TThe 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); four of the departments face the Pacific. The departments are subdivided into municipalities (municipios). This page includes the lighthouses of the Pacific coast; there's a separate page for the North Coast lighthouses and another for Colombia's Caribbean territory of San Andrés and Providencia. Except for the ports of Tumaco and Buenaventura the Pacific coast of Colombia is mostly wild and remote. As a result most of Colombia's Pacific lighthouses are in relatively inaccessible locations and only limited information is available about them. The Spanish word for a lighthouse is faro; 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. Also, the Spanish word canal means a natural channel, not an artificial canal. 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 G of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals and U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 111.
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Cabo Manglares Light, Nariño Department unattributed photo from Mostpoint.com |
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Tumaco Light, Tumaco, September 2007 photo copyright Anthony Tice; used by permission |
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Punta Coll Light, Isla Gorgona, 2020 photo posted by Lineal Engineering |
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Isla Palmas Light, Buenaventura photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Colombia Caribbean | South: Ecuador | West: Southern Panamá
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Posted February 13, 2004. Checked and revised October 1, 2023. Lighthouses: 30. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.