The Cordillera de Mérida is a mountain range, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of the Venezuelan Andes. The range runs approximately 400 kilometers, from the Venezuela-Colombia border in the southwest to the Venezuelan Coastal Complex in the northeast. The Táchira depression separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental, which forms the Colombia-Venezuela border.
The range spans about 40,000 square kilometers, covering most of Táchira, Mérida, and Trujillo states, and parts of Lara, Barinas, Portuguesa, Apure and Zulia states. The southeastern slopes are drained by tributaries of the Orinoco River, while the streams that drain the northwestern slopes empty into Lake Maracaibo. At the southwestern end of the range lies the city of San Cristóbal, while at the northeast tip lies the city of Barquisimeto and the headwaters of the River Cojedes.In the centre of the range is the city of Mérida, its namesake. Two subsidiary ranges of peaks lie on either side of the city: the Sierra de la Culata to the north and Sierra Nevada de Mérida to the south. Pico Bolívar, at 4,981 meters elevation (16,342 feet), is the highest peak in Venezuela.
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