Is Tunja safe?
Colombia · South America · data updated 2026-09-04
Tunja is a city in Colombia, home to about 215k people, and one of 6,168 cities worldwide ranked on this site from published safety data. It currently ranks 5,658 of 6,168, with a safety score of 43.2 out of 100, which lands it in the middle band of the ranking.
Emergency Ambulance 123 · Fire 119 · Police 123
- US State Department: Reconsider travelOfficial travel advisory level 3 of 4 for Colombia, updated 2025-04-16.
- UK FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country21 named areas - see "areas to avoid" below.
- Very high homicide rate24.35 homicides per 100,000 per year (national rate), about 9× the global city median.
- High income inequalityGini 54.4 puts Colombia in the most unequal quarter of countries - the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset (street crime and robbery tend to track it).
Areas the UK FCDO advises against visiting country
- Colombia-Venezuela border and northern Colombia
- Pacific coast and Colombia-Panama border
- Central Colombia
- Colombia-Ecuador border and southern Colombia
- all of Norte de Santander Department, including Cúcuta.
- all of Arauca Department
- the municipality of Puerto Carreño in Vichada Department
- within 5km of the rest of the border with Venezuela.
- Chocó Department, except for the department capital Quibdó, the towns of Nuquí and Bahía Solano and Capurganá
- the western part of Valle del Cauca Department, including Buenaventura
- the municipality of Jamundí, Valle del Cauca
- the South Pacific, Sanquianga and Telembi regions of Nariño Department
- the southern part of Córdoba Department
- the Urabá and Bajo Cauca regions of Antioquia Department
- the southern part of Bolívar Department
- all of Guaviare Department, except for the department capital San José del Guaviare
- Cartagena del Chairá, San Vicente del Caguan, Puerto Rico, El Doncello, Paujil and La Montañita in Caquetá Department
- the Ariari region of southern Meta, except for Caño Cristales
- all of Cauca Department, except for the department capital Popayán
- the border crossing on the Pan-American highway at the Puente Internacional de Rumichaca
- the city of Ipiales in Nariño Department
Named in the official UK travel advice for Colombia (in full or in part - the advisory lists exact boundaries and exceptions). These are country-level warnings and may be far from Tunja.
How safe is Tunja really?
No published homicide figure exists for Tunja itself, so the national rate stands in: Colombia recorded 24 homicides per 100,000 people in 2024 - roughly 9 times the global city median. The city itself may be safer or more dangerous than its country's average. That matters because income inequality is the strongest structural predictor of city violence in this dataset, and Colombia's Gini of 54.4 puts it in the most unequal quarter of countries - conditions under which street crime and robbery tend to be a real concern.
Tunja also carries some conflict exposure: UCDP recorded 1 deaths from organized violence within 100 km across 1 events in 2022-2024 - a factor crime statistics alone would miss.
What the travel advisories say
The US State Department currently rates Colombia at level 3 of 4 - "Reconsider travel" (updated 2025-04-16). The UK Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to parts of this country, naming 21 specific areas - listed above with the official advisory linked for exact boundaries and exceptions. Both advisories are country-level: no official source publishes verified neighborhood-level crime guidance for individual cities, which is why this page reports named areas only where an official source names them.
What to watch out for in Colombia
Terrorism in Colombia · Armed groups · Political situation · Protests · Street crime · Criminal kidnapping · Drug assisted robberies and sexual assaults · Public offences · Police scams · Crime in rural areas · Personal ID · Alcohol · Illegal drugs and prison sentences · Spiritual cleansing · +13 more
Topic headings from the official UK FCDO travel advice for Colombia — country-level, not specific to Tunja. Read what each one says →
The numbers
- Homicide rate
- 24 /100knational rate, 2024 · ~9× the global city median
- Conflict deaths
- 1within 100 km, 2022-2024 (UCDP)
- Income inequality
- Gini 54.4country, 2024
- Human development
- HDI 0.788country, 2023
- Income
- $22,250/yrGNI per capita PPP · context only, not scored
- Population
- 215kurban centre · 8,586/km²
Country context for travelers
- Road deaths
- 15.4 /100kWHO, 2019 · often the biggest real travel risk
- Political stability
- 49/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · higher = more stable
- Rule of law
- 47/100World Bank WGI, 2024 · police and courts reliability
- Corruption perceptions
- 37/100Transparency International, 2025 · higher = cleaner
- Natural-hazard risk
- 5.3/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Women, Peace & Security
- 0.55Georgetown WPS Index, 2025 · 0-1, higher = better
- Air quality
- 18.4 µg/m³PM2.5 annual mean, 2023 · WHO guideline is 5
- Safely managed drinking water
- 74%of the population, 2024 · WHO/UNICEF JMP
- Healthcare capacity
- 2.5 doctors /1k1.7 hospital beds per 1,000
- Malaria
- 15 /1k at riskWHO, 2024 · listed for endemic countries only
Natural hazards in Colombia
- Earthquake
- 8.8/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Tsunami
- 8.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Flood
- 7.0/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Cyclone
- 4.1/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
- Drought
- 2.7/10EU INFORM, 2026 · higher = riskier
Hazard types scoring under 1 out of 10 are not listed. These describe Colombia as a whole, not Tunja specifically.
Same-sex sexual activity is legal in Colombia (as of 2025).
All country-level figures shared by every city in Colombia; none of them affect the safety score.
How the score works
One fixed, calibrated mix for every city: 40% homicide · 25% peace · 25% equality · 10% HDI. Homicide and conflict deaths are measured outcomes; income inequality carries the structural share because it predicts real city violence far better than national income (which is shown above but scored at zero). Each factor maps to 0-100 against fixed anchors, missing data drops out and is never estimated, and cities with data behind less than half the weighting get “no data” instead of a score. For Tunja that gives 43.2/100. Full methodology, anchors and sources →
Tunja compared with Bogota
| Measure | Tunja | Bogota | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safety score | 43.2 | 42.8 | +0.5 — better for Tunja |
| Homicide ratecity-measured where published, otherwise the national rate | 24 /100k | 15 /100k | +9.2 /100k — better for Bogota |
| Conflict deaths within 100 km | 1 | 7 | −6 — better for Tunja |
Differences are plain arithmetic between the two stored figures — nothing is modelled. Both cities are in Colombia, so they share every country-level figure and only the city-level ones are listed. Full report for Bogota →
Nearby cities
- Sogamoso 41.3
- Zipaquirá 39.8
- Chía 42.8
- Yopal 42.1
- Bogota 42.8
- Facatativá 39.9
- Villavicencio 39.5
- Piedecuesta 38.1
See Tunja on the interactive map → · Safest cities in South America → · Full travel briefings →