The Meta River is a major left tributary of 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 ...

in eastern

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 ...

and southern

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 ...

, South America. The Meta originates in the Eastern Ranges 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 flows through the

Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known ...

, Colombia as the confluence of the Humea, Guatiquía and Guayuriba rivers. It flows east-northeastward across the Llanos Orientales ("Eastern Plains") of Colombia following the direction of the Meta Fault. The Meta forms the northern boundary of Vichada Department, first with

Casanare Department Casanare (, ) is a department located in the central eastern of Colombia. It is famous for its oil and natural gas production as well as its livestock and extensive plains. It is also the tenth largest department with an area of 44,490 km2, ...

, then with Arauca Department, and finally with Venezuela, down to

Puerto Carreño Puerto Carreño (), translation is the departmental capital city, and a municipality combined of the department of Vichada in the Llanos of Colombia located on the Orinoco River. Puerto Carreño is best-known as a tourist gateway to hundreds ...

where it flows into the Orinoco. The Meta River is long and its drainage basin is . The Meta divides the Colombian Llanos in two different parts: the western portion on the left bank is more humid, receives the relatively nutrient-rich sediments from the Andean mountain range and therefore soils and tributaries are also nutrient-rich, while the eastern portion, ''high plain'' or ''altillanura'', drains not to the Meta river but to the Orinoco, has a longer dry season and soils and surface waters are

oligotroph An oligotroph is an organism that can live in an environment that offers very low levels of nutrients. They may be contrasted with copiotrophs, which prefer nutritionally rich environments. Oligotrophs are characterized by slow growth, low rates o ...

ic (nutrient poor). The major tributaries of the Meta are the Cravo Sur, the Casanare, the Cusiana, the Upía and the Manacacías rivers.

History

In 1531, while exploring the Orinoco river, Diego de Ordáz became the first European to discover the estuarine delta of the Meta. Following indications of a gold country at the headwaters of the river - the "Meta Province" - he and his companions navigated the Meta upstream for 50 days until, due to the seasonally low water level, they could make no further progress and had to turn back without having achieved anything. The first Europeans to reach the headwaters of the Meta at the foot of the Eastern Cordillera were the participants of an expedition led by the conquistador Georg Hohermuth von Speyer in 1536. An 1856 watercolor by Manuel María Paz, of three indigenous people with a boat at

Orocué Orocué is a town and municipality in the Department of Casanare, Colombia, located on the shore of the Meta River. Historically, it went by the name San Miguel del Macuco. It is located 180 km from Yopal, and 546 km from Bogotá. ...

, near the Old Macuco Mission, is an early depiction of life on the river.

Indigenous groups

Living along the Meta are various indigenous groups. In the upper part of the river, close to the foothills of the Eastern Ranges and farther downstream, the Guayupe, Achagua, Sáliva and Guahibo people are living.Indígenas de los Llanos Orientales
- Banco de la República

Economy

Starting at Puerto López the Meta becomes navigable, and thus is an important component of the trade across the Colombian and Venezuelan Llanos.

References

Rivers of Colombia Rivers of Venezuela Orinoco basin Border rivers Colombia–Venezuela border International rivers of South America Rivers of Apure Puerto Páez {{Venezuela-river-stub