Llanos del Orinoco

a natural region in northeastern South America (Colombia and Venezuela), on the left bank of the Orinoco River between the Andes, the Guiana Highlands, and the Guaviare River to the south. Length, about 1,400 km; width, up to 400 km. The region is characterized by level terrain, a hot subequatorial climate (average monthly temperatures, 24°-28°C) with wet summers and dry winters (annual precipitation, 1,000-1,600 mm), sharp variations in the discharge of the rivers, and savanna vegetation on red ferrolitic and ferrite soils. Extensive cattle raising is the main branch of the economy. Corn, rice, cotton, and other crops are planted on irrigated lands in the foothills.

The Llanos del Orinoco in Colombia is the Llanos Meta, a dissected plain with an elevation of up to 350 m and palm savanna. The Llanos del Orinoco in Venezuela consists of the Altos Llanos, a piedmont zone with an elevation of 100-200 m in the foothills of the Cordillera Merida, and the Sierra Interna; it is cut by rivers and covered with deciduous savanna forests. The Mesas region, which is in the northeastern part of the Llanos del Orinoco east of the Manapire River, may also be considered part of the Altos Llanos. It consists of deeply dissected plateaus with elevations of 200-500 m and dry, shrub savanna. The Bajos Llanos is a lowland between the Altos Llanos and the Orinoco River; it is flooded in places during the rainy season and covered with high-grass savanna. The Llanos Monagas, which is situated east of the Mesas region, is also a lowland that becomes flooded; in the east it gives way to swampy coast and the delta of the Orinoco River.