The Apure River is a river of southwestern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, formed by the confluence of the Sarare and Uribante near

Guasdualito Guasdualito is a city and episcopal see in the landlocked Apure State, in southern Venezuela. Description The city is the capital of Páez Municipality, in the Distrito Especial Alto Apure. It has an important location on the border between ...

, in Venezuela, at , and flowing across the

Llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

into the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

. It provides significant transportation in the area.

Origin

Most of the streams that ultimately form the Apure originate in the Venezuelan highlands of the

Cordillera de Mérida The Cordillera de Mérida is a series of mountain ranges, 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 ranges run sou ...

and only some minor affluents of the Sarare River come from the Cordillera Oriental in the

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, entering Venezuela at the confluence with the Oirá River which has a very narrow and steep valley and forms the border between the two countries for . The Oirá River starts in Venezuela and its

thalweg In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the bounda ...

forms that border for several kilometres downstream. The Uribante River is longer than the Sarare and flows from the Táchira-Mérida border, near the town of

Pregonero Pregonero is a town in Táchira State, Venezuela. It is the administrative centre for Uribante Municipality. Pregonero is located high in the Andes Mountains at an elevation of 1,327 m. on the banks of the Uribante River. Traditionally, Preg ...

. The Apure's drainage area thus includes the slopes of both the Colombian (less than 0.5 percent of its total area) and the Venezuelan Andes.

Course

From the point where the Uribante joins the Sarare, the Apure flows eastward across the Venezuelan llanos, into the Orinoco. The Apure flows primarily through

Apure State Apure State ( es, Estado Apure, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations pronounced by the colonial authori ...

including

San Fernando San Fernando may refer to: People *Ferdinand III of Castile (c. 1200–1252), called ''San Fernando'' (Spanish) or ''Saint Ferdinand'', King of Castile, León, and Galicia Places Argentina *San Fernando de la Buena Vista, city of Greater Buenos ...

before joining the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

via six

braided river A braided river, or braided channel, consists of a network of river channels separated by small, often temporary, islands called braid bars or, in English usage, ''aits'' or ''eyots''. Braided streams tend to occur in rivers with high sediment l ...

branches west of

Cabruta Cabruta is a Venezuelan fishing town on the Orinoco river in Las Mercedes Municipality, Guárico State, site of a Jesuit mission, and the site of a proposed bridge across the Orinoco to Caicara, Bolívar State. History In 1531 by Diego de O ...

Guárico State ) , anthem = '' Himno del Estado Guárico'' , image_map = Guarico in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_a ...

, across from Caicara, Bolívar State, at about . The Apure is long from the Uribante's starting point to the Orinoco.Church, George Earl (1901) "South America: An Outline of Its Physical Geography" ''The Geographical Journal'' 17(4): pp. 333–406, p. 363 It is navigable for about above the Orinoco, where it has a sluggish course across the

llanos The Llanos (Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, sav ...

, despite rapids at about the mark. From the north, its principal tributaries are the

Caparo Caparo plc is a British company involved mainly in the steel industry, primarily in the design, manufacturing and marketing of steel and niche engineering products. Current affairs Caparo was founded by Lord Swraj Paul, in 1968. Sixteen compa ...

, Portuguesa and Guarico. The Caucagua is its only major tributary from the south. Because of the flatness of the land its meanders and bayous to the south are mingled with those of the

Arauca River The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Col ...

creating an extensive area which is flooded annually. However, both rivers keep independent channels during dry season.

Notes

References

*Acosta Saignes, Miguel. ¿Cómo se descubrió el río Apure?. ''Revista Nacional de Cultura'', N° 86, pp. 71–78. *Bingham, Hiram. On the route of Bolívar’s great march: Caracas to Bogotá via Arauca and the Páramo of Pisva. London: ''The Geographical Journal'', oct, 1908, pp. 329–347. *Carvajal, (fray) Jacinto. ''Relación del descubrimiento del río Apure hasta su ingreso en el Orinoco''. Escrita en 1648 y editada en León (España) en julio de 1882. Editada también en Madrid: Edime, 1956. *De León, Rafael; Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto: ''El Orinoco aprovechado y recorrido''. Caracas: Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Corporación Venezolana de Guayana, 1976 *Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto J. ''Desarrollo del eje de navegación Orinoco-Apure-Arauca''. Informe Preliminar. Caracas: Vol. I, Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales Renovables, 1980. *Rodríguez Díaz, Alberto J. y De Leon, Rafael. ''Apuntes para los estudios de navegación por el sistema Orinoco-Apure: Tramo Ciudad Guayana- Guasdualito.'' Caracas: M.O.P., Dirección de Recursos Hidráulicos, Oficina de Planeamiento, Estudios Río Orinoco, 1975. *Zinck, Alfred. Los ríos de Venezuela. Caracas: Cuadernos Lagoven, 1982, 2ª edición. *Zinck, Alfred. Valles de Venezuela. Caracas: Cuadernos Lagoven, 1980 *Vila, Pablo. ''Geografía de Venezuela. I.'' Caracas: Ministerio de Educación, 1960 {{Authority control Rivers of Colombia Rivers of Venezuela Orinoco basin San Fernando de Apure International rivers of South America