VENEZUELA, GULF OF

Spanish Golfo De Venezuela, inlet of the Caribbean Sea in Venezuela and Colombia, extending 75 miles (120 km) north-south and reaching a maximum east-west width of 150 miles (240 km). It is bounded by the Guajira Peninsula on the west and by the Paraguan Peninsula on the east and is connected with Lake Maracaibo to the south through Tablazo Bay and a channel 35 feet (11 m) deep near the city of Maracaibo. The gulf is surrounded by lowlands with little or no cultivation. It is a shipping route for the petroleum-producing Lake Maracaibo region.