Venezuela Geographic Regions Part 1

Coastal Mountain System

It is a structural continuation of the insular arc of the Eastern Caribbean region, between the North-Central-Eastern Coastal Zone and the depression of the plains. It covers only 3% of the total area of the country and the most densely populated region. It constitutes a complex mountainous system of the alpine type with various forms of relief, such as interior valleys, hills, hills and hills, which are still in reduced areas. It extends from the Larense depression to the west to the Paria and Araya peninsula to the east, with only one major interruption: the Unare depression. This system is divided into two sections: Central and Eastern, by the Unare depression and the Cariaco Trench.. Each of these is divided into two chains oriented from East to West: Cadena del Litoral and Cadena del Interior, among which are important depressions, such as Lake Valencia, Llanura de Barlovento and Valles del Tuy. The maximum altitude that the central section presents is Pico Naiguatá with 2,765 meters (the highest in the Cordillera de la Costa) in the Litoral Chain and that of the Eastern section is Pico Turimiquire with 2,595 meters in the Inner Chain. In the interior valleys of the Central section of the Cordillera de la Costa, there are three cities of economic importance for the country: Caracas, Valencia and Maracay.

Cordillera de la Costa and the Caribbean Islands

This unit is located in the North of Venezuela, a country located in South America according to EHISTORYLIB.COMbetween the Yaracuy Depression, the Gulf of Paria, the Llanos and the Caribbean Sea, with an extension of 40,000 km. squares.

It began in the Cretaceous with great intensity of orogenic movements and even today seismic movements and filling of depressed areas continue.

It is made up of metamorphic and sedimentary rocks with igneous injections and recent sediments are present in the depressions. In the Venezuelan Caribbean there is a succession of islands whose relief is variable, from totally rugged islands (Los Hermanos and Los Monjes) to islands with flat topography (La Blanquilla and Isla de Aves), passing through another group of islands where areas are combined flat with elevations. Other islands constitute coral atolls, of very low relief (the Bird Archipelago).

The most important of the islands is the Isla de Margarita, which is made up of two mountain ranges, one to the East which is the largest and reaches a maximum altitude at Cerro Copey of 900 meters. and another to the West known as Macanao. Both are united in their center by a cord or restinga and present agricultural valleys.

Lake Maracaibo Basin

The Lake Maracaibo located in western Venezuela, in Zulia state, has about 13,820 square kilometers, which makes it the largest lake in South America and Latin America

It extends to the Northeast of Venezuela, and corresponds to the area located at the angle formed by the Cordilleras de Perijá and Mérida. The basin occupies a tectonic subsidence of about 52,000 kms. squares. It constitutes a structural depression formed when the surrounding reliefs were raised, leaving a wide exit to the sea to the north.

The relief is quite uniform and the contact with the Mérida mountain range is abrupt with dejection cones and terraces. On the Perijá side the depression is bordered by low mountain foothills. Within this depression there are two regions: a dry and semi-humid one located to the north and in the center of the basin and a muddy one to the south. The first region has good drainage due to the low rainfall. In some places, there are small hills, which do not reach 100 meters. of altitude and the rivers have their channels stabilized.

The swampy region does not present good drainage, this due to factors such as: the low slope of the land, the abundant rainfall, as well as the presence of rivers among which are the Santa Ana, Catatumbo and Escalante. In this area there are ravines and bajisales equivalent to the llaneros banks and shoals, respectively. In the eastern part of the basin is the main oil producing area of the country.

Valleys and Serranías

It is a region of varied and low relief, with altitudes between 500 and 1,700 meters. It is located in the northwest of the country and occupies almost all of the Falcón, Lara and Yaracuy states, with an approximate area of 52,000 km2. It serves as a transition between the more energetic reliefs that characterize the neighboring regions. Also found in this region are the enclosed plains of semi-arid river lake origin, as well as the only micro-regional desert in the country: the Médanos de Coro (on the Falcón coast).

Andes mountains

The Pico Bolívar is the mountain highest in Venezuela and one of the most beautiful in the country, with numerous natural attractions, rises over the Andes at an altitude of 5,007 meters above the level of the sea.

Venezuela Geographic Regions 1