Orinoco Delta

Orinoco Delta

The Orinoco Delta is a great delta of the Orinoco River in eastern Venezuela. It is one of Venezuela's eight natural regions. The delta covers the entire territory of the Delta Amacuro State, plus a few square kilometers of Monagas State and Sucre State, and includes all the estuaries of the Orinoco. It is divided into two parts. The main one, located in the northernmost part of the system, between the Caño Manamo and the left bank of the Caño Araguao, where most of the municipalities are located, including Tucupita, the state capital, and the secondary one, between the right bank of the Caño Araguao and the Río Grande. The delta is fan-shaped, being shaped by the Orinoco River as it divides into a number of tributaries, known as caños, which meander through the delta on their route to the sea. The region covers an area of approximately 43 646 square kilometers. The Orinoco Delta is characterized by being non-centric, lagoon-free and oceanic, slightly similar to the Niger River Delta. The daily tides bring seawater up into the "caños", which causes the "macareo" or pororoca, and reverses the direction of the water flow, at least at the surface. The predominant vegetation belongs to the swamp forest ecoregion of the Orinoco Delta. On the coast and along the rivers in the Amazon, Orinoco and Southern Caribbean, there are mangrove forests, particularly in the Guianan Mangroves Ecoregion. Towards the west and nearer the coast are patches of the Orinoco wetland ecoregion. The delta contains vast expanses of permanent wetlands and seasonally flooded freshwater swamp forests, and the delta's riverbanks are lined with mangroves.