Aracataca is a river town and municipality located in the Department of Magdalena within Colombia's Caribbean Region. Founded in 1885, it is situated approximately 80 kilometres south of the departmental capital, Santa Marta.
The town sits alongside the Aracataca River, which originates in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range and flows into the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, a lagoon connected to the Caribbean Sea. Aracataca is most notably recognized as the birthplace of Nobel literature laureate Gabriel García Márquez.