Gulf of Paria
Gulf of Paria, inlet of the Caribbean Sea, lying between the Venezuelan coast (including the mountainous Paria Peninsula) and Trinidad. Extending about 100 miles (160 km) east-west and 40 miles (65 km) north-south, it is linked with the Caribbean to the north by the strait called the Dragon’s Mouths and with the Atlantic to the south by the Serpent’s Mouth (both roughly 10 miles [16 km] wide). It receives the San Juan River and several arms of the Orinoco River delta, including the Caño Mánamo. Ports along the gulf, including San Fernando and Port of Spain (Trinidad) and Güiria, Irapa, and Pedernales (Venezuela), handle shipments of petroleum, iron ore, bauxite, lumber, and agricultural products. Christopher Columbus, on his third voyage (1498), probably first sighted South America when he sailed into the Gulf of Paria.