The Catatumbo River () is a river rising in northern

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 ...

, flowing into

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 ...

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 ...

. The Catatumbo River is approximately long. It forms a part of the

international boundary Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ...

between the two countries. The river flows through the

Catatumbo moist forests The Catatumbo moist forests (NT0108) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia to the west and east of Lake Maracaibo. It includes four regions of tropical moist lowland forest, moist forest on slightly higher ground than the tropical dry forest, ...

ecoregion. It then flows through the

Maracaibo dry forests The Maracaibo dry forests (NT0222) is an ecoregion in Venezuela around Lake Maracaibo. It contains the country's main oil fields. The habitat is criss-crossed by roads and is severely degraded by farming and livestock grazing. Geography Location ...

ecoregion before emptying into Lake Maracaibo. Prior to emptying into Maracaibo, the Catatumbo River also merges with the

Zulia River Zulia River () is a river in Venezuela and Colombia. It is a tributary of the Catatumbo River. The Zulia forms a small part of the international boundary between the two countries. Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is o ...

. Together with the nearby

Escalante River The Escalante River is a tributary of the Colorado River. It is formed by the confluence of Upper Valley and Birch Creeks near the town of Escalante in south-central Utah, and from there flows southeast for approximately before joining Lak ...

, Catatumbo is a producing area for

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

s of the

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish colonial system. Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South America. * Criollo cattle, a group of cattle bre ...

cultivar.

Catatumbo lightning

The "Relámpago del Catatumbo" or "Faros del Catatumbo" (

Catatumbo lightning Catatumbo lightning () is an atmospheric phenomenon that occurs over and around Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, typically over a bog area formed where the Catatumbo River flows into the lake. means "House of Thunder" in Barí language, the language ...

) is a phenomenon that occurs over the

marshlands In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...

at the Lake Maracaibo

mouth A mouth also referred to as the oral is the body orifice through which many animals ingest food and animal communication#Auditory, vocalize. The body cavity immediately behind the mouth opening, known as the oral cavity (or in Latin), is also t ...

of the river, where

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

s occur for about 10 hours a night, 140 to 160 nights a year, for a total of about 1.2 million lightning discharges per year. The light from this storm activity can be seen up to away and has been used for ship

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the motion, movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navig ...

; it is also known as the "Maracaibo

Beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

" for this reason.

Tributaries

The Catatumbo River is fed by the: *

Pamplonita River The Pamplonita River is the main river of the Colombian city of Cúcuta and one of the most important of the Norte de Santander Department. The Pamplonita River was used to transport cacao, the main form of wealth in the region and a major axi ...

(tributary of Táchira) *

Táchira River The Táchira River is a river located in Táchira and it divides the border that exists between Venezuela and Colombia in that western state. The Simón Bolívar International Bridge across the Táchira River connects the city of San Antonio de ...

(tributary of Pamplonita)

References

Rivers of Colombia Rivers of Venezuela Maracaibo basin Lake Maracaibo International rivers of South America Colombia–Venezuela border {{Venezuela-river-stub