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With a length of 2140 km, the Orinoco is one of the largest rivers of South America. It flows through Venezuela, having its source in Parima on the Brazilian frontier, and from there making a wide arc, first flowing southwest, then west, north and finally northeast, into the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Paria.
At its mouth it forms a wide delta that branches off into hundreds of rivers and waterways that flow through 41000 km˛ of swampy forests. In the rainy season it can swell to a breadth of 22 kilometres and a depth of 100 meters. Most of the important Venezuelan rivers are tributaries of the Orinoco, the largest being the Caroni (Caroní), which joins the Orinoco at Puerto Ordaz, close to the Llovizna Falls. The river is navigable for most of its length, and dredging enables ocean ships to go as far as Ciudad Bolivar, 435 km upstream. You can find it at about 9 degrees north (latitude) and 60 degrees west (longitude).
A peculiarity of the Orinoco river system is the Casiquiare, which starts as an arm of the Orinoco, and finds its way to the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, thus forming a 'natural canal' between the Orinoco and the Amazon.
IrishThis article is about the historic Irish Republic which should not be confused with the modern Republic of Ireland ( 1949 present), which is often incorrectly referred to as the "Irish Republic"1''. The Irish Republic was the Irish state set up by Dail Ei singer EnyaEnya (born 17 May 1961), birth name Eithne Ni Bhraonain (sometimes seen as the Anglicized Enya Brennan is Ireland's best-selling solo artist. As a musical group, Enya is really three people: Enya herself; Nicky Ryan, who produces her records; and Roma Rya had a hit with Orinoco Flow (Sail Away). Also, The BotoThe Boto or Amazon River Dolphin Inia geoffrensis is a freshwater or river dolphin. It is endemic to the Amazon River and Orinoco River systems. The Boto is the largest of the river dolphins. The IUCN lists Amazon Dolphin Boto Vermelho Bouto Bufeo Dauphin, or Amazon River Dolphin, is known to inhabit the Orinoco River system.This region also contains large tar sandsTar sands also referred to as oil sand or bituminous sand is a combination of clay, sand, water, and bitumen. Tar sands are mined for the oil rich bitumen which is refined into oil. Conventional oil is extracted by drilling traditional wells into the grou which may be a source of future oil production.
Orinoco is also the name of one of The WomblesThis article refers to the children's TV programme, not the radical anarchist WOMBLES group The Wombles are fictional characters created by British author Elisabeth Beresford, originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. Wombles are po, all of whom take their names from an old atlas.