The Sistema Coriano also known as Lara-Falcón Formation, Coro region or Coriano system is one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela. Is the hilly and semi-mountainous area in northwest Venezuela, north of the Mérida Andes and east of the Maracaibo Basin, extending north to the Caribbean coast. It consists mostly of east–west running ridges, with the exception of the Sierra de Siruma or Empalado which run north–south.

Ecology

The region contains the

Paraguana xeric scrub The Paraguana xeric scrub (NT1313) is an ecoregion in Venezuela to the north and east of Lake Maracaibo and along the coast of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. The region holds flora and fauna adapted to the very dry conditions of the coastal dunes ...

ecoregion. The coastal plain contains Venezuela's only desert, the Médanos de Coro (the Coro Dunes), on the Paraguaná Peninsula. The Coro region is one of the ten geographical regions into which Venezuela can be divided. Because the two major depression valleys are the Falcón and the Lara, the mountains are sometimes called the Falcón-Lara ranges. The geographic region covers all of

Falcón State ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsi ...

, half of Lara State and Yaracuy State, and small percentages of Zulia State and Carabobo State. It's the 3rd largest natural region in the country, covering 5.75% of Venezuela.

Hydrology

Coro region is very dry, with the evaporation rate frequently exceeding the precipitation rate at the lower elevations. There are three major river systems in the region. The Pedregal and Paraíso rivers which feed into the

Mitare River The Mitare River ( es, Mitare River) is a river in northwestern Venezuela. The Mitare River flows through the Paraguana xeric scrub ecoregion. In its delta it divides into the Pedregal and Paraíso rivers, which empty into the gulf of Coro on th ...

which empties into the

Coro Gulf Coro Gulf is located near Coro, a city in Falcón State ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map ...

. The Morere, Barigua and Bucares rivers which together form the

Tocuyo River The Tocuyo River ( es, Río Tocuyo) is a river of Venezuela. It drains into the Caribbean Sea. The river drains part of the Lara-Falcón dry forests ecoregion. See also *List of rivers of Venezuela This is a list of rivers in Venezuela. By d ...

, arguably the most important river in the area draining 223.44 square kilometres, and emptying into the Caribbean near the Triste Gulf. The Tocuyo river crosses the ecoregion called the Lara Falcón Dry Forest. In the valleys of the Lara-Falcón depression, the Turbio river is the most important due to its volume of water; its mouth is near 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 ...

River basin.

Geology

With the exception of the Siquisique highlands (which are an igneous remnant of Jurassic age), the rocks are Cenozoic, mostly 30 to 70 m.y.o., (Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene), overlaid by some Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial deposits. This corresponds well with the Andean orogeny.

Economy

There are some oil deposits, but mainly the population relies on subsistence farming with some cattle grazing. The dry climate is not conducive to commercial agriculture, but there are some

aloe vera ''Aloe vera'' () is a succulent plant species of the genus ''Aloe''. It is widely distributed, and is considered an invasive species in many world regions. An evergreen perennial, it originates from the Arabian Peninsula, but grows wild in tro ...

plantations. There is some mining in the higher mountains and fishing on the coast.

Towns

* Barquisimeto *

Cabudare Cabudare (, original indigenous name Kabudari), is a city in Lara State, in Venezuela, and capital of the Palavecino Municipality. Located at an elevation of 400 m on the Turbio River, it is on the major west-central freeway, the Autopista Centro ...

Carora The City of Carora, commonly called Carora City (in Spanish, Ciudad de Carora), is a city in Lara State, Venezuela, on the Morere River, a branch of the Tocuyo River. It is about 54 miles southwest of Barquisimeto. Carora City was founded twice. T ...

Coro Coro or CORO may refer to: Entertainment * ''Coro'' (Berio), a composition by Luciano Berio * Coro (music), Italian for choir * Coro TV, Venezuelan community television channel * Omweso (Coro), mancala game played in the Lango region of Uganda * ...

Dabajuro Dabajuro is a city and municipality in southwestern Falcón State, Venezuela with a population of 25,469 (c. 2005). History While a small agricultural village existed on the site, it was really in 1914 with the arrival of the oil companies in the ...

* Punto Fijo * Riecito * El Tocuyo

References

Trinidad & Gulf of Paria: long-lived foreland basin (Campanian-Quaternary) with Neogene salt-dissolution 'piggyback' basins
by Roger Higgs. * Bartok, P. E. (1985) “The Siquisique ophiolites, Northern Lara State, Venezuela: A discussion on their Middle Jurassic ammonites and tectonic implications” Geological Society of America Bulletin: Vol. 96, No. 8, pp. 1050–1055.

in Spanish. * MARAVEN (1988) Serie estudios regionales. Sistemas Ambientales Venezolanos. Región Centro occidental. Estados Lara, Falcón, Portuguesa y Yaracuy. Ediciones MARAVEN. Caracas.

{{Venezuela-geo-stub Natural regions of Venezuela Geographical regions of Venezuela Geography of Lara (state) Geography of Falcón Geography of Yaracuy