city, capital of Sucre departamento, northern Colombia. It is located north of the Abibe Mountains, near the Gulf of Morrosquillo. The original Indian village of Cencelejo, which consisted of scattered clearings in dense forest, was beyond Spanish control in the 16th century. The actual founding of the city dates from 1776, when Captain Antonio de La Torre y Miranda assumed leadership of Spanish and Indian settlers at the Sitio de San Francisco de Asís de Sincelejo (“Place of St. Francis of Assisi of Sincelejo”).

Economic activities of the city and the surrounding agricultural area include cattle raising, sugar refining, clothing manufacture, and tobacco, rice, bean, corn (maize), and potato cultivation. Sincelejo is situated along the main highway linking Barranquilla and Medellín. Pop. (2007 est.) 229,852.