Elevation of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
801ft
above sea level · 244 m
Santiago de Compostela is a city of 100,965 people in A Coruña province, Galicia, the 2nd largest in the province. Of Spain’s 153 municipalities with more than 50,000 people, it’s the 61st highest.
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Key facts
- Coordinates
- 42.88° N · 8.55° W
- Degrees, minutes and seconds: 42° 52′ 49″ N · 8° 32′ 47″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 29T · 537,054 E · 4,747,604 N
- Zone 29 · ETRS89, the official datum on the mainland, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
- Municipality
- Santiago de Compostela
- INE code 15078
- Time zone
- Central European Time
- UTC+1 · UTC+2 in summer
- Population (2025)
- 100,965 people
- 84.9 sq mi municipality · 1,189 people/sq mi
- Ground height (MDT05)
- 802 ft (244.3 m)
- What the IGN’s terrain model measures at this exact point. The official elevation is 801 ft.
Population
Santiago de Compostela had 100,965 residents on January 1, 2025, according to Spain’s municipal register (Padrón), 5.6% more than in 2015, when it had 95,612. The municipality covers 84.9 sq mi, a density of 1,189 people/sq mi, against a Spanish average of 251 people/sq mi.
It’s the 2nd most populous of the 93 municipalities in A Coruña province, after A Coruña (251,543), home to 8.9% of its people.
Compared with Spain’s cities over 50,000
Santiago de Compostela sits 801 ft (244 m) above sea level. Of the 153 Spanish municipalities with more than 50,000 people, the highest is Ávila, at 3,691 ft, and the lowest is Melilla, at 7 ft. The average is 919 ft, so Santiago de Compostela is 118 ft below it.
The provincial capital, A Coruña, is 35 mi away in a straight line and 781 ft lower than Santiago de Compostela.
Of the 3 cities in A Coruña province with an elevation page, Santiago de Compostela is the highest. The others are Ferrol (46 ft) and A Coruña (20 ft).
According to the IGN’s summit table, the highest point in A Coruña province is O Coto da Andoriña, at 2,631 ft (802 m). It lies 28 mi away in a straight line, 1,831 ft above Santiago de Compostela.
- 61 Santiago de Compostela 801 ft
Each color band is 500 m (1,640 ft), the same colors as the map. See the full list
Nearest cities with a page
Tools for this place
Frequently asked questions
What people most often ask about the elevation of Santiago de Compostela.
What is the elevation of Santiago de Compostela, Spain?
Santiago de Compostela sits at 801 feet (244 meters) above sea level. That’s the official figure from Spain’s National Geographic Institute (IGN), measured at the reference point of the town center.
What are the coordinates of Santiago de Compostela?
Latitude 42.88014 and longitude -8.54628 in decimal degrees (42° 52′ 49″ N · 8° 32′ 47″ W). In UTM, zone 29: 537,054 E and 4,747,604 N, in the ETRS89 datum.
How does Santiago de Compostela rank among Spain’s highest cities?
It’s the 61st highest of the 153 municipalities with more than 50,000 people. The highest is Ávila (3,691 ft) and the lowest, Melilla (7 ft).
Which is higher, Santiago de Compostela or A Coruña?
Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de Compostela sits at 801 ft and A Coruña at 20 ft: a difference of 781 ft, 35 mi apart in a straight line.
How is elevation measured?
Elevation is the height of a point above mean sea level. Mapping agencies such as Spain’s IGN measure it on the ground with leveling and survey-grade GPS. Maps read it from an elevation model, a grid with the ground height at every point, so the model can differ by a few meters from the official figure, especially on sharp summits.
Sources
- IGN · IGR Poblaciones (population centers) Official elevation and coordinates of the town center. CC BY 4.0 license.
- MDT05 Digital Terrain Model (IGN) Ground height at this exact point, to check the figure. 5 m grid, CC BY 4.0 license.
- Municipal register (INE), January 1, 2025 Population: our own work with data from the INE website (www.ine.es). Area: IGN (CC BY 4.0).
- Terrain Tiles (AWS Open Data) Hillshading on the map, from public data by USGS, NASA, Copernicus and others.
- OpenStreetMap and OpenFreeMap The base map, with OpenStreetMap data (ODbL).
Reviewed October 31, 2026 · Methodology and sources · Spotted a mistake? Let us know