The Apure River is a river of southwestern

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, formed by the confluence of the Sarare and Uribante near Guasdualito, in Venezuela, at , and flowing across the

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

into the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

. It provides significant transportation in the area.

Origin

Most of the streams that ultimately form the Apure originate in the Venezuelan highlands of the

Cordillera de Mérida The Cordillera de Mérida is a mountain range, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The range runs approximately 4 ...

and only some minor affluents of the Sarare River come from the Cordillera Oriental in the

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, entering Venezuela at the confluence with the Oirá River which has a very narrow and steep valley and forms the border between the two countries for . The Oirá River starts in Venezuela and its thalweg forms that border for several kilometres downstream. The Uribante River is longer than the Sarare and flows from the Táchira-Mérida border, near the town of

Pregonero Pregonero is a town in Táchira (state), Táchira State, Venezuela. It is the administrative centre for Uribante Municipality. Pregonero is located high in the Andes, Andes Mountains at an elevation of 1,327 m. on the banks of the Uribante River ...

. The Apure's drainage area thus includes the slopes of both the Colombian (less than 0.5 percent of its total area) and the Venezuelan Andes.

Course

From the point where the Uribante joins the Sarare, the Apure flows eastward across the Venezuelan llanos, into the Orinoco. The Apure flows primarily through Apure State including San Fernando before joining the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

via six

braided river A braided river (also called braided channel or braided stream) consists of a network of river channel (geography), channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called ''braid bars'' or, in British English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. ...

branches west of Cabruta, Guárico State, across from Caicara, Bolívar State, at about . The Apure is long from the Uribante's starting point to the Orinoco.Church, George Earl (1901) "South America: An Outline of Its Physical Geography" ''The Geographical Journal'' 17(4): pp. 333–406, p. 363 It is navigable for about above the Orinoco, where it has a sluggish course across the

llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

, despite rapids at about the mark. From the north, its principal tributaries are the Caparo, Portuguesa and Guarico. The Caucagua is its only major tributary from the south. Because of the flatness of the land its meanders and bayous to the south are mingled with those of the

Arauca River The Arauca River () rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Arauca, Arauca, Col ...

creating an extensive area which is flooded annually. However, both rivers keep independent channels during dry season.

Notes

References

*Acosta Saignes, Miguel. ¿Cómo se descubrió el río Apure?. ''Revista Nacional de Cultura'', N° 86, pp. 71–78. *Bingham, Hiram. On the route of Bolívar's great march: Caracas to Bogotá via Arauca and the Páramo of Pisva. London: ''The Geographical Journal'', oct, 1908, pp. 329–347. *Carvajal, (fray) Jacinto. ''Relación del descubrimiento del río Apure hasta su ingreso en el Orinoco''. Escrita en 1648 y editada en León (España) en julio de 1882. Editada también en Madrid: Edime, 1956. *De León, Rafael; Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto: ''El Orinoco aprovechado y recorrido''. Caracas: Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Corporación Venezolana de Guayana, 1976 *Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto J. ''Desarrollo del eje de navegación Orinoco-Apure-Arauca''. Informe Preliminar. Caracas: Vol. I, Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales Renovables, 1980. *Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto J. y De Leon, Rafael. ''Apuntes para los estudios de navegación por el sistema Orinoco-Apure: Tramo Ciudad Guayana- Guasdualito.'' Caracas: M.O.P., Dirección de Recursos Hidráulicos, Oficina de Planeamiento, Estudios Río Orinoco, 1975. *Zinck, Alfred. Los ríos de Venezuela. Caracas: Cuadernos Lagoven, 1982, 2ª edición. *Zinck, Alfred. Valles de Venezuela. Caracas: Cuadernos Lagoven, 1980 *Vila, Pablo. ''Geografía de Venezuela. I.'' Caracas: Ministerio de Educación, 1960 {{Authority control Rivers of Colombia Rivers of Venezuela Orinoco basin San Fernando de Apure International rivers of South America Rivers of Apure Rivers of Barinas (state)