Lake Maracaibo

Inland sea

The Maracaibo Lake ( Lago de Maracaibo Spanish ) is an inland sea in Maracaibobecken, in northwestern Venezuela. Due to its nearly complete separation from the Caribbean Sea it is considered mostly as Lake (Spanish: Lago ).

Geography

The lake is 13,512 km ² in size and up to 35 m deep. He is the largest lake in South America. He is joined by the 38 km long and 5.5 to 14.6 km wide strait Canal de San Carlos with the Gulf of Venezuela and the Caribbean. Is the port city of Maracaibo At the entrance to the lake. The Catatumbo rivers, Santa Ana and Chama flow into Lake Maracaibo. At the mouth of the Catatumbo it comes to the phenomenon of the Catatumbo - weather glow.

The northern part of the lake still contains brackish water, while the southern part is completely ausgesüßt. On the eastern shore of the lake store the richest oil reserves of Venezuela. The Lake Maracaibo is also used by ocean-going vessels because of its short connection to the sea. 1964, came on the Lake Maracaibo to a tanker accident, which remained but no other consequences for the lake.

In the summer of 2004, there were on the lake to a plague through mass propagation of the Lesser Duckweed. The reason for this is seen in the increasing Aussüßung of seawater through increased rainfall. In addition, environmental factors should play a role by the oil industry.

History

The Indians called Lake Maracaibo Conquibacao. On August 24, 1499 Amerigo Vespucci and Alonso de Ojeda drove through a narrow isthmus in a huge brackish lake, which they called Lago de Bartolomé, after day Saints Bartholomew.

1528 to 1545, the land was mortgaged to the lake as Little Venice to the Welser. 1529 New -Nuremberg, later Maracaibo founded. But the efforts of the Welser had no success, and so them the fief was withdrawn.

Later, the lake was named Lago de Maracaibo, " Lake Maracaibo ." 1823 here the Spanish fleet was defeated by the Republican Navy and 1917 were found in Cabimas on the east coast of the lake, the first oil, more oil fields were to follow. Since 1962, the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge, which spans the entrance to the lake.

Economy

The economy of the Lake Maracaibo is based mainly on the oil industry.