Guajira Peninsula
| Guajira Peninsula | ||
 Cabo de la Vela on the Guajira Peninsula |
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| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 12 ° 2 ′ N , 71 ° 44 ′ W | |
| Waters 1 | Caribbean Sea | |
| Waters 2 | Gulf of Venezuela | |
| surface | 25,000 km² | |
 Satellite image of the Guajira Peninsula |
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The Guajira Peninsula ( Spanish Península de La Guajira ) is on the border between Venezuela and Colombia . Most of the peninsula belongs to the Colombian department of La Guajira , while the Venezuelan strip in the state of Zulia is only very narrow.
At Punta Gallinas, the peninsula is the northernmost point on the mainland in South America . It is surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Venezuela . The landscape is very dry and drinking water is scarce on the Guajira.
Due to its exposed location, strong winds prevail on the Guajira Peninsula, and the north of the headland is extremely dry.
The indigenous Wayúu people live on both sides of the border , in whose language the peninsula bears the name Wajiira . This name is probably based on the Spanish name of this region, which in turn could come from "Guajiros", the Spanish name of the people. The Wayúu have proven to be very defensive against the colonizers and are still feared by the mainland population.
Due to the border location and the tendency to transfer proceeds from the illegal trade in cocaine back to Colombia by means of under-declared imports, for example electrical consumer goods, smuggling plays a relatively important role, especially in the northern parts of the Guajira. The places north of Riohacha are considered unsafe for strangers.
There are immense deposits of hard coal on the Guajira, which are mined in open-cast mining in a similar way to lignite in Germany. For this purpose, a separate railway line was built on which the coal is transported to the port and mostly shipped to the USA. The local population hardly benefits from this wealth.