Llanos

*For the Supervillain, look at the page Thanos.*
The **Llanos** (Spanish *Los Llanos*, "The Plains"; ) are a very big tropical grassland on flat land east of the Andes Mountains.  The Llanos are in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. Ecologists call them an ecoregion.  They put them in the same group with other tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and places where small trees and bushes grow.

## Geography
The Llanos go east to west. The Andes Mountains are on the west side of the Llanos and the Venezuelan Coastal Range of mountains are north of the Llanos. The Guiana Highlands are to the southeast, and the Negro-Branco moist forests are to the southwest. To the east the Orinoco wetlands and Orinoco Delta swamp forests in the Orinoco Delta.

The Orinoco River is the biggest river in the Llanos.  The Orinoco River goes from west to east. The Orinoco is the biggest and most important river in Venezuela.

## Climate
The Llanos have a tropical savanna climate and tropical monsoon climate. The rainy part of the year is April to November.  The dry season is from December to March. The wettest months are typically June and July. In the southwest, the llanos get as much as  of rain per year in the southwest,  in Apure State, and  per year in the Llanos of Monagas State in the northeast. The average temperature across the whole year is , and it does not change much with the seasons; the coldest months (June, July, December, and January) are only  colder than the hottest months.

The Llanos long-nosed armadillo (*Dasypus sabanicola*) and the short-tailed opossum *Monodelphis orinoci* live in the Llanos. The word *llanero* ("plainsman") became the name for the cowhands who took care of the herds. They are like the gauchos of the Pampas or the *vaqueros* of Spanish and Mexican Texas.

People raised so many cows on the Llanos that the grasslands changed.  Human beings set fire to the grasslands to kill trees and shrubs and grow better grass for the cows.  Human beings brought new grasses from other parts of the Earth because they thought they would be better for the cows to eat.  For example, they brought the African grass *Melinis minutiflora*.  Now, large parts of the Llanos are govered in African grass. Protected areas include Aguaro-Guariquito National Park (5,857.5&nbsp;km²), Cinaruco-Capanaparo National Park (5,843.68&nbsp;km²), Tortuga Arrau Reserve (98.56&nbsp;km²), and Caño Guaritico Wildlife Refuge (93.0&nbsp;km²) in Venezuela, and El Tuparro National Natural Park (5,549.08&nbsp;km²) in Colombia.

## Gallery

File:NP Llanos24 lo (5853385573).jpg|Colombia
File:GanadoLlanosVenezuela.jpg|Venezuela
File:Guaraticoriver.jpg|The Guaratico River near Mantecal, Venezuela
File:Llanosbongo.jpg|Tourist metal bongo on the Guaratico River
File:Llanos1.jpg|The flat Llanos
File:Llanosmarsh3.jpg|Wet season
File:Llanosnight4.jpg|Sunset
File:Llanosstorm.jpg|Thunderstorm tracks

## Cities in the Llanos
### In Colombia
*Acacías
*Arauca, Arauca
*Gaviotas
*Maní, Casanare
*Orocué
*Paz de Ariporo
*Puerto Carreño
*Inírida
*Puerto López, Meta
*San José del Guaviare
*Saravena
*Tame
*Villavicencio
*Yopal
*Fortul

### In Venezuela
*Acarigua
*Araure
*Barinas
*Calabozo
*Caripito
*El Tigre
*Guanare
*Maturín
*Puerto Ayacucho
*Sabaneta
*San Carlos
*San Fernando de Apure
*Tucupita
*Valle de la Pascua

## Related pages
* History of Colombia
* History of Venezuela

## References
## Other websites
* 
* Dawn on the Plains Photo Feature, *Havana Times*, Oct 1, 2010.
* The llanos music
* The llanos of Colombia and Venezuela
* Los Llanos de Colombia