Colombia officially the Republic of Colombia ( Spanish: República de Colombia ( help·info ) is a country located in northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, through the Caribbean Sea; to the north-west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

Colombia is the 26th largest nation in the world and the fourth-largest in South America ( after Brazil, Argentina, and Peru ), with an area more than twice that of France. It also has the third-largest population in Latin America after Brazil and Mexico.

Colombia is a standing middle power with the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico. It is also one of the largest manufacturers in South America. Colombia is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendents of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonisers, African slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's incredibly varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is considered to be among 17 of the most megadiverse countries in the world.