Paria (peninsula)
| Paria Peninsula | ||
 Pariah Peninsula from space |
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| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 10 ° 42 '0 " N , 62 ° 30' 0" W | |
| Waters 1 | Caribbean Sea | |
| Waters 2 | Gulf of Pariah | |
The Paria peninsula is a peninsula in the state of Sucre in the far northeast of Venezuela . The peninsula separates the Gulf of Pariah and the Caribbean Sea . The Península de Paria National Park , which was founded on December 12, 1978, covers 37,500 hectares, and is located on the peninsula . Parts of the 70,000 hectare Turuépano National Park are also located in the southwest of the peninsula. Politically, the peninsula belongs to the administrative districts of Arismendi , Mariño and Valdez .
geography
The highest mountain is the 1374 meter high Cerro el Humo. There are also foothills of the Orinoco Delta on the peninsula . You can find typical Caribbean sandy beaches such as Playa Medina , Playa Pui-Pui , Playa Chaguarama de Sotillo , Playa Cangua and Cabo Tres Puntas . In the south of the peninsula there is swampy savannah.
climate
The climate on Paria is tropical and warm. The average annual temperature is around 26 degrees Celsius . The amount of precipitation varies greatly between the west and east and north and south of the peninsula. The relative humidity is in the range of 80%. There is heavy rainfall practically all year round. The months February to May are the driest. There are often storms on the north coast, especially in December and January.
Flora and fauna
The flora of Paria includes orchids , ferns and bromeliads . Endemic plant species are also found in isolated zones . The fauna is little explored and contains many unknown species. Endemic birds include white-spotted kotinga ( Pipreola formosa ), scissors -tailed nymph ( Hylonympha macrocerca ), eastern spotted spikytail ( Premnoplex tatei ), black- hooked beak ( Diglossa venezuelensis ) and golden-eyed wood warbler ( Myioborus pariae ). In addition to hummingbirds , one can observe anacondas , manatees , howler monkeys , fat swallows , the red-bellied buzzard ( Buteogallus aequinoctialis ), parrots and numerous water birds such as northern pied ant-catchers ( Cercomacra nigricans ) or silver- gray antcatchers ( Sclateria naevia ). In 2005, a new species of snake called Taeniophallus nebularis was discovered in the cloud forests .
history
On his third voyage, Christopher Columbus set foot on the South American mainland for the first time on August 5, 1498. He allegedly disembarked on pariah at Macuro that day. However, Columbus was by no means aware of this historical fact. He assumed that it was an island, similar to the recently discovered offshore island of Trinidad .
literature
- Hilary Dunsterville Branch: Venezuela . The Bradt Travel Guide, 2003, ISBN 978-1-84162-054-1 .
- Steven L. Hilty : Birds of Venezuela. Princeton University Press, 2003, ISBN 978-0-691-09250-8 .
- Schargel, Walter E., Rivas Fuenmayor, Gilson Myers, Charles W .: An enigmatic new snake from cloud forest of the Península de Paria, Venezuela (Colubridae, genus Taeniophallus?) . American Museum novitates; no. 3484, 2005.
- Urs Bitterli : The discovery of America: From Columbus to Alexander von Humboldt . CH Beck, 2006, ISBN 978-3-406-42122-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ BirdLife International Gas threat to Venezuelan peninsula (Eng.)
- ↑ Article American Museum