One of the most remote places in Michigan that I have lived for over a month is Venezuela. Although I was born in Winfield, Illinois, I grew up and lived in Venezuela most of my life. My parents served as missionaries in Puerto Ordaz, located in the northeast, and in Caracas, the capital, for fifteen years (1988 to 2003). My grandparents, now retired, were missionaries in Venezuela for forty years. In 2004, when I was eleven years old, I went to my first American school here in Grand Rapids. After a year of fundraising, my family moved to Italy. I repeated fifth grade and finished high school at an international school in Mestre, Italy. After that, I attended a boarding school in southern Germany for my secondary education. Right now, my parents and younger brothers are at home in Italy. Even though Italy is the furthest country from Michigan, I decided to write about five important geological features of Venezuela, as well as geologic history and current geology. First of all, one of the largest geological features in South America is the Andes Mountains. The Andes are a major mountain range in Venezuela. The Andes is the longest mountain range in the world. To be precise, the mountain range is 4,500 miles long and 500 miles wide (Andes). The Andes extend along the west coast of South America and pass through several countries including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The average altitude of the Andes is 13,000 feet. You might not think it, but in some places in the Andes there is snow and even glaciers. Mount Aconcagua, Argentina, is the highest point in the Andes, at 22,841 feet above sea level. The Himalayan Mountains are the only other mountains that are taller than ...... middle of paper ...... ed Learning. (nd). Venezuela. Accessed November 13, 2013 from http://www.enchantedlearning.com/southamerica/venezuela/Geology and Mineral Resource Assessment of the Venezuelan Guyana Shield. (nd). USGS. Accessed November 12, 2013, from http://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/2062/report.pdfThe Andes Mountains. (nd). - Windows on the Universe. Accessed November 25, 2013 from http://www.windows2universe.org/geography/andes.htmlThe Orinoco River. (nd). How things work. Accessed November 23, 2013, from http://geography.howstuffworks.com/south-america/the-orinoco-river.htmU.S. Geological Survey. (nd). Mud volcanoes of the Orinoco Delta, eastern Venezuela. Accessed November 13, 2013, from http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70023450World Atlas. (nd). Lake Maracaibo. Accessed November 19, 2013 from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/lakemaracaibo.htm