Editing Apure (section)

== Geography ==
The state of Apure is located to the southwest of Venezuela, positioned between 06º03’45’’ and 08º04’22’’ latitude North and 66º21’45’’ and 72º22’30’’ longitude West.  It is bordered on the north by the states of [[Táchira (state)|Táchira]], [[Barinas (state)|Barinas]], and [[Guárico]], on the east and southeast by the states of [[Bolívar (state)|Bolívar]] and [[Amazonas (Venezuelan state)|Amazonas]] and on the south and west by [[Colombia]].

=== Geology ===
[[File:Caiman del Orinoco.JPG|thumb|right|Caiman of the Orinoco River, Hato El Frio, Apure State]]
Originating in the [[Tertiary]] ([[Neogene]]) and [[Quaternary]] ([[Pleistocene]]) periods, the [[Llanos]] (plains) of Apure are formed by sediments of little or no consolidation, with sandy and clayey deposits built up by floods in recent times.  On the banks of the [[Orinoco]] one finds outcroppings of rocks, from the [[Archean]] era, which are part of the [[Guiana Shield]] and appear at heights called galleys.  Likewise, in the [[Andes|Andean]] foothills, rocks from the Tertiary Period form hills and short slopes in the mountain range.

A large part of the state of Apure is constituted by an extensive field of dunes (occupying some 30,000&nbsp;km²), which has the peculiarity of not being a desert climate but a savannah, with natural grasslands alternating with corridors of jungle and voluminous rivers with sand dunes of more than {{cvt|100|km}} in length and 20 m in height.  Some of these dunes are used by [[llanero]]s to establish dairy farms, which, in addition to processing milk, prepare a group of cattle to go to the head of the pack (which in the llanos is referred to as the godmother of the herd), according to the work of Calzadilla Valdés.  

Also, they allow the livestock to take refuge from the floods. The ecosystem in the savanna is the result of having been modeled by the wind ([[aeolian processes]]).  It is not, as noted in the ''Atlas of Venezuela: A Spatial Image'' (''Atlas de Venezuela: Una imagen espacial'', also known as ''El Atlas de Petróleos de Venezuela''), an ecosystem of "paleodunas", literally 'old dunes,' formed in an environment with a much drier climate than the current one, but a mechanism of dune formation that acts only in the dry season since the lowering of the water level of the Orinoco at the rivers' lowest point, especially that of those that originate in the llanos, extensive beaches of fine sand are left behind, that the [[trade winds]] very quickly will transfer to the southeast, forming what now constitutes el Parque Nacional Santos Luzardo (the Santos Luzardo National Park), which takes its name from one of the main characters in the novel ''[[Doña Bárbara]]'' by [[Rómulo Gallegos]].
[[File:Sabanas vestidas de Garzas Blancas.jpg|thumb|Hato El Cedral, Apure State]]

=== Terrain ===
It is almost entirely flat, with extensive plains from the convergence of the Apure, Arauca, and Capanaparo Rivers with the Orinoco to the foothills of the Andes.  With little unevenness of terrain, the altitude fluctuates between 40 and 200 meters above sea level.  

The Apurean llanos feature several important physiographic events, generated by the type of soil, climate, and its hydrological pattern.  Protruding between them are zones of dunes, delta plains, and such features as shoals, banks, and estuaries, which are very prone to floods during the rainy season.  Furthermore, in the west of the territory, one finds foothills and mountains with altitudes of greater than 3&nbsp;km, in a portion of the [[Cordillera Oriental (Colombia)|Cordillera Oriental]] [[Andes|Andina]] (Eastern Andean Range) that borders [[Táchira (state)|Estado Táchira]].

=== Hydrography ===
The state is sliced by numerous rivers of great length and breadth, all of which are part of the [[Orinoco]] river basin.  The [[Apure River]], the most important of these, is at the same time the main Venezuelan tributary of the Orinoco from its left border, and the second longest in the country: it covers some {{cvt|1000|km}} from its source to its mouth.  

All of the lands in the south of the state constitute a zone where the springs, the branches, the rivers, the lagoons, and the swamps extraordinarily complicate the hydrography.  Apure relies on an abundant [[phreatic zone]] that supplies the cities and towns with potable water, and a few decades ago networks of modules were created that allowed water storage for use in periods of drought.  The most important rivers in the state are: the Apure for which the state is named; the Arauca, at more than {{cvt|700|km}} long, which has its source in Colombia and forms the border between the two countries for a stretch, and unites the Apure by means of various branches and springs before flowing into the Orinoco; the [[Orichuna River|Orichuna]] Channel at more than {{cvt|500|km}} long; the [[Capanaparo River|Capanaparo]], [[Cinaruco River|Cinaruco]], [[Cunaviche River|Cunaviche]], [[Matiyure River|Matiyure]], and [[Meta River|Meta]].  The upper courses of the Apure River are formed by the [[Uribante River|Uribante]] and the [[Sarare River|Sarare]], whose lower parts are found in the state of Apure.

===Climate===
The warm, rainy tropical [[savanna]]h climate is dominant, with a severe dry season and a rainy season. Also, the temperature can be high all year round. 700 and the 1500&nbsp;mm. Due to the characteristics of the state relief, the temperature presents a relative uniformity in almost all the territory. From the Andean foothills, temperatures will decrease in proportion to the increase in altitude, reaching up to 10&nbsp;°C in the extreme northwest of the state, above 3,200 meters above sea level in El Tamá.

The shape of the precipitation distribution in the Apure state is one of the fundamental characteristics, being related to modifying factors such as latitude, relief, cold fronts and intertropical convergence.

===Soils===
They vary in quality and texture according to age and [[drainage]], elements that influence the nature of the mixture. Similarly, exposure to very humid or somewhat drier climatic conditions is relevant. The result is uneven, so that the soils are distributed as follows: in the dune areas, they are acidic and low in nutrients; in sectors of constantly flooded plains, they are of medium quality and deficient in fertility; in the banks they have good drainage and medium textures; and in the northeast (towards Biruaca) they have extraordinary agricultural power.

===Vegetation===
In almost all the territory prevails a vegetation of savannah, [[Herbaceous plant|herbaceous]], [[grassland]], scrub and bushes