Lower Guajira is in the southern region of the department, which includes the foothills of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Serranía del Perijá. The lowest areas are the valleys of the Cesar and Ranchería rivers. Most of this region understands what used to be the Province of Padilla, which existed during the federalist era of the country.

It is characterized by its agricultural and livestock potential, as well as its fertile soils suitable for the diversity of flora and fauna that they sustain, as in the case of the Montes de Oca, at the northern end of the Serranía del Perijá. Among the fauna present in the Montes de Oca, there are more than 200 species of plants, 67 species of mammals, 47 species of amphibians and 177 species of birds, being one of the most diverse areas of the Colombian Caribbean Region.