Orinoco River is one of the longest rivers in South America at 2,140 kilometres (1,330 mi). Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers 880,000 square kilometres (340,000 sq mi), with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the world by discharge volume of water. The Orinoco River and its tributaries are the major transportation system for eastern and interior Venezuela and the llanos of Colombia. The Orinoco River is extremely diverse, and hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna.
Since 1988, the local government of Ciudad Guayana has conducted a swim race in the rivers Orinoco and Caroní, with up to 1,000 competitors. Since 1991, the "Paso a Nado Internacional de los Rios Orinoco-Caroní" has been celebrated every year, on a Sunday close to 19 April. Worldwide, this swim-meet has grown in importance, and it has a large number of competitors.
The route of three thousand one hundred meters (3,100 meters), of the mighty rivers Orinoco and Caroní, from the Rivera de los Barrancos de Fajardo, Monagas State, to the Malecón de San Félix, State of Bolívar