The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

Mountains of north-central

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...

and ends at the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Colombia and El Amparo, Venezuela.

Course

The Arauca is typical of the rivers that flow east across the Llanos Orientales starting as a swift mountain stream and becoming wider and slower as it crosses the plains. It starts high in the Andes, in the Páramo del Almorzadero at over above sea level. Initially, it is called the Chitagá, and it receives inflows from the Carabo and the Cacota, and then twists its course towards the east joining with the Culaga and the Bochaga. Its name then changes to the Margua. The Negro, the Colorado, and the San Lorenzo then flow into it. From the right bank come the Cubugón and the Cobar from the Sierra Nevada de Chita. The Tunebo Indians call this stretch the Sarare. Now flowing across a flat zone, it divides to form the Charo Island. Serving as the demarcation line between

and

for of border, on the right side, the Royata, Bojabá and Banadía flow in, and on the left the Cutufí enters. From thin on, it takes the name Arauca in tribute to the Araucana tribe, which inhabited the mountain ranges of the upper course and belonged to the great

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greate ...

family. Now in the savannas of the Llanos Orientales, it often becomes a braided river with the main course splitting to form the subsidiary channels, such as the one called Agua Limón. Various subsidiary channels are used extensively for transportation from the town of Arauca down to its mouth on the

. The course of the river is 80 percent navigable in small boats.

References

External links

Photographs of the Arauca River
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 Rivers of Colombia Rivers of Venezuela Colombia–Venezuela border crossings Orinoco basin Colombia–Venezuela border International rivers of South America Border rivers