Santa Marta

Santa Marta (sän`tä mär`tä), city (1993 pop. 270,253), capital of Magdalena dept., N Colombia, a port on the Caribbean Sea. The city's banana industry, operated by the United Fruit Company, is one of the most important in South America. Santa Marta also has fine beaches and is a tourist center. Founded by the Spanish explorer Rodrigo de Bastidas in 1525, it was often sacked by corsairs in the 16th cent. During colonial times the city was important as an outlet for the Magdalena River valley. It remained royalist during the revolution and was liberated in 1821. Simón Bolívar died on an estate nearby.

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Santa Marta

a port in NW Colombia, on the Caribbean: the oldest city in Colombia, founded in 1525; terminus of the Atlantic railway from Bogotá (opened 1961). Pop.: 454 000 (2005 est.)

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Santa Marta 

a city in northwestern Colombia, capital of Magdalena Department. Population, 141,300 (1972). A port on the Caribbean Sea, Santa Marta had a freight turnover of 1 million tons in 1969; bananas are an important export. The city is linked by rail with Bogotá. Industries include food processing and the production of textiles. There is a university in the city. Santa Marta was founded in 1525.