2 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 2 88 



Several geographic features of Colombia seeni to contribute to its 

 immense frog fauna. It is the only South American country directly 

 connected to Central America through the Isthmus of Panama, and 

 the only one that borders upon both oceans. Its northern shores touch 

 on the Caribbean, its western on the Pacific. Reaching as it does from 

 the Amazon River to the Caribbean Sea and from the Orinoco River 

 to the Pacific Ocean, it derives its fauna from many sources. 



The western half of Colombia is very rugged. The Andean Chain 

 enters the country from Ecuador as a single range but soon divides 

 into three ranges: the Cordillera Oriental, the Cordillera Central, 

 and the Cordillera Occidental. In the northwest is the isolated Sierra 

 Nevada de Santa Marta. Smaller mountain massifs are the equally 

 isolated Serrania de La Marcarena, in the Orinoco Basin east of the 

 Andes in Meta, and the Serrania de Baud6, which separates the Rio 

 Atrato drainage from the Pacific Ocean in northern Choc6 and is more 

 or less contiguous with the Serrania del Darien of Panama. 



The Cordillera Oriental extends northward in Colombia as the 

 Sierra de Motilones, the Serrania de Valledupar, and Montes de Oca, 

 which, north of latitude 9°05' North, form the political divide between 

 Colombia and Venezuela. South of latitude 9°05' North, the Departa- 

 mento Norte de Santander lies east of these ranges in the Maracaibo 

 Basin. The highest peak in Colombia is the Chundua or Pico Crist6- 

 bal Coldn, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, which reaches an 

 altitude of 5,800 meters. In the three Andean chains, the Nevado 

 del Huila reaches 5,750 meters in the Cordillera Central, the Nevado 

 de Ritacuva 5,493 meters in the Cordillera Oriental, and Cerro 

 Tamana 4,200 meters in the Cordillera Occidental. In Colombia's 

 southern Andes (before they divide) the Nevada de Cumbal attains 

 a height of 4,764 meters. 



Colombia, which during part of the 19th century was known as 

 New Granada, is now divided politically into sixteen "departa- 

 mentos," five "intend encias," and four "comisarias." These (with 

 their respective areas in square kilometers) are listed below: 



Depaktamentos Narino (32,704) 



Antioquia (64,370) Norte de Santander (20,541) 



Atlantico (3,288) Santander (30,866) 



BoHvar (37,632) Tolima (23,201) 



Boyaca" (67,928) Valle (21,669) 



Caldas (13,020) 



C6rdoba (23,736) Intendencias 



Cauca (30,080) Arauca (22,869) 



Cundinamarca (23,444) Caqueta (96,742) 



Choc6 (46,043) Guajira (21,094) 



Huila (19,786) Meta (86,480) 



Magdalena (46,317) San Andres y Providencia (43) 



