All Topics  
Gulf of Venezuela

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Gulf of Venezuela
 
 
  Topics Gulf of Venezuela Topic Home

The Gulf of Venezuela or gulf of Coquivacoa is a gulf
Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment....
 of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 bounded by the Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
n states of Zulia and Falcón and the Colombian department (state) of Guajira
Guajira

Guajira may refer to:* Guajira for a female from the countryside * Guajira , a style of Cuban music, song or dance* Department of La Guajira, a department of Colombia which includes most of the Guajira Peninsula...
. A strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 connects it with Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo

Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo River....
 to the south.

Gulf is located in the north of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, between the peninsulas of Paraguaná
Paraguaná Peninsula

The Paraguan? Peninsula is a peninsula in Venezuela, situated in the state of Falc?n. The island of Aruba lies 27 km to the north. Bonaire and Cura?ao are slightly further away....
 of the Falcón State in Venezuela and Guajira
Guajira Peninsula

Guajira Peninsula is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean sea. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km? extending from the Manaure Bay in the Caribbean sea to the Calabazo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela ....
's in Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and is connected to the Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo

Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo River....
 through an artificial navigation canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Gulf of Venezuela'
Start a new discussion about 'Gulf of Venezuela'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Lake Maracaibo Map
The Gulf of Venezuela or gulf of Coquivacoa is a gulf
Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment....
 of the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 bounded by the Venezuela
Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
n states of Zulia and Falcón and the Colombian department (state) of Guajira
Guajira

Guajira may refer to:* Guajira for a female from the countryside * Guajira , a style of Cuban music, song or dance* Department of La Guajira, a department of Colombia which includes most of the Guajira Peninsula...
. A strait
Strait

A strait or straits is a narrow, navigable channel of water that connects two larger navigable bodies of water. It most commonly refers to a channel of water that lies between two land masses, but it may also refer to a navigable channel through a body of water that is otherwise not navigable, for example because it is too shallow, or...
 connects it with Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo

Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo River....
 to the south.

Location

The Gulf is located in the north of South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
, between the peninsulas of Paraguaná
Paraguaná Peninsula

The Paraguan? Peninsula is a peninsula in Venezuela, situated in the state of Falc?n. The island of Aruba lies 27 km to the north. Bonaire and Cura?ao are slightly further away....
 of the Falcón State in Venezuela and Guajira
Guajira Peninsula

Guajira Peninsula is a peninsula in northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela in the Caribbean sea. It is the northernmost peninsula in South America and has an area of 25,000 km? extending from the Manaure Bay in the Caribbean sea to the Calabazo Ensenada in the Gulf of Venezuela ....
's in Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
 and is connected to the Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo

Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo River....
 through an artificial navigation canal
Canal

Canals are artificial channels for water. There are two types of canals: Aqueduct canals, which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water, and waterways, which are navigable transportation canals used for passage of goods and people, often connected to existing lakes, rivers, or oceans....
. There is currently a dispute between Colombia and Venezuela over the gulf that has not been resolved, despite the decades-long negotiations conducted by a bilateral commission.

History

It was discovered by westerners in 1499 when an expedition commanded by Alonso de Ojeda
Alonso de Ojeda

Alonso de Ojeda was a Spanish people explorer born of noble parentage in Cuenca. His name is sometimes spelled Alonzo and Oxeda.He came from an impoverished noble family, but had the good fortune to start his career in the household of the Duke of Medinaceli....
 in which he was accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci
Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer and cartographer. The continents of The Americas are popularly understood to derive their name from the Grammatical gender Latin version of his given name ....
, explored the Venezuelan coasts compiling information and naming the new lands, said expedition arrived to the gulf after passing through the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles and consists of two island group in the Caribbean Sea: Cura?ao and Bonaire, just off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten, located southeast of the Virgin Islands....
 and the Peninsula of Paraguaná.

Territorial waters are also in dispute over the gulf. The border dispute surged after the independence of Colombia and Venezuela from Spain in the 19th Century. The Spanish empire
Spanish Empire

The Spanish Empire was one of the largest empires in world history, and one of the first global empires. It included territories and colonies ruled by Spain in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania between the 15th and late 19th centuries....
 did not delimit the area because the Wayuu
Wayuu

Wayuu is an Amerindian ethnic group of the La Guajira Desert in northern Colombia and northwest Venezuela. They are part of the Maipurean linguistic family....
 indigenous group posed resistance in the area. The land boundary was finally settled in 1941, but not the maritime.

Economic importance


The main factor that gives importance to these waters is the fact that it connects the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the mid-latitudes of the Western Hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the Americas, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest....
 and Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo

Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo River....
, an important source of crude petroleum for Venezuela. The gulf therefore helps connect the wells and refineries in Lake Maracaibo to the world markets.