Punta Gallinas

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Punta Gallinas Lighthouse Faro de Punta Gallinas.jpg
Punta Gallinas Lighthouse
Overview map Lake Maracaibo map-es.svg
Overview map
Punta Gallinas at top of satellite picture Guajirapeninsula1.png
Punta Gallinas at top of satellite picture

Punta Gallinas (Cape Gallinas, "Cape Hens") is a headland in northern Colombia. Located in Uribia Municipality, La Guajira Department, it is the northernmost point on the mainland of South America, and one of the extreme points of South America. [1]

Contents

Geography

Punta Gallinas is situated in the northern part of the department of La Guajira, on the coast of the Caribbean Sea.

The cape is at the northern tip of the Guajira Peninsula (Península de la Guajira) in the municipality of Uribia, about 150 km (95 mi) northeast of Riohacha.

History

The indigenous Wayuu people have populated the area for a long time.

The headland is also the location of the northernmost lighthouse in South America, the 18 m (59 ft) high Faro de Punta Gallinas, which opened in 1989. [2]

Related Research Articles

The extreme points of South America are the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. The continent's southernmost point is often said to be Cape Horn, but Águila Islet of the Diego Ramírez Islands lies further south.

Guajira may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulf of Venezuela</span> Gulf of the Caribbean Sea

The Gulf of Venezuela is a gulf of the Caribbean Sea bounded by the Venezuelan states of Zulia and Falcón and by La Guajira Department, Colombia. The western side is formed by the Guajira Peninsula. A 54 km (34 mi) strait connects it with Maracaibo Lake to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guajira Peninsula</span> Geographic feature in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela

The Guajira Peninsula is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) extending from the Manaure Bay (Colombia) to the Calabozo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela (Venezuela), and from the Caribbean to the Serranía del Perijá mountains range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maicao</span> Municipality and city in Caribbean, Colombia

Maicao is a city and municipality in the Department of La Guajira, northern Republic of Colombia. It is located 76 km from Riohacha, the capital of the department and is the second largest urban center near the border with Venezuela, after the city of Cúcuta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Guajira Desert</span>

The La Guajira Desert is a desert located in northern Colombia and Venezuela, approximately 1,100 km (680 mi) north of Bogotá, covering most of the La Guajira Peninsula at the northernmost tip of South America. It is the continent's largest desert north of the equator. Most of the region is within Colombia's La Guajira Department, though a small portion is in the Venezuelan state of Zulia. The area holds immense coal reserves which are exploited in a zone known as El Cerrejón. It is also home to the indigenous Wayuu people. The Wayuu are mostly herders but also master deep-sea divers, known for collecting pearls from the Caribbean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wayuu people</span> Indigenous South American ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula

The Wayuu are an Indigenous ethnic group of the Guajira Peninsula in northernmost Colombia and northwest Venezuela. The Wayuu language is part of the Arawakan language family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cap de Formentor</span> Northernmost point of Mallorca, Spain

Cap de Formentor is the northernmost point of Mallorca, on the Formentor peninsula.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Guajira Department</span> Department of Colombia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manaure, La Guajira</span> Town in Caribbean, Colombia

Manaure or Salinas de Manaure is a town and municipality located in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Manaure's main economic activity is the exploitation of the vast amounts of salt in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uribia, La Guajira</span> Town in Caribbean, Colombia

Uribia is a town and municipality of the La Guajira department of Colombia. It is the youngest municipality of this Department since the year 2000. Northern Zone of the Cerrejón coal mines are located in this municipality. The municipality also contains the Serranía de Macuira mountain range which is an isolated low altitude mountain range in the middle of La Guajira Desert. One third of this mountain range is also a National Natural Park of Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albania, La Guajira</span> Town in Caribbean, Colombia

Albania is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Is the youngest municipality of this Department along with the town of Uribia and others, created on March 19, 2000. Albania neighbours and exclusive enclosed camp site for the Cerrejón coal mine workers and their families, named Mushaisa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibulla, La Guajira</span> Town in Caribbean, Colombia

Dibulla is a town and municipality located in the Department of La Guajira, Colombia by the Caribbean Sea and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains on the Guajira Peninsula. It was proclaimed municipality in 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Distracción, La Guajira</span> Town in Caribbean, Colombia

Distracción is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of La Guajira. Founded in 1845 by a man from neighboring Barrancas named Antonio María Vidal on the right margin of the Ranchería River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serranía de Macuira</span>

Serranía de Macuira is a mountain range in northern Colombia located in the municipality of Uribia, La Guajira. The Serrania de Macuira stands in the middle of the La Guajira Desert at 864 m (2,835 ft) isolated from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The range is a protected area; National Natural Park Macuira.

The Headland of Point Riche is located near the community of Port au Choix on the Great Northern Peninsula of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahía Portete – Kaurrele National Natural Park</span> National park in Colombia

Bahía Portete – Kaurrele National Natural Park is a national natural park in Uribia, La Guajira, Colombia. The northernmost national park of mainland South America is located at the Caribbean coast of the La Guajira peninsula in Bahía Portete, between Cabo de la Vela and Punta Gallinas. Established on December 20, 2014, it is the most recently designated national park of the country. As of 2017, 59 nationally defined protected areas are incorporated in Colombia. The park hosts a high number of marine and terrestrial species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Puerto Bolívar, Colombia</span> Place in La Guajira Department, Colombia

Puerto Bolívar is a maritime port in the municipality of Uribia in the Guajira department of Colombia. It is the largest Colombian port. The port is located in the south head of Bahia Portete, an area of permanent winds and low rainfall, 75 km (47 mi) north of the city of Uribia and 166 km (103 mi) of Riohacha.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabo de la Vela</span> Cape in northern Colombia

Cabo de la Vela is a headland in the Guajira Peninsula in Colombia with an adjacent small fishing village. It is a popular ecotourism destination of the Caribbean region of Colombia.

This is a list of the extreme points of Colombia, the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location.

References

  1. "La Guajira Colombia Cabo de la Vela Ecoturismo - Hoteles Manaure Punta Gallinas Tours la Guajira Turismo Colombia". Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2010-10-10., TurisColombia; La Guajira, accessdate=2010-10-10
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Northern Colombia". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 2010-10-10.

12°27′28″N71°39′56″W / 12.45778°N 71.66556°W / 12.45778; -71.66556