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Colombia

meters) above sea level. But the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta—a separate range in the northeast that looms high over the Caribbean coast—contains Colombia’s highest peak: the 18,947-foot (5,775-meter) Cristóbal Colón, named for the explorer Christopher Columbus. Most of Colombia’s people live in the mountains—along the plateaus, valleys, and basins of the Andes. In prehistoric times ash from

High-quality coffee is grown in the Cocora Valley of the Cordillera Central range.

volcanic peaks created a fertile farmland in valleys lying between the three cordilleras. Sometimes volcanic eruptions create great destruction, though. In 1985 seismic activity of Nevado del Ruiz, located in the Cordillera Central, led to an ice and mudslide that buried most of the town of Armero in the valley below, killing approximately 25,000 people. Earthquakes have also devastated areas in the western half of Colombia. A 1983 quake destroyed many old buildings and churches in the historic city of Popayán; a 1999 earthquake in La Tebaida killed about 1,000 people and left 250,000 homeless. In 2015, a powerful earthquake damaged many build- ings in Bogotá, the capital. In the east, north, and far west of Colombia, the high mountains give way to the lowlands of the country’s seacoast and plains. The waves of the Caribbean and Pacific wash against nearly 2,000 miles (3,219 km) of shoreline.