page_title: Lake Maracaibo
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Maracaibo
caption_attribution_description: The Catatumbo Lightning is an atmospheric phenomenon in Venezuela. It occurs only over the mouth of the Catatumbo River where it empties into Lake Maracaibo. The frequent, powerful flashes of lightning over this relatively small area are considered to be the world's largest single generator of tropospheric ozone en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatumbo_lightning
context_page_description: Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish tidal bay in Venezuela. It is an "inlet of the Caribbean Sea". It is often called a lake rather than a bay or lagoon. In the north, a channel 55 km long connects it to the Carribean Sea.
  The lake is named after the city Maracaibo, which lies on the east side of this channel. In Maracaibo, this channel is about 8.5 km wide. General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge spans this channel. It is one of the longest bridges in the world.
  The lake has a size of about 160 kilometres by 110 kilometres. 135 rivers flow into the lake. The biggest of them is Catatumbo River, which is 500km long. Others include Escalante River and Chama River.
  In the northern part of the lake, there is brackish water. The southern part of the lake is freshwater. There are many islands in the lake.
context_section_description: Lake Maracaibo (Spanish: Lago de Maracaibo) is a large brackish tidal bay (or tidal estuary) in Venezuela. It is an "inlet of the Caribbean Sea".  It is often called a lake rather than a bay or lagoon. In the north, a channel 55 km long connects it to the Carribean Sea. 
  The lake is named after the city Maracaibo, which lies on the east side of this channel. In Maracaibo, this channel is about 8.5 km wide. General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge spans this channel. It is one of the longest bridges in the world.  
  The lake has a size of about 160 kilometres (99 mi) by 110 kilometres (68 mi). 135 rivers flow into the lake. The biggest of them is Catatumbo River, which is 500km long. Others include  Escalante River and Chama River.    
  In the northern part of the lake, there is brackish water. The southern part of the lake is freshwater. There are many islands in the lake.
caption: Catacumbo lightning occurs where Catacumbo River empties into Lake Maracaibo
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