The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System (), is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the central and eastern portions of

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 ...

's northern coast. The range is a northeastern extension of the

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 ...

, and is also known as the Maritime Andes. It covers around 48,866 km², being the 4th largest natural region in Venezuela.

Geography

The Coastal Range consists of two parallel ranges, which run east and west along the coast of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. The Cojedes River separates the western end of the Coastal Range from 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 ...

to the southeast. The range is divided into eastern and western sections by the wide bay between Cape Codera and Cumaná.

Serranía del Litoral—Serranía del Interior

In the eastern section of the range, the parallel ranges are known as the Serranía del Litoral, which runs along the Caribbean coast, and the Serranía del Interior to the south. The valley between these two ranges, which includes Lake Valencia, the valleys of metropolitan

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

, and the Tuy River at its eastern end, is the most densely populated region of Venezuela. The Capital District lies in a valley between two branches of the Serranía del Litoral: with Cerro El Ávila (peak) and El Ávila National Park in the Cordillera de la Costa Central to the north, and smaller hills to the south. Both the Littoral and Interior ranges reappear between Cumaná and the

Gulf of Paria The Gulf of Paria ( ; ) is a shallow ( at its deepest) semi-enclosed inland sea located between the island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela. It separates the two countries by as little as at its narrowest and at its widest points. T ...

to form the eastern section of the Venezuelan Coastal Range. The Littoral range forms the Araya Peninsula to the west and the Paria Peninsula to the east, and extends across the straits known as the Dragon's Mouths to form the Northern Range of the island of

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

Ecoregions

The lower elevations of the mountains are mostly covered by the La Costa xeric shrublands

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

of the

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habitat ...

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. The Araya and Paria xeric scrub occupies the arid zones of the Araya and Paria peninsulas, except the montane areas of the Paria Peninsula, which are included in the La Costa xeric shrublands ecoregion. The Araya and Paria xeric scrub also includes Isla Margarita and extends south onto the mainland to Cumaná. At elevations from lie the humid evergreen Cordillera de la Costa montane forests ecoregion of the montane

tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Description TSMF is generally found in la ...

biome, which form eleven discontinuous enclaves across the high summits of the eastern and western portions of the range.

External links

* * * * {{Subject bar, Andes, auto=y, d=y Mountain ranges of the Andes Mountain ranges of Venezuela Cordillera de La Costa Cordillera de la Costa Geography of Caracas Geography of Capital District (Venezuela) Geography of Miranda (state) Geography of Vargas (state) Geography of Aragua Geography of Carabobo Geography of Anzoátegui Geography of Sucre (state) Geography of Monagas Geography of Guárico Geography of Cojedes (state) El Ávila National Park Cordilleras