Editing Venezuela (section)

=== Hydrography ===

The country is made up of three river basins: the [[Caribbean Sea]], the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Valencia, which forms an endorheic basin.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9aEAAAAIAAJ&q=hidrografia+venezuela|title=Anuario estadístico de Venezuela|date=2000|publisher=OCEI|language=es|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129031900/https://books.google.com/books?id=k9aEAAAAIAAJ&q=hidrografia+venezuela|url-status=live}}</ref>

On the Atlantic side it drains most of Venezuela's river waters. The largest basin in this area is the extensive Orinoco basin<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Joanna Overing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=unNsAAAAMAAJ&q=Orinoco+basin|title=The Piaroa, a People of the Orinoco Basin: A Study in Kinship and Marriage|date=1975|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=978-0-01-923189-3|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129032020/https://books.google.com/books?id=unNsAAAAMAAJ&q=Orinoco+basin|url-status=live}}</ref> whose surface area, close to one million km<sup>2</sup>, is greater than that of the whole of Venezuela, although it has a presence of 65% in the country.

The size of this basin - similar to that of the Danube - makes it the third largest in South America, and it gives rise to a flow of some 33,000 m<sup>3</sup>/s, making the Orinoco the third largest in the world, and also one of the most valuable from the point of view of renewable natural resources. The Rio or Brazo Casiquiare is unique in the world, as it is a natural derivation of the [[Orinoco river|Orinoco]] that, after some 500&nbsp;km in length, connects it to the Negro River, which in turn is a tributary of the [[Amazon River|Amazon]]. 
[[File:LA LAGUNA VICTORIA.JPG|thumb|229x229px|Victoria Lagoon, [[Mérida (state)|Mérida State]]]]
The Orinoco receives directly or indirectly rivers such as the Ventuari, the Caura, the [[Caroní River|Caroní]], the Meta, the [[Arauca River|Arauca]], the Apure and many others. Other Venezuelan rivers that empty into the Atlantic are the waters of the San Juan and Cuyuní basins. Finally, there is the Amazon River, which receives the Guainía, the Negro and others. Other basins are the [[Gulf of Paria]] and the [[Essequibo River|Esequibo River]].
The second most important watershed is the Caribbean Sea. The rivers of this region are usually short and of scarce and irregular flow, with some exceptions such as the [[Catatumbo River|Catatumbo]], which originates in [[Colombia]] and drains into the Maracaibo Lake basin. Among the rivers that reach the Maracaibo lake basin are the Chama, the Escalante, the Catatumbo, and the contributions of the smaller basins of the Tocuyo, Yaracuy, Neverí and Manzanares rivers.

A minimum drains to the Lake Valencia basin.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Affairs (U.S.)|first1=Institute of Inter-American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQI9AAAAYAAJ&q=Lake+Valencia+basin&pg=PA3|title=The Lake Valencia Region in Venezuela: A Special Report|last2=Peterson|first2=Lyall E.|date=1946|publisher=Institute of Inter-American Affairs, Food Supply Division|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129032007/https://books.google.com/books?id=yQI9AAAAYAAJ&q=Lake+Valencia+basin&pg=PA3#v=snippet&q=Lake%20Valencia%20basin&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Of the total extension of the rivers, a total of 5400&nbsp;km are navigable. Other rivers worth mentioning are the Apure, Arauca, Caura, Meta, Barima, [[Portuguesa River|Portuguesa]], Ventuari and Zulia, among others.[[File:Cerro Wichuj(Cara de Indio) (12111191594).jpg|thumb|Amazon [[rainforest]] and Autana River, [[Amazonas (Venezuela)|Amazonas]] state|250x250px]]The country's main lakes are Lake Maracaibo<ref>{{Cite book|last=Yegres|first=Ramón Santaella|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZNEAAAAYAAJ&q=maracaibo+lake|title=La dinámica del espacio en la cuenca del Lago de Maracaibo, 1873-1940: y su proyeccion hasta el presente, 1980|date=1989|publisher=FACES-UCV, División de Publicaciones|isbn=978-980-00-0312-1|language=es|access-date=7 November 2020|archive-date=29 November 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129031902/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZNEAAAAYAAJ&q=maracaibo+lake|url-status=live}}</ref> -the largest in South America- open to the sea through the natural channel, but with fresh water, and Lake Valencia with its endorheic system. Other noteworthy bodies of water are the [[Guri Reservoir|Guri reservoir]], the Altagracia lagoon, the Camatagua reservoir and the Mucubají lagoon in the Andes.