The Orénoque (in Spanish río Orinoco ) is a Fleuve Venezuela, in South America. It takes its source in the Sierra Parima (Massif Guianese) and throws in the Atlantic Ocean by a delta of 25  000 km ². It crosses the towns of Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana.

With a flow of 33  000 m ³ /s, Orénoque are one of the rivers having the most important flow in the world, after the the Amazon (175  000 m ³ /s) and the Congo (39  000 m ³ /s).

Orénoque is connected naturally to the Amazon by the Canal of Casiquiare, which crosses the watershed.

The delta

The delta of Orénoque occupies a vast surface (25  000 km ²) and have innumerable arms whose principal ones are the Boca Grande and the Macareo.

Affluents

Right Bank

• Ventuari (500 km).

• Caura (643 km).
• Caroni (700 km).

A tributary of a tributary of Caroni, the river Canaïma, has the highest water fall of the world, the Salto Angel.

Left bank

• Meta (1  050 km).

• Guaviare (1  000 km).
• Audits (800 km).
• Arauca (800 km).
• Vichada (580 km).
• Capanaparo (560 km).
• Tomo (560 km).
• Cinaruco (480 km).

Fauna

The richness of the fauna of Orénoque is considerable. Surroundings there is counted:

• 300 species of mammals, like the Jaguar, the Tapir, the Fourmilier, the Armadillo, etc
• 1  300 species of birds, of which several species of Parrot S, the Toucan, the Macaw, the Hummingbirds, etc
• 500 frog species
• 250 species of reptiles, like the caiman or the anaconda
• 1  000 marine species, of which the Boto, the Piranha, the fish dog, the electric eel,…

Flora

One counts more 30  000 plant species in the tropical forest bordering the river.

Indigenous tribes

The last Amerindian tribes live along Orénoque. They account for hardly 2% of the population of the Venezuela. The majority of these tribes are in process of extinction.

• Warao, 18  000 individuals.

• Yanomani, 15  000 individuals.
• Piaroa, 12  000 individuals.
• Carib, 7  000 individuals.
• Guahibo, 5  000 individuals.
• Pume, 3  000 individuals.
• Baniwa, 400 individuals.
• Puinave, 240 individuals.
• Piapoko, 100 individuals.
• Mapoyo, 10 individuals.

Literary works

• superb Orénoque is a novel of Jules Verne.
• Robinson Crusoé is a novel of Daniel Defoe where the hero, Robinson, saw 28 years on an island located in the mouth of the Orénoque river.
• Remonter Orénoque is a novel of Mathias Enard.

Bridges on Orénoque

Until now only one bridge crossed the river close to Ciudad Bolivar. A second bridge was inaugurated in November 2006 not far from there, in Puerto Ordaz. (source with photograph of this last)

See too

• List of rivers in the world

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