9781422286494

Venezuela has a wide range of geographical regions and climates— tall mountains, sandy beaches, swampy lowlands, and green plateaus. (Opposite) The beach at Península de Paraguaná. (Right) The verdant landscape near Mérida. 1

An Exotic Land

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS described Venezuela as a paradise. Shaped roughly like an upside-down triangle, the country has a coastline 1,740 miles (2,800 kilometers) long that is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Venezuela’s neighbors are Guyana to the east, Brazil to the south, and Colombia to the west. Venezuela has white sand beaches and clear water, dry and desert-like zones, and beautiful giant plateaus called tepuíes . Naturalists as well as tourists seek out the unusual plants and animals found on the tepuíes , in the dense green of Venezuela’s jungles, and at the foot of the Andes Mountains. Lowlands, Mountains, Plains, Highlands Venezuela has four fairly well defined regions: the Maracaibo Lowlands in the northwest; the northern mountains that arc from the Colombian

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