Cordillera de Mérida

The Cordillera de Mérida is a series of mountain ranges, or massif, in northwestern Venezuela. The Cordillera de Mérida is a northeastern extension of the Andes Mountains and the most important branch of Venezuelan Andes. The ranges run southwest-northeast between the Venezuelan-Colombian border and the Venezuelan Coastal Ranges. The Táchira depression separates the Cordillera de Mérida from the Cordillera Oriental, which forms the Colombia-Venezuela border.

The ranges runs from southwest to northeast and parts lie within each of the following states: Táchira, Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo, Portuguesa and Lara. 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 northeast tip of the massif lies the town of Barquisimeto and the headwaters of the River Cojedes.