The Cordillera de Mérida is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

, or massif, in northwestern

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 Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the

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

and the most important branch of the

Venezuelan Andes The Venezuelan Andes (Spanish: ''Andes Venezolanos'') also simply known as the Andes (Spanish: ''Los Andes'') in Venezuela, are a mountain system that form the northernmost extension of the Andes. They are fully identified, both by their geologi ...

. The range runs approximately 400 kilometers, from the Venezuelan-Colombian border in the southwest to the Venezuelan Coastal Complex in the northeast. The

Táchira depression Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental, which forms the Colombia-Venezuela border. The range spans about 40,000 square kilometers, covering most of

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

, Mérida, and Trujillo states, and parts of

Lara Lara may refer to: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

, Barinas, Portuguesa,

Apure Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...

and

Zulia Zulia State (, ; Wayuu: ''Mma’ipakat Suuria'') is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. As of the 2011 census, it has a population of 3,704,404, the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is also one of t ...

states. The southeastern slopes are drained by tributaries of the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, while the streams that drain the northwestern slopes empty 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 ...

. At the southwestern end of the range lies the city of San Cristóbal, while at the northeast tip lies the city of

Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

and the headwaters of the River Cojedes. In the centre of the range is the city of Mérida, its namesake. Two subsidiary ranges of peaks lie on either side of the city: the Sierra de la Culata to the north and

Sierra Nevada de Mérida The Sierra Nevada de Mérida is the highest mountain range in the largest massif in Venezuela, the Cordillera de Mérida, which in turn is part of the northern extent of the Cordillera de los Andes (Andes Mountains). The Sierra Nevada de Mérida i ...

to the south. Pico Bolívar, at 4,981 meters elevation (16,342 feet), is the highest peak in Venezuela. Most of the Cordillera de Merida is covered by

Venezuelan Andes montane forests The Venezuelan Andes montane forests (NT0175) is an ecoregion in the northern arm of the Andes in Venezuela. It contains montane and cloud forests, reaching up to the high-level Cordillera de Merida páramo high moor ecoregion. The forests are hom ...

, although the highest elevations (above 3,100 meters) are above

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

. This landscape is home to the Cordillera de Mérida páramo, an enclave of the

páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

(tropical alpine grasslands) of the northern Andes. Protected areas in the Cordillera and adjacent uplands include

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

, Sierra La Culata, El Tama, Juan Pablo Peñaloza, Tapo-Caparo, Ramal de Calderas, Guaramacal, Dinira, Yacambu, El Guache, and Terepaima national parks. One

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

, the

Humboldt glacier Humboldt Glacier () is one of the major glaciers in northern Greenland. The glacier is named after German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and is the widest tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. Geography The Humboldt Glacier borders ...

, is located in this mountain range, in which the snowy season is July–August. Snow typically covers the mountains above 4,200 meters, and sometimes above 3,800 meters.

External links

References

Mountain ranges of the Andes Merida Geography of Táchira Geography of Mérida (state) Geography of Barinas (state) Geography of Trujillo (state) Geography of Portuguesa (state) Geography of Lara (state) Páramos Cordilleras {{Venezuela-geo-stub