Bolívar (state)

Bolívar is the geographically largest state in Venezuela, with a share of about 26 per cent of the total area of the country. The capital of this state is Ciudad Bolívar.

Both state and capital are - as well as many other places and facilities in Venezuela and South America - after the national hero Simón Bolívar named.

Major Cities

• Caicara del Orinoco
• Ciudad Bolívar
• Ciudad Guayana
• Ciudad Piar
• El Callao
• Maripa
• Santa Elena de Uairén
• Tumeremo
• Upata

Administrative divisions

The state is composed of eleven districts ( municipios ) together:

Geography

To the west and north of the country is almost entirely limited by the Orinoco, where the two largest cities of Ciudad Bolívar and Ciudad Guayana are. Other major rivers are the Río Caroní and the Caura River, both tributaries of the Orinoco. At Río Caroní the Guri Reservoir, the seventh largest reservoir in the world is located.

Along the Orinoco agriculture and cattle breeding, the west and south-west of Bolívar are barely inhabited and dominated by dense rainforest.

The east and southeast are dominated by the Guiana Shield, one of the oldest geological formations in the world, the ( tepuis ) is especially known for its table mountains and is determined in the deeper layers of savannas and grasslands and tropical rainforest. A large part is protected by the Canaima National Park, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage

Attractions

• Ciudad Bolívar with the colonial downtown
• Gran Sabana with the characteristic tepuis ( table mountains )
• Canaima National Park ( World Heritage Site) with Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world