Venezuela

Geography of Venezuela: Important Geographical Information about Venezuela

Topography

Traveling to South America gives a traveler a taste of several of nature’s scenic bounties. With snow-capped mountains and beaches with powder-fine sand, Venezuela has so much to offer. It has a total area of 912,050 square kilometers. It is situated in the northernmost part of South America. Venezuela’s land area covers 882,050 square kilometers, which is about two times the land size of California in the United States.

Venezuela is blessed with a long coastline, running for about 2,800 kilometers. On its northern side it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Its eastern side shares a border with Guyana for about 740 kilometers. Colombia is Venezuela’s neighbor in the west and their shared border runs for 2,505 kilometers while its border with Brazil, which lies to its southern side, is about 2,200 kilometers long.

Venezuela is divided into four regions – central Venezuela as the Orinoco plains called llanos. In its southeast portion lie the Guiana highlands. To the northwest are the Maracaibo lowlands while the mountains are located on the northern part. Maracaibo is basically flat with some gentle slopes from the sections near the mountains. Parts of the northeastern most sections of the Andes Mountains are to the north of the country. This is where the highest peak in Venezuela, the Pico Bolivar, which rises to a height of 5,007 meters, is located. In the Guiana highlands, split into two by the Orinoco River, the largest in South America and the eighth largest in the world, is the location of the world’s highest waterfall, Salto Ángel in Spanish. In English the waterfall is popularly known as Angel Falls. In between the mountain peaks are fertile valleys where Caracas is one of the most important metropolitan centers. It is densely populated where the best transportation network in installed and where agriculture highly flourishes.

The plains of Orinoco spread from the Caribbean coast toward the border with Colombia, running through Rio Orinoco and the northern mountains. Nearer to the border in the Orinoco Delta are vast stretches of swampland. This section has higher elevation although never exceeding 200 meters. Another river, Rio Apure that originates from the northern mountains created shallow valleys that give the flat lands the appearance of gently rolling plains. The land south of the river Apure has lower elevation and flatter terrain. This part is called the Guiana highlands, one of the oldest landforms in South America where past soil erosions have cut unique formations, creating several tabletop plateaus etched by the swift currents of different tributaries of the larger rivers like the Orinoco. One of these majestic formations is the Gran Sabana or the Great Plain in Canaima, where travelers can find several bluffs or tepuis with flat tops of varying heights, some of which are cloud-covered. One of these tepuis (singular: tepuy), the Auyantepuy contains the Angel Falls, which is fifteen times higher than Niagara Falls.

Climate

While Venezuela is supposed to be a tropical country, due to its elevation and terrain, the direction and force of the wind, as well as the presence of the Andes mountain range, the country’s climate varies from alpine to humid. The rainy season is equivalent to winter, with rainfall coming from May until November. Summer months in Venezuela are from December to April. However, the prevailing temperature is variable as Venezuela has several temperature zones due to the different elevations. For the areas that are below 800 meters, the temperature can be hot, resembling that of a tropical country, averaging between 78 °F to about 82 °F. Most of the cities in Venezuela, including its capital, Caracas are in the second zone, with elevations between 800 meters and 2,000 meters and the temperature is cooler, averaging between 53 °F and 77 °F. As the elevation goes higher somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 meters, the temperature moves to a more alpine one, with an average ranging from 48 °F to 51 °F. Venezuela also has a portion of the country that is above 3,000 meters high. These areas, called páramos are usually used as pastureland where the snow may be permanent. Here the temperature is usually in the 46°F range.

Rain is plentiful in Venezuela, averaging about 430 milliliters in the llanos and the lowlands while the areas near the Caribbean coast can receive about 1,000 milliliters that converts to about 61 cubic inches. The sheltered valleys between the plateaus receive less rain than the exposed slopes along the northeast. The capital city, Caracas receives about an average of 76 cubic inches of rainfall annually, with the months of June up to August receiving the most rains.

Rivers

Venezuela has more than 1,000 rivers across the land, although the Orinoco River is considered the most important. It is over 2,500 kilometers long, coming from the Guiana highlands all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the second largest river in South America after the Amazon River and 8th largest in the world. Orinoco is not one straight river. It branches into tributaries. One branch goes to the Casiquiare Channel, locally known as Brazo Casiquiare, which in turn flows into a tributary to the Amazon River and the rest flows into the Orinoco Channel, providing shallow waterways.

One other very important river in Venezuela is Caroni. It originates from the Guiana highlands with a northern flow to feed the Orinoco. The waters of Caroni are fast flowing and provide hydropower significantly for the generation of electric power for industry in this part of Venezuela.

Rivers that originate from the northern mountains flow in a southeast direction to flow into the Apure River, an Orinoco River tributary. The Apure passes through the llanos in an easterly direction.

Venezuela also has the largest lake in Latin America called the Lago de Maracaibo, measuring around 13,500 square kilometers. This is a very important lake because its swampy shores and the land covered by its water is where some of the richest petroleum deposits in Venezuela are located. The deepest part of the lake is just about 10 meters deep. It is separated from the Caribbean with several sandbars and small islands. As a very important lake, a channel was cut through the sandbars in 1955 to facilitate the shipping activities between the Caribbean and the Lago de Maracaibo. However the channel brought in salt water that eventually mixed with the yellowish but fresh water of the lake, turning it murky and brackish and rendering the water unsuitable for either irrigation or drinking.

:: References ::
http://countrystudies.us/venezuela/8.htm
http://wikitravel.org/en/Venezuela
http://www.mapsofworld.com/venezuela/geography/