Why So Few People Live On Colombia's West Coast

Colombia is an incredible country, geographically. But despite being home to over 53 million people, the second most populous country in South America, almost no one lives on the country's Pacific coast. And this is weird because most countries in the Americas have gone through great effort to settle and build population centers on their respective west coasts. So what's going on in Colombia and why have they still not developed the vast majority of their Pacific coast?

In this episode we'll cover the varied and intimidating physical geography of Colombia, how, why and where the Spanish decided to colonize and settle, and why, even into 2024, Colombia's west coast is still vastly underpopulated compared to its Andean and Caribbean regions.

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Video animations and editing by Dakota Piteo.

[danielsac]

Two years ago I went on an academic trip to the Colombian Pacific Coast: to Buenaventura, Gorgona National Park, Sanquianga National Park and two villages between Buenaventura and Tumaco, named Guapi and La Tola.

A month earlier I visited the Colombian Amazon on another academic trip and both places are paradises, but there is some kind of epiphany I had there that I didn't have in the Amazon.

I don't know, the Ocean, the endless mangroves on the coast, the neverending rain (on one day it was like if the clouds only took a recess to have lunch and then got back to work raining), the vibrant biodiversity and the people, that despite harsh livelihoods are still resilient and welcoming, all that was like a dream.

[snowlabradorffn]

Someone on Reddit asked this question, and one of the top comments was "Did a mosquito write this post?"

[RomanVarl]

Colombia looks like a very beautiful country ))

[gvncd]

The pacific west coast is debilitatingly warm, rainy and humid, rife with dengue and other tropical diseases. Attempting to work the land for most crops is decidedly difficult due to these factors. Outside of fishing, tourism and narcotics related activities, there really isn't much to do there in terms of work. To add, narco/paramilitary groups have a presence in certain parts of the west coast, causing internal and external migration.

[danielandressandovalpedrer]

Hey, a little friendly correction. There was actually tarde with eastern Asia, because the Philippines were also a Spanish colony. But, the trade with them was made mainly from Mexico. Besides, the main Spanish city from "Nuevo Reino de Granada" wasn't Buenaventura, but Panama (Colombia until 1903), and the major city on the Pacific South American Spain was Lima.

[cineramic.official]

When are we getting "Why so few people live in the earth's core"

[Sirianstar]

Visiting Colombian is on my bucket list. I fell in love with it about 2 yrs ago watching Colombian TV. I want to visit badly!!!!

[sanexpreso]

I am from Colombia, that region is covered by a lush jungle, it is known as the biogeographic Choco, it rains every day of the year, here in Colombia it is debated that this region has been abandoned by the government and is very neglected, for that same reason its potential to trade with the Pacific has not been exploited, its two main cities are Buenaventura and Quibdo that compete for the title to see which is the rainiest city in the world

[sebbvell]

All my love to Colombia 🇨🇴 from Venezuela 🇻🇪

[Siethon]

The timing of the Panama canal with increased trade with Asia also explains why Cartagena was favored over Buenaventura

[TravelwithJennifer-xz]

You have an incredible eye for finding the hidden gems of every destination.

[shawn.champagne]

Bro milks the hell out of these videos to reach 10 minutes. Repeated himself so many times lol

[trim_z]

When I worked on a small cargo ship heading from San Diego to Lima our ship had to make an emergency port of call in Buenaventura. And because they didn't have the supplies and parts we needed for repairs we were stuck there for 18 days waiting for another one of our ships to come and pick us up. To say say that it was living hell is an understatement. We couldn't leave the ship and we didn't have power so between the heat, the mosquitoes, and the constant rain it was torture for 18 days straight. And not to make any controversies, but the port authorites and some of the local crews helping on repairs were some of the biggest aholes I have ever met. They wanted to tow us back out into the open ocean on a dead ship. Hell, my shipmates even joked about letting them because it was so bad there we just wanted to leave.

[amelianywhere]

Most of Colombia's population is concentrated in the Andean zone, half of the country is practically empty or sparsely populated. Where there are jungles there are no big cities, they were never founded because tropical diseases were abundant. Therefore, today there is no development in those areas and the people living in those areas are even poorer than the rest of the country. However, they are beautiful places with great natural landscapes.

[eurojamie]

I always thought it strange that the big cities in Colombia (and Bolivia) were up in the mountains at high altitude, but now after watching this it kind of makes sense. Thanks

[j.w.grayson]

Very well done Geoff! I've visited both Cartagena and Santa Marta a few times on cruises and really enjoy Cartagena. This video confirmed my desire to take an inland tour to Columbia.

[mcb]

Thank you for this video. I appreciate learning about Colombia. I am adopted and know very little about my Colombian birth father or his country. He was from Cali and came to the USA as a student in the 1960's.

[johnmcnulty]

The wetness of the Columbian west coast is remarkable when contrasted with the dryness of the Peruvian west coast!

[josebarrantes]

No se porque YouTube me empieza a recomendar estos vídeos hasta ahora, pero me parece interesante que empiecen a ser populares estos videos que hablan sobre Colombia sobre todo en la comunidad anglo (y entre otras claro)

[annppatterson]

Thanks for this research! We're visiting Columbia next week so this is very timely