The Coro region is the hilly and semi-mountainous area in northwest Venezuela, north of the Mérida Andes and east of the Maracaibo Basin, extending north to the Caribbean coast. It consists mostly of east-west running ridges, with the exception of the Sierra de Siruma which run north-south. The coastal plain of the region contains Venezuela’s only desert, the Médanos de Coro (the Coro Dunes), on the Paraguaná peninsula. The Venezuelan city of Mérida is capital of the state of the same name, Mérida State. ... The Maracaibo Basin in Western Venezuela is a prolific, oil-producing sedimentary basin. ... Map of Central America and the Caribbean A Caribbean beach in Isla Margarita, Venezuela. ... Médanos is the name given to the sand dunes in the only desert in Venezuela. ...

The Coro region is one of the ten geographical regions into which Venezuela can be divided. Because the two major depression valleys are the Falcón and the Lara, the mountains are sometimes called the Falcón-Lara ranges. The geographic region covers all of Falcón State, half of Lara State and Yaracuy State, and small percentages of Zulia State and Carabobo State. Estado Falcón is one of the 23 states (estados) into which Venezuela is divided. ... Lara State Anthem Location within Venezuela Created (given current status) 1901 State capital Barquisimeto Area 19,800 km² Population (2005 est. ... Estado Yaracuy is one of the 23 states (estados) into which Venezuela is divided. ... Zulia State Anthem Location within Venezuela Created (given current status) 1864 State capital Maracaibo Area 63,100 km² Population (2001 est. ... Estado Carabobo is one of the 23 states (estados) into which Venezuela is divided. ...

Hydrology

Coro region is very dry, with the evaporation rate frequently exceeding the precipitation rate at the lower elevations. There are three major river systems in the region. The Pedregal and Paraíso rivers which feed into the Mitare River which empties into the Coro Gulf. The Morere, Barigua and Bucares rivers which together form the Tocuyo River, arguably the most important river in the area draining 223.44 square kilometres, and emptying into the Caribbean near the Triste Gulf. The Tocuyo river crosses the ecoregion called the Lara Falcón Dry Forest. In the valleys of the Lara-Falcón depression, the Turbio river is the most important due to its volume of water; its mouth is near the Orinoco River basin. Bridge over the Orinoco at Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela (2004) The Orinoco is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,410 km, (1,497. ...

Geology

With the exception of the Siquisique highlands (which are an igneous remnant of Jurassic age), the rocks are Cenozoic, mostly 30 to 70 m.y.o., (Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene), overlaid by some Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial deposits. This corresponds well with the Andean orogeny.

Economy

There are some oil deposits, but mainly the population relies on subsistence farming with some cattle grazing. The dry climate is not conducive to commercial agriculture, but there are some aloe vera plantations. There is some mining in the higher mountains and fishing on the coast. Binomial name Aloe vera (L.) Burm. ...

Towns

• Barquisimeto
• Cabudare
• Carora
• Coro
• Dabajuro
• Punto Fijo
• Riecito
• El Tocuyo

Barquisimeto is the capital city of the State of Lara located in west central Venezuela, halfway between Caracas and Maracaibo on the Turbio River. ... Cabudare (original indigenous name Kabudari), is a city in Lara State, in Venezuela, and capital of the Palavecino municipality. ... Carora is a town in Lara State, Venezuela, on the Carora, a branch of the Tocuyo River. ... CORO ROCKS MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOO YAA BABY!!!!! WHO ROCKS DA HOUSE? WHO ROCKS DA HOUSE??? CORO DOES!!!!!! CORO DOES!!!!!!!!! OK TIME TO CALM DOWN NOW..........The city of Santa Ana de Coro was founded in 1527 by Spanish colonists. ... Punto Fijo is the biggest city in the Paraguaná Peninsula, Falcón, Venezuela. ...

References

• Trinidad & Gulf of Paria: long-lived foreland basin (Campanian-Quaternary) with Neogene salt-dissolution 'piggyback' basins by Roger Higgs.
• Bartok, P. E. (1985) “The Siquisique ophiolites, Northern Lara State, Venezuela: A discussion on their Middle Jurassic ammonites and tectonic implications” Geological Society of America Bulletin: Vol. 96, No. 8, pp. 1050–1055.
• Valles y serranías de Falcón - Lara – Yaracuy in Spanish.
• MARAVEN (1988) Serie estudios regionales. Sistemas Ambientales Venezolanos. Región Centro occidental. Estados Lara, Falcón, Portuguesa y Yaracuy. Ediciones MARAVEN. Caracas.
• World Wildlife Fund: Paraguaná xeric scrub (NT1313)

Geographical regions of Venezuela
Sierra de Perijá | Mérida Andes | Coro region | Coast Ranges of Venezuela | Deltaic System | Guiana Highlands | Island and Coastal Lowlands | Maracaibo Basin | The Llanos | South Orinoco Region |