Colombia is where South America bolts itself to Central America, and its outline has the nervous energy to match. Most players draw it as a blob and lose the elegant little bite where the Caribbean coast ducks inward.
The shape at a glance
Colombia is a rough diamond sitting at the top of South America, about as wide as it is tall. It is the continent's only country with both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, and the two meet at the narrow Panama connection in the northwest. The southern border runs along the Amazon fringe with Peru and Brazil, and the eastern side butts against Venezuela.
Step by step
- Start with the main diamond mass at the top of the continent, balanced roughly square in its proportions.
- Draw the Caribbean coast across the top as an arc with a distinct inward notch around the Guajira-to-Cartagena stretch.
- Angle the Pacific coast down the left side, curving gently toward Ecuador.
- Add the northwestern corner narrowing toward the Panama isthmus — the land bridge to Central America.
- Push the southern edge into a point dipping toward the Amazon along Peru and Brazil.
- Straighten the long eastern border with Venezuela, which runs tidier than the coasts.
Mistakes that cost you points
- Drawing Colombia with only one coastline when it famously touches both the Caribbean and the Pacific.
- Forgetting the narrow Panama connection in the northwest corner.
- Making it too round and losing the diamond's pointed southern dip toward the Amazon.
- Smoothing over the Caribbean notch, which flattens the most characterful part of the coast.
Place it on the map
Colombia caps the top of South America: Venezuela to its east, Brazil and Peru to its south, Ecuador at its southwest corner, and Panama connecting it northward. It is the continent's front door.
Pro tip: Protect the two coastlines — the empty Caribbean above and the empty Pacific to the left are free IoU space, so keeping both flanks honestly concave is worth more than perfecting the inland borders nobody can see.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do you draw Colombia from memory?
- Start with the overall box — is Colombia wider than tall or the reverse — then place its signature feature first and build the rest of the outline around it. Finish with the coastline details, then compare against the real border in a free practice round to get a 0-100 score.
- How hard is it to draw Colombia?
- Colombia rates as medium difficulty. The chunky diamond is approachable, but the Panama connection and the odd Caribbean notch take genuine care.