Orinoco Basin

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Orinoco Basin
Map of the Orinoco River Basin.
Country	Venezuela
Characteristics
Area	990,000 km2 (380,000 sq mi)
Plate	South American

The Orinoco Basin is the part of South America drained by the Orinoco river and its tributaries. The Orinoco watershed covers an area of about 990000 km², making it the third largest in South America, covering most of Venezuela and eastern part of Colombia.

The Orinoco is one of the most important rivers in the world due to its length and flow (2140 km and more than 30000 m³/s),^[1] the extent of its basin (1 million km²) and especially its historical importance and economic and the meaning it has had for Venezuela, where most of its basin is spread, with almost two-thirds of it. It is probably the largest river in the world in relation to its basin, similar in extent to that of the Danube but five times greater in volume. Its discharge is the third largest of any river worldwide, after the Amazon and the Congo, and much greater than that of many rivers of greater length and basin area.