Auyantepui
Encyclopedia
Pemon language
The Pemon are an indigenous people of South America, living in areas of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana. They are also known as Arecuna/AricunaJaricuna, , Kamarakoto/Camaracoto, Taurepan/Taulipang....
) is a tepui
Tepui
A tepui , or tepuy, is a table-top mountain or mesa found in the Guiana Highlands of South America, especially in Venezuela. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana....
plateau in the Gran Sabana
La Gran Sabana
The Gran Sabana is an important natural attraction in Venezuela, located in the south of Bolívar State on the Venezuelan-Brazilian border, approximately 1,400 km from Caracas. The area has a tropical humid climate with an average temperature of 28 °C, but at night it can go down to 13 °C...
region of the Bolivar State in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. It is one of the largest (but not the highest) tepuis in the Guiana Highlands, with an area of 700 km² (270.3 sq mi).
Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world, drops from a cleft near the summit. The falls are 979 metres (3,211.9 ft) high, with an uninterrupted descent of 807 metres (2,647.6 ft) - a drop nineteen times higher than that of Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls
The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...
.
Auyantepui achieved international fame in 1933 when Angel Falls was accidentally discovered by Jimmie Angel
Jimmie Angel
James Crawford "Jimmie" Angel was an American aviator after whom Angel Falls in Venezuela, the tallest waterfall in the world, is named.-His birth and early life:...
, a bush pilot searching for gold ore. Attempting to land on the heart-shaped mesa in 1937, Angel crashed his small plane Flamingo on top of Auyantepui and was forced to hike down the gradually sloping backside, a trip that took him and his crew 11 days to complete. He was immortalized when the waterfall was named after him.
Auyantepui is a giant among the large plateaus. It covers an area of 700 km² (270.3 sq mi) and its highest point is 2535 metres (8,316.9 ft) high.