Angel Falls

Angel Falls (Spanish: Salto Ángel; Pemon: Körepakupai Vená) is a waterfall in Venezuela.

It is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 metres (3,212 ft), and a plunge of 807 m (2,648 ft). The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyán-tepui mountain in the Canaima National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Canaima), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Gran Sabana region of Bolívar State. The height figure, 979 m (3,212 ft), mostly consists of the main plunge but also includes about 400 metres (1,300 ft) of sloped cascade and rapids below the drop and then a 30-metre-high (100 ft) plunge downstream of these talus rapids.

The falls are along a fork of the Río Körepa which flows into the Churún River, a tributary of the Carrao River, itself a tributary of the Orinoco River.

With regard to overall height, a revisited validation of waterfall measurements is not available, and there is still uncertainty whether Angel Falls or South Africa's Tugela Falls is the tallest (both measurements were taken at considerable distance from the two waterfalls).

History

Etymology

The waterfall has been known as Angel Falls since the mid-20th century; they are named after Jimmie Angel, a U.S. aviator, who was the first person to fly over the falls 16 November 1933. Angel's ashes were scattered over the falls on 2 July 1960.

The common Spanish name Salto Ángel derives from his surname. In 2009, President Hugo Chávez announced his intention to change the name to the purported original indigenous Pemon term ("Kerepakupai-Merú", meaning "waterfall of the deepest place"), on the grounds that the nation's most famous landmark should bear an indigenous name.