Marítima (DIMAR). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. DIMAR numbers are from DIMAR's Lista de Luces de la República de Colombia. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals and U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110.
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![]() Cabo Tiburón Light, Chocó DIMAR photo |
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![]() Punta las Vacas Light, Turbo DIMAR photo |
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![]() Isla del Rosario Light, Islas del Rosario DIMAR photo |
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![]() Río Magdalena West Breakwater Light, Barranquilla photo copyright Capt. Theo Hinrichs; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: Western Venezuela | South: Western Colombia | West: Northern Panama | Northwest: San Andrés and Providencia
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted February 13, 2004. Checked and revised May 6, 2024. Lighthouses: 51. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.