Geography

Venezuela is a country in Northern South America, and part of Caribbean South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, between Colombia and Guyana. It is situated on major sea and air routes linking North and South America. Located at the northernmost end of South America, Venezuela has a total area of 912,050 square kilometres and a land area of 882,050 square kilometres, making it the 33rd largest country in the world (after Nigeria) and 7 times the size of England.

Shaped roughly like an inverted triangle, the country has a 2,800-kilometre coastline and is home to a wide variety of landscapes. The extreme northeastern extensions of the Andes reach into Venezuela's northwest and continue along the northern Caribbean coast. Pico Bolívar, the nation's highest point at 4,979 metres (16,335 ft), lies in this region.

Topography

Most observers describe Venezuela in terms of four fairly well-defined regions: the Maracaibo lowlands in the northwest, the northern mountains extending in a broad east-west arc from the Colombian border along the Caribbean Sea, the wide Orinoco plains (llanos) in central Venezuela, and the highly dissected Guiana highlands in the southeast.

Maracaibo Lowlands

The Maracaibo lowlands form a large spoon-shaped oval bounded by mountains on three sides and open to the Caribbean on the north. The area is remarkably flat with only a gentle slope toward the centre and away from the mountains that border the region. Lake Maracaibo occupies much of the lower-lying territory. Areas around the southern part of Lake Maracaibo are swampy, and, despite the rich agricultural land and significant petroleum deposits, the area was still thinly populated in 1990.

Northern Mountains

The mountains bordering the Caribbean Sea are actually the north-easternmost extension of the Andes chain. Broken by several gaps, these high mountains have peaks over 4,500 metres; the fertile valleys between the ranges contain most of Venezuela's population, industry, and agriculture. The discontinuous westernmost range, the Sierra de Perijá, runs along the Colombian border and is the least densely populated part of this region. The ranges of the Cordillera de Mérida, south and east of Lake Maracaibo, contain some of the highest peaks in the country (Pico Bolívar reaches 4,981 metres), a few of which are snow-capped year-round.

A broad gap separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera de la Costa, a rugged pair of ranges, divided into eastern and western sections that parallel the north-central coast. The series of valleys between these two parallel ranges in the western section constitutes the core area of the country; as the site of burgeoning metropolitan Caracas, this comparatively small area hosts the country's densest population, the most intensive agriculture and the best transportation network. Another broad gap separates the western section from the easternmost group of mountains, a series of dissected hills and uplands that rise steeply from the Caribbean and extend eastward almost to Trinidad.

Orinoco Plains (Llanos)

The great expanse of lowlands known as the Orinoco plains extends westward from the Caribbean coast to the Colombian border between the northern mountains and the Orinoco River. This region is commonly known as the llanos, although it also contains large stretches of swampland in the Orinoco Delta and near the Colombian border. The area slopes gradually away from the highland areas that surround it; elevations in the llanos never exceed 200 metres. North of the Río Apure, rivers flowing out of the northern mountains cut shallow valleys, leaving eroded ridges that give the land a gently rolling appearance. South of the Apure, the terrain is flatter and elevations lower.

Guiana Highlands

One of the oldest land forms in South America, the Guiana highlands rise almost immediately south and east of the Río Orinoco. Erosion has created unusual formations in this region. Comprising over half of the country, the highlands consist primarily of plateau areas scored by swiftly running tributaries of the Orinoco. The most conspicuous topographical feature of the region is the Gran Sabana, a large, deeply eroded high plateau that rises from surrounding areas in abrupt cliffs up to 800 metres high. Above the rolling surface of the Gran Sabana massive, flat-topped bluffs emerge; many of these bluffs (referred to as tepuis by the Venezuelans) reach considerable altitudes. The most famous tepui contains Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall.

Hydrography

The Orinoco is by far the most important of the more than 1,000 rivers in the country. Flowing more than 2,500 kilometres to the Atlantic from its source in the Guiana highlands at the Brazilian border, the Orinoco is the world's eighth largest river and the largest in South America after the Amazon. Its flow varies substantially by season, with the high water level in August exceeding by as much as 13 m the low levels of March and April. During low water periods, the river experiences high and low tides for more than 100 kilometres upstream from Ciudad Guayana.

For most of the Orinoco's course, the gradient is slight. Downstream from its headwaters, it splits into two; one-third of its flow passes through the Brazo Casiquiare (Casiquiare Channel) into a tributary of the Amazon, and the remainder passes into the main Orinoco channel. This passageway allows vessels with shallow drafts to navigate from the lower Orinoco to the Amazon River system after unloading and reloading on either side of two falls on the Orinoco along the Colombian border.

Most of the rivers rising in the northern mountains flow south-eastward to the Río Apure, a tributary of the Orinoco. From its headwater, the Apure crosses the llanos in a generally eastward direction. Few rivers flow into it from the poorly drained region south of the river and much of this area near the Colombian border is swampland.

The other major Venezuelan river is the fast-flowing Caroní, which originates in the Guiana highlands and flows northward into the Orinoco upstream from Ciudad Guyana. The Caroní is capable of producing as much hydroelectric power as any river in Latin America and has contributed significantly to the nation's electric power production. Electricity generated by the Caroní was one of the factors encouraging industrialization of the northern part of the Guiana highlands and the lower Orinoco valley.

Lake Maracaibo, the largest lake in Latin America, occupies the central 13,500 square kilometres of the Maracaibo lowlands. The low swampy shores of the lake and areas beneath the lake itself hold most of Venezuela's rich petroleum deposits. The lake is shallow, with an average depth of 10 m, and separated from the Caribbean by a series of islands and sandbars. In 1955, a 7.5-meter channel was cut through the sandbars to facilitate shipping between the lake and the Caribbean. The channel also allows salt water to mix with the yellowish fresh water of the lake, making the northern parts brackish and unsuitable for drinking or irrigation.

Facts and Figures

• Area:
  • Total: 912,050 sq km
  • Land: 882,050 sq km
  • Water: 30,000 sq km
• Land boundaries: 4,993 km
• Border Countries:
  • Brazil 2,200 km
  • Colombia 2,050 km
  • Guyana 743 km
• Coastline: 2,800 km
• Maritime Claims:
  • Contiguous zone: 15 nm
  • Continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation
  • Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
  • Territorial sea: 12 nm
• Climate: tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
• Terrain: Andes Mountains and Maracaibo Lowlands in northwest; central plains (Llanos); Guiana Highlands in southeast
• Elevation Extremes:
  • Lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
  • Highest point: Pico Bolivar (La Columna) 4,981 m, according to the most recent measurements. An older measurement of 5,007 m is still sometimes given.
• Natural Resources:
  • Petroleum
  • Natural Gas
  • Iron Ore
  • Gold
  • Bauxite
  • Other minerals
  • Hydropower
  • Diamonds
• Land use:
  • Arable land: 4%
  • Permanent crops: 1%
  • Permanent pastures: 20%
  • Forests and woodland: 34%
  • Other: 41%
• Irrigated land: 1,900 sq km
• Natural hazards:
  • Periodic droughts
  • Floods
  • Rockslides
  • Mud slides
  • Earthquakes
• Environmental Issues:
  • Sewage pollution of Lake Valencia
  • Oil and urban pollution of Lake Maracaibo
  • Deforestation
  • Soil degradation
  • Urban and industrial pollution, especially along the Caribbean coast
  • Raw sewage discharge: 97% of all human wastes are discharged without treatment to the environment.