South America

Venezuela covers an area of 352,144 sq. mi (912,0250 sq. km). It is the most northern country of South America, and can be divided up into four major regions. The Guiana Highlands in the southeast make up almost half of Venezuela's land area, and are bordered by Brazil and Guyana. It is here that the famous Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, is found. The Northern Highlands (which are a part of the Andes Mountains) contain the highest peak in Venezuela, Pico Bolivar, which reaches a height of 16,427 ft (5,007 m). This range borders on much of the coastal region of Venezuela, and despite its proximity to both the Caribbean and the equator, it has many peaks which are snow-covered year-round. The Maracaibo basin, one-third of which is covered by Lake Maracaibo, is found in the northwest. It is connected to the Caribbean sea, and although it contains fresh water at one end of the lake, as it nears the ocean it becomes more saline. Not surprisingly, most of the basin consists of wetlands. The Llanos de Orinoco, which borders on Colombia in the southwestern part of Venezuela, is watered by the Orinoco River and its tributaries. The Orinoco has a yearly discharge almost twice as large as that of the Mississippi, and from June to October, during the rainy season, many parts of the Llanos are inaccessible due to flooding.