SANTA MARTA

capital of Magdalena department, northern Colombia, on a small bay of the Caribbean Sea, 40 mi (64 km) east-northeast of the mouth of the Ro Magdalena. It was founded in 1525 and is the oldest city in Colombia. Connected with the Magdalena by swampy channels and lakes, it became a port for colonial New Granada. Simn Bolvar, hero of the struggle for independence, died at an estate on the edge of the town in 1830. Santa Marta's commerce overtook that of the port of Cartagena in the mid-19th century but then declined because the channels to the Magdalena were inadequate for steamboats. In the 1880s Santa Marta began shipping bananas grown in the hinterland to the south. The Atlantic Railway, completed in 1961, provided the city's first rail connection with Bogot. Santa Marta is also accessible by highway and air. The Technological University of Magdalena opened in 1966. Pop. (1982 est.) 234,000.