Angel Falls

The world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, plunging 979 m from a tabletop tepui.

The local Pemón people call it Kerepakupai Merú, which means "waterfall of the deepest place". Its English and Spanish names come from Jimmie Angel, an American pilot who flew over it in 1933. Canaima National Park, home to many tabletop mountains called tepuis, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the falls are one of Venezuela's most famous sights.

How tall is it really?

The official height comes from a survey by an expedition led by the American journalist Ruth Robertson in 1949, which was also the first to reach the foot of the falls. The 979-metre total is mostly the main free fall of 807 metres, plus about 400 metres of sloping cascades and rapids and one more small plunge below. Because the measurements were taken from far away, some experts still debate whether Angel Falls or South Africa's Tugela Falls is taller overall, but Angel Falls holds the record for the longest single drop.

The pilot and the plane

Jimmie Angel first flew over the falls on 16 November 1933 while searching for valuable ore. In 1937 he came back and landed his small plane on top of Auyán-tepui, but its wheels sank into the marshy ground. Angel, his wife and two companions had to walk down the back of the mountain, a journey that took 11 days. The plane stayed on top for 33 years until a helicopter lifted it out, and it is now on display at the airport in Ciudad Bolívar.

Visiting today

Reaching the falls is an adventure. Visitors fly to Canaima camp and then travel up the rivers by boat with Pemón guides, usually between June and December when the water is deep enough. In the dry season the falls carry less water, and some of it turns into mist before reaching the bottom. A viewpoint on the trail is named after Aleksandrs Laime, a Latvian explorer who was the first recorded European to reach the base of the falls, in 1946.

On the globe

The model shows a long white ribbon of water plunging from the cliff of a tabletop tepui in Venezuela. Zoom in to watch the water fall from the flat mountaintop to the forest below.