Los Monjes Archipelago

The Los Monjes islands, a federal dependency of Venezuela, are located to the northwest of the Gulf of Venezuela, 34.8 km off the coast of Paraguaná Peninsula, at the border between Colombia and the Venezuelan state of Zulia.

The islands consist of rocks rising steeply out of the sea, without any beaches or natural landing. The Venezuelan Navy maintains a base on El Sur, where it constructed a pier. The islands have no natural resources and must be supplied from the mainland. Fishing is the main activity around the islands, usually by fishing boats making the short trip from the Paraguaná Peninsula in Venezuela.

There are three islands or island groups, with a total area of 0.2 km²:
*Monjes del Sur (coord|12|22|N|70|54|W) consists of the two largest islands, connected by an artificial dam. The southern of the two islands reaches a hight of 70 m and has a lighthouse.
*Monje del Este (coord|12|24|N|70|51|W), a small rock 5.3 km northeast of Monjes del Sur, reaches a height of 43 m
*Monjes del Norte (coord|12|30|N|70|55|W), is 12.3 km NNE of Monjes del Este, and consists of five small rocks, the largest one of which reaches a height of 41 m.

External links

* [http://www.hfdx.org/Monjes/monjes1.html photographs and information material]
* [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub148/148sec03.pdf nautical information (Sailing Directions)]
* [http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi/landsat.pl?path=7&row=51&x=512&y=2105&sub=main_page&n=0&t=321 NASA satellite images]