Back Río Orinoco Afrikaans Orinoco ALS Río Orinoco AN نهر أورينوكو Arabic نهر اورينوكو ARZ Ríu Orinoco AST Orinoko çayı Azerbaijani اورینوکو چایی AZB Ориноко Bashkir Арынока Byelorussian
| Orinoco River Río Orinoco | |
|---|---|
 Orinoquia Bridge near Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela | |
-es.svg) The Orinoco drainage basin | |
.jpg)  | |
| Etymology | Warao for "a place to paddle" |
| Location | |
| Countries | |
| Region | South America |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Hydrological source (Main stem) |
| - location | Cerro Delgado-Chalbaud, Parima Mountains, Venezuela |
| - coordinates | 2°19′05″N 63°21′42″W / 2.31806°N 63.36167°W |
| - elevation | 1,047 m (3,435 ft) |
| 2nd source | Geographical source (Orinoco-Guaviare-Guayabero-Papamene-Sorrento) |
| - location | Headwaters of Rio Sorrento, Paramo de Sumapaz, Meta, Colombia |
| - coordinates | 3°34′2″N 74°31′23″W / 3.56722°N 74.52306°W (approximately) |
| - elevation | 3,530 m (11,580 ft) (approximately) |
| Mouth | Delta Amacuro |
| - location | Atlantic Ocean, Venezuela |
| - coordinates | 8°37′N 62°15′W / 8.617°N 62.250°W[1] |
| - elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Length | 2,250 km (1,400 mi) |
| Basin size | 989,000 km2 (382,000 sq mi) |
| Depth | |
| - maximum | 100 m (330 ft) |
| Discharge | |
| - location | Orinoco Delta, Atlantic Ocean |
| - average | (Period of data: 1926-2011)37,740 m3/s (1,333,000 cu ft/s)[2] |
| - minimum | 21,000 m3/s (740,000 cu ft/s) |
| - maximum | 54,000 m3/s (1,900,000 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| - location | Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela (Basin size: 836,000 km2 (323,000 sq mi)) |
| - average | ( Period: 1926-2011)32,760 m3/s (1,157,000 cu ft/s)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| - location | Puerto Ayacucho, Venezuela ( Basin size: 342,000 km2 (132,000 sq mi)) |
| - average | (Period: 1926-2011)16,182 m3/s (571,500 cu ft/s)[2] |
| Discharge | |
| - location | Masagua, Colombia (Basin size: 101,000 km2 (39,000 sq mi)) |
| - average | 4,400 m3/s (160,000 cu ft/s) |
| Discharge | |
| - location | Tama Tama, Venezuela (Basin size: 37,870 km2 (14,620 sq mi) |
| - average | 1,400 m3/s (49,000 cu ft/s) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Casiquiare, Atabapo, Guaviare, Vichada, Tomo, Cinaruco, Capanaparo, Meta, Arauca, Apure, Guárico |
| - right | Mavaca, Sipapo, Ocamo, Ventuari, Suapure, Parguaza, Caura, Cuchivero, Aro, Caroní |
The Orinoco is a main river in northern South America. It is one of the longest rivers in South America, at 2,140 kilometres (1,330 miles). Its drainage basin, sometimes called the Orinoquia, covers 880,000 square kilometres (340,000 square miles), with 76.3% of it in Venezuela and the rest in Colombia. The Orinoco and its tributaries are the main transport system for eastern and interior Venezuela and the llanos of Colombia.
The Orinoco Basin is also ecologically important. It is the only habitat of the Orinoco crocodile. This is one of the rarest reptiles in the world, with fewer than 250 living in the wild. It is also home to Amazon river dolphins.
- ↑ Orinoco River at GEOnet Names Server
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 José Rafael, Córdova; Marcelo González, Sanabria. "La geografía del agua" (PDF).