Llanos

The Llanos [ ˈʝanos ] or [ ˈʎanos ] are wide plains in northern South America, which are mainly characterized by wet savannas . They are drained by the Orinoco River.

Llanos landscape in Venezuela

The Llanos extend over

the Colombian departments of Arauca , Casanare , Vichada , Guainía , Meta , Vaupés and Guaviare
the Venezuelan states of Apure , Barinas , Portuguesa , Cojedes , Guárico , Anzoátegui and Monagas .

The Llanos are characterized by flat areas, almost exclusively characterized by pastureland. The economy is mainly based on animal husbandry, in the regions of Arauca, Casanare, Anzoátegui, Apure and Monagas also on the extraction of oil.

population

The inhabitants of this region are known as Llaneros . The llaneros can be compared to the cowboys of North America or the gauchos of Argentina. They are known for their horsemanship and hospitality. Their style of music, the joropo , is popular in both Colombia and Venezuela and can also be danced.

Wildlife

Spectacled Caiman in the Llanos

One of the typical large animals of the region is the capybara, which roams in herds through the swampy savannahs. Rarer species are the jaguar, ocelot, lowland tapir, giant anteater, spectacled caiman and orinoco crocodile. There are also around 350 different species of birds. The most important national parks in the Llanos area are the Santos Luzardo National Park and the Aguaro Guariquito National Park .

The hundreds of square kilometers of landscapes made up of mounds of earth up to five meters wide, called Surales , were created primarily through the excretion of earthworms of the genus Andiorrhinus .

Web links

Commons : Llanos - collection of images, videos and audio files

The Llanos of Venezuela (Spanish)
The Llanos of Colombia ( Memento of August 11, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) (Spanish)

Individual evidence

↑ L. Riley, W. Riley: Natures Strongholds - The Worlds great Wildlife Reserves. Princeton University Press, 2004.
↑ Anne Zangerlé et al .: The Surales, self-organized Earth Mound Landscapes Made by Earthworms in a Seasonal Tropical Wetland. In: PLoS ONE. Volume 11, No. 5, 2016, e0154269, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0154269

[1] L. Riley, W. Riley: Natures Strongholds - The Worlds great Wildlife Reserves. Princeton University Press, 2004.

[2] Anne Zangerlé et al .: The Surales, self-organized Earth Mound Landscapes Made by Earthworms in a Seasonal Tropical Wetland. In: PLoS ONE. Volume 11, No. 5, 2016, e0154269, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0154269