Elevation of Cartagena, Spain
16ft
above sea level · 5 m
Cartagena is a city of 220,704 people in the Region of Murcia, the 2nd largest in the region. Of Spain’s 153 municipalities with more than 50,000 people, it’s the 8th lowest.
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Key facts
- Coordinates
- 37.60° N · 0.98° W
- Degrees, minutes and seconds: 37° 36′ 3″ N · 0° 59′ 6″ W
- UTM coordinates
- 30S · 677,882 E · 4,163,443 N
- Zone 30 · ETRS89, the official datum on the mainland, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla
- Municipality
- Cartagena
- INE code 30016
- Time zone
- Central European Time
- UTC+1 · UTC+2 in summer
- Population (2025)
- 220,704 people
- 216 sq mi municipality · 1,020 people/sq mi
- Ground height (MDT05)
- 17 ft (5.1 m)
- What the IGN’s terrain model measures at this exact point. The official elevation is 16 ft.
Population
Cartagena had 220,704 residents on January 1, 2025, according to Spain’s municipal register (Padrón), 2.0% more than in 2015, when it had 216,301. The municipality covers 216 sq mi, a density of 1,020 people/sq mi, against a Spanish average of 251 people/sq mi.
It’s the 2nd most populous of the 45 municipalities in the Region of Murcia, after Murcia (479,405), home to 14% of its people.
Compared with Spain’s cities over 50,000
Cartagena sits 16 ft (5 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 Cartagena is 902 ft below it.
The regional capital, Murcia, is 28 mi away in a straight line and 121 ft higher than Cartagena.
Of the 4 cities in the Region of Murcia with an elevation page, Cartagena is the lowest. The others are Lorca (1,122 ft), Molina de Segura (272 ft), and Murcia (138 ft).
According to the IGN’s summit table, the highest point in the Region of Murcia is Obispo, at 6,608 ft (2,014 m). It lies 77 mi away in a straight line, 6,591 ft above Cartagena.
- 143 Cartagena 16 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 Cartagena.
What is the elevation of Cartagena, Spain?
Cartagena sits at 16 feet (5 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 Cartagena?
Latitude 37.60089 and longitude -0.98493 in decimal degrees (37° 36′ 3″ N · 0° 59′ 6″ W). In UTM, zone 30: 677,882 E and 4,163,443 N, in the ETRS89 datum.
How does Cartagena rank among Spain’s highest cities?
It’s the 8th lowest 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, Cartagena or Murcia?
Murcia. Cartagena sits at 16 ft and Murcia at 138 ft: a difference of 121 ft, 28 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