Los llanos (meaning the flat plains) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated at the east of the Andes in northwestern South America (Colombia and Venezuela). Its main river is the Orinoco.
The climate change of the Llanos is extreme. During the rainy season from June to October, parts of the Llanos can flood up to a meter. This makes the area unfit for most agriculture before the advent of modern, industrial technology; therefore, during the colonial era, the prime economic activity of the area came from the herding of millions of heads of cattle. The term llanero ("plainsman") became synonymous with the cowhands that took care of the herds, and had some cultural similarities to the compare to the gauchos of the Pampas or the vaqueros of Spanish and Mexican Texas.
The area slopes gradually away from the highland areas that surround it; elevation above mean sea level in the llanos never exceeds 200 meters.
Originally, llano is the Spanish word for "plain". It became the Spanish-American term for prairie.
In Texas, the dry grassland in the western part of the state is known as the Llano Estacado (in English, "staked plain").
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Cities situated in Los Llanos
In Colombia
- Villavicencio
- Puerto López
- Arauca
- Tame
- Saravena
- Yopal
- Puerto Carreño
- Inirida
- Mitú
- San José del Guaviare
- Gaviotas
In Venezuela
- San Fernando de Apure
- Barinas
- San Carlos
- Calabozo
- El Tigre
- Caripito
- Araure
- Guanare
- Acarigua
- Puerto Ayacucho
- Maturín
- Sabaneta
- Valle de la Pascua
- Tucupita
See also
External links
- (English) Visiting Los Llanos in Venezuela
- (Spanish) Los Llanos de Colombia
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Categories: Grasslands | Grasslands of Colombia | Grasslands of Venezuela | Geographical regions of Venezuela | Global 200 ecoregions
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