Llanos

The Llanos (Los Llanos) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated at the east of the Andes in northwestern South America (Colombia and Venezuela). Its main river is the Orinoco.

Despite poor climate, during the colonial era, llaneros (similar to the gauchos of the pampas) herded millions of head of cattle here.

The area slopes gradually away from the highland areas that surround it; elevations in the llanos never exceed 200 meters.

Originally, llano is the Spanish word for plain. It became the Spanish-American term for prairie.