Cartagena , formally known as Cartagena of the Indies (Cartagena de Indias), is a large city seaport on the northern coast of Colombia. It has a population of roughly 1,075,000 (2006). Founded in 1533 by Don Pedro de Heredia, and named after the port of Cartagena in Spain's Murcia region, it was a major center of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and continues to be an economic hub as well as a popular tourist destination.