Because of its natural structure,

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 ...

can be divided into eight very distinct

natural regions A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and f ...

. In the evaluation of a natural region, the human element is not present. The natural region groups of Venezuela formed as a consequence of the association of geo-physical elements such as: geological constitution, relief, climate, hydrography, vegetation, soils, among others. The regional groups that make up the Venezuelan territory are:

Andean Region

The Venezuelan Andean system represents the terminal bifurcation of the Cordillera Oriental de Colombia, which in Venezuelan territory consists of two mountainous branches: the Sierra de Perija, smaller, slightly displaced from southwest to northeast with 7,151 km² in Venezuela; and a larger, frankly oriented Southwest to northeast with about 40,172 km², 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 ...

, commonly known as the proper Venezuelan Andes. The highest point in

is located in this natural region.Pérez et al (Sep. 2005)
"Alturas del Pico Bolívar y otras cimas andinas venezolanas a partir de observaciones Gps."
INCI v.30, n.4, Caracas sep. 2005. Retrieved 2012-09-27. It is divided in two sections: *

: covering almost all the territory of

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

, Mérida and Trujillo states, the southern area of Lara, and portions of higher areas on the western side of Barinas,

Apure Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...

and Portuguesa states. * Sierra de Perija: located at the western extreme of Venezuela in

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

state, bordering

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 ...

Cordillera de La Costa Region

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, that runs along the central and eastern portions of

'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. The Coastal Range actually 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 Coastal Range from the

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

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in Sout ...

Guayana Region

is a large massif of approximately 441,921 km² of extension, equivalent to 48.2% of the total continental territory of the country. Its limits by the north and east is formed by the route of the rivers

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 ...

, Atabapo and

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

and by the south the borders with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. This region occupies almost half of meridional territory of Venezuela.

Insular Region

It comprises all of the nation's islands, and is formed by the state of Nueva Esparta and the Federal Dependencies.

Los Llanos Region

Is a large central depression very flat in a vast natural region of approximately 243,869² of extension, equivalent to 26.61% of the total continental territory of the country.

Maracaibo Basin Region

Is a foreland basin, found in the northwestern corner of Venezuela in South America. Covering over 35,000 square km, it is a hydrocarbon-rich region that has produced over 30 billion bbl of oil with an estimated 44 billion bbl yet to be recovered. The basin is characterized by a large shallow tidal estuary,

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

, located near its center.

Orinoco Delta Region

Is fan-shaped

river delta A river delta is a landform, archetypically triangular, created by the deposition of the sediments that are carried by the waters of a river, where the river merges with a body of slow-moving water or with a body of stagnant water. The creat ...

, formed by 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 ...

as it splits into numerous distributaries, called caños, which meander through the delta on their way to the sea. The main distributary is called the Rio Grande, which empties south-southeast through the southern portion of the delta, and the second major distributary is Caño Manamo, which runs northward along the western edge of the delta.

Lara-Falcón Highlands Region

Is the hilly and semi-mountainous area in northwest Venezuela. It consists mostly of east-west running ridges, with the exception of the Sierra de Siruma or Empalado which run north-south. The coastal plain of the region contains Venezuela's only desert, the Médanos de Coro (the Coro Dunes), on the Paraguaná Peninsula.

References

{{Natural Regions of Venezuela Natural history of Venezuela Natural regions of South America Subdivisions of Venezuela