Editing Cauca Department (section)

==Physiography==
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2023}}

The relief of the territory of the department of Cauca belongs to the [[Andean Region (Colombia)|Andean system]] at the macro level seven distinguishing morphological units:
# the [[Pacific Plate]]
# the [[Pubenza Valley]]
# the [[Cordillera Occidental (Colombia)|Western Cordillera]]
# the [[Cordillera Oriental (Colombia)|Central Cordillera]]
# the Popayán Plateau
# the [[Colombian Massif]]
# the [[Patía Valley dry forests|Patía Valley]]
# a small sliver of the [[Amazon Basin]]

The Pacific Plate comprises two sectors, firstly the alluvial coastal belt or platform characterized by low, swampy, mangrove forest with many rivers estuaries subject to the ebb and flow of tides, the remainder is a plain or hills comprising the western slopes of the western cordillera.

The western cordillera in Cauca extends from southwest to northeast. Among the most important landmarks are the blade of Napí, the hills of Guaduas, Munchique, and Naya, and the Cauca River Valley. The central mountain range crosses the department from south to north; relevant landmarks include Sotará Colcano, Petacas Nevado del [[Huila Department|Huila]], and the departmental boundary.

The highlands of Popayán, sandwiched between the Western and Central Cordilleras, is seen as a landmark within the plateau of the hill of La Tetilla. Among the most representative landmarks of the Colombian Massif, shared with the department of [[Huila Department|Huila]], are the Páramo del Buey, the volcanoes of Cutanga and Puracé, the peak of Paletará, and the Sierra Nevada of Coconucos. Patia Valley, where the Patia River runs north–south and framed by the Central and Western mountain ranges, extends into [[Nariño Department]]. The Amazonian salient corresponds to the so-called Bota Caucana, through which flows the [[Japurá River]].