Archipiélago de Los Roques National Park

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Los Roques Archipelago National Park (Spanish: Parque nacional Archipiélago de Los Roques) is a national park and marine protected area in the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela. It was established on 8 August 1972 during the presidency of Rafael Caldera and encompasses the Los Roques Archipelago, an extensive coral atoll measuring approximately 36 kilometres (22 mi) from west to east and 24.6 kilometres (15.3 mi) from north to south, made up of about 50 islands and some 292 cays and shoals. The park covers 221,120 hectares of land and sea, making it the largest marine park in the entire Caribbean. The archipelago lies in the Leeward Antilles of the Lesser Antilles, almost due north of the cities of Caracas and La Guaira.

The only island with permanent population is Gran Roque, with an area of 1.7 square kilometres (0.66 sq mi) and around 1,200 inhabitants. Other islands and cays of touristic importance include Francisquí, Crasquí, Madrisquí, Pirata, Fernando, Noronquí and Dos Mosquises.

The park contains one of the most diverse and best-preserved coral reef systems in the Caribbean Sea. The main constraint on tourism development, besides the strict commercial controls imposed by its national park status, is the lack of rivers and other permanent fresh water sources.

About 90% of the lobsters consumed in Venezuela come from Los Roques. Since the 1990s, fishing has been displaced by tourism as the principal economic activity.

The highest point in the park rises just 130 m above sea level. The southern portion of the archipelago reaches depths of up to 1,700 metres (5,600 ft), with progressively shallower levels towards the north, where average depth does not exceed 15 metres (49 ft).

內容改寫自 Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。照片來自 Wikimedia Commons.