page_title: Gran Sabana
section_title: Park creation
hierarchical_section_title: Gran Sabana / History / Park creation
caption_attribution_description: Español: Cartel de entrada a la Gran sabana
context_page_description: La Gran Sabana is a region in southeastern Venezuela, part of the Guianan savanna ecoregion.
  The savanna spreads into the regions of the Guiana Highlands and south-east into Bolívar State, extending further to the borders with Brazil and Guyana. The Gran Sabana has an area of 10,820 km² and is part of the second largest National Park in Venezuela, the Canaima National Park. Only Parima Tapirapecó National Park is larger than Canaima. The average temperature is around 20 °C, but at night can drop to 13 °C and in some of the more elevated sites, depending on weather, may drop a bit more.
  The location offers one of the most unusual landscapes in the world, with rivers, waterfalls and gorges, deep and vast valleys, impenetrable jungles and savannahs that host large numbers and varieties of plant species, a diverse fauna and the isolated table-top mesas locally known as tepuis.
context_section_description: Due to the richness and diversity, both biological and mineral and geographical of the Southeast Guayana, was necessary to protect the territory by the Government of Venezuela. For this reason, Canaima was declared a National Park, many years later by Executive Order No. 770 dated June 12, 1962. The park is the second largest in Venezuela.
  The Canaima National Park now covers an area of about 3,000,000 hectares (7,400,000 acres), which places it among the six largest national parks in the world. However, its original area was 1,000,000 hectares (2,500,000 acres), and did not include the territory of the Gran Sabana.
  It was enlarged in 1975 to cover several points of high ecological importance. Among those sites are the Carrao River Basin, the headwaters of the Caroní River, the Sierra de Lema, the source of the Cuyuni River and the rolling plains, which form the Gran Sabana. Currently, the territory of the Gran Sabana is 1,082,000 hectares (2,670,000 acres), as shown in the image of the park entrance sign.
  Currently, the Gran Sabana remains a place of high ecological value. UNESCO, proclaimed Canaima National Park a World Heritage Site in 1994. It is a place of high value to the Venezuela government, which promotes conservation and exploration, and to the people of Venezuela. Thousands of tourists visit the place every year. They can enjoy the variety of natural wonders in the park and delight both for the beauty of its places of interest including the landscapes of the tepuis, waterfalls and streams), and its diversity of fauna and flora. The latter attract many scholars and scientists from around the world. Only in the Gran Sabana is 40% of the species of Venezuela, and 23% in terms of reptiles and amphibians, with many endemic species.
  The largest city in the area is Santa Elena de Uairén, which has experienced very rapid growth, with a population of over 30,000 inhabitants. It was founded in 1923 by Lucas Fernández Peña, attracted by the growth of diamond production in the area. Its average temperature is between 25 and 28 °C (77 and 82 °F). It is 910 meters (2,990 ft) above sea level, is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the border with Brazil, 615 kilometres (382 mi) from Ciudad Guayana, and about 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) from Caracas, by a paved road. The total population of the Gran Sabana is currently estimated at about 48,000.
caption: INPARQUES poster placed at the entrance to la Gran Sabana, after La Escalera
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