Cordillera de Mérida

The Cordillera de Mérida ( Eng.: The Cordilleras of Merida ) are a series of mountain peaks and massive in the north- western Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a north-eastern foothills of the Andes. Yourself out wide on the southwestern border of Venezuela with Colombia ( Colombian northeast border ), to the coast of Venezuela. The Táchira trench separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental.

The mountain range is located in the following states of Venezuela: Táchira, Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo, Portuguesa and Lara. The southeastern foothills are traversed by tributaries of the Orinoco, the northwestern foothills are traversed by rivers that flow into Lake Maracaibo. At the northeastern tip of the massif is the town of Barquisimeto and the sources of Cojedes River.

In the center of the massif, the city is Mérida. To the north, the Sierra de la Culata and in the south the Sierra Nevada de Mérida is. The Pico Bolívar is 4,981 meters the highest peak in Venezuela.

Most peaks are covered by forest, the highest peak is 3100 meters above the tree line. Within the massif is the protected area of ​​the Sierra Nevada National Park.

Five glaciers are located in the Cordillera de Mérida.