Lake Maracaibo (Spanish: Lago de Maracaibo) is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at 09°48′57″N 71°33′24″W / 9.81583°N 71.55667°W / 9.81583; -71.55667. It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait (55 km) at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the largest lake in South America. The geological record shows that it has been a true lake in the past, and as such is one of the oldest lakes on Earth at 20-36 million years old.
Lake Maracaibo acts as a major shipping route to the ports of Maracaibo and Cabimas. The surrounding Maracaibo Basin contains large reserves of crude oil, making the lake a major profit center for Venezuela. A dredged channel gives oceangoing vessels access to the bay. The General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge (8.7 km long; completed 1962), spanning the bay's outlet, is one of the longest bridges in the world.
The lake is also the location of Catatumbo lightning.
Read more about Lake Maracaibo: History, Islands, Fishing, Settlements, Subsiding Ground, Duckweed Infestation
Famous quotes containing the word lake:
“They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humility; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)