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{{Short description|Tallest single drop waterfall in the world, Venezuela}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}{{Other uses}}
{{Infobox waterfall
| alt_name = ''Salto Ángel<br/>Kerepakupai Vená''
| photo = SaltoAngel1.jpg
| photo_caption = Angel Falls, Bolívar State, Venezuela
| image_size =
280
| location = [[Auyán-tepui]], [[Canaima National Park]], [[Bolívar (state)|Bolívar State]], [[Venezuela]]
| map = Venezuela
| relief = 2
| map_caption = Location in Venezuela
| coordinates = {{coord|5|58|03|N|62|32|08|W|type:waterbody_scale:50000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| type = Plunges
| height = {{convert|979|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| height_longest = {{convert|807|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| number_drops = 2
| average_flow = 
| watercourse = Rio Kerepacupai Merú 
| world_rank = 1<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Angel Falls |date=17 November 2013 |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=22 May 2015 |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/24481/Angel-Falls}}</ref>
}}
[[File:Salto Churún Merú.JPG|thumb|Aerial view of Dragon Falls (Churún Merú), a waterfall 10 km south of Angel Falls at {{coord|5|52|32|N|62|32|07|W|type:waterbody_scale:50000|format=dms|display=inline}}|286x286px]]
'''Angel Falls '''  ({{langx|es|Salto Ángel}}; [[Pemon language|Pemon]]: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' or ''Parakupá Vená'')  is a [[waterfall]] in [[Venezuela]].
It is the [[List of waterfalls by height|world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall]], with a height of {{convert|979|m|ft}}, and a plunge of {{convert|807|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The waterfall drops over the edge of the [[Auyán-tepui]] mountain in the [[Canaima National Park]] ([[Spanish (language)|Spanish]]: Parque Nacional Canaima), a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]] in the [[La Gran Sabana|Gran Sabana]] region of [[Bolívar (state)|Bolívar State]]. The height figure, {{convert|979|m|abbr=on}}, mostly consists of the main plunge but also includes about {{convert|400|m|ft}} of sloped cascade and [[rapids]] below the drop and then a {{convert|30|m|ft|-1|adj=mid|-high}} plunge downstream of these [[scree|talus]] rapids.

The falls are along a fork of the Río Kerepacupai Merú which flows into the [[Churún River]], a tributary of the [[Carrao River]], itself a tributary of the [[Orinoco River]].

With regard to overall height, a revisited validation of waterfall measurements is not available, and there is still uncertainty whether Angel Falls or South Africa's [[Tugela Falls]] is the tallest (both measurements were taken at considerable distance from the two waterfalls).<ref name="worldwaterfalldatabase">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwaterfalldatabase.com/tallest-waterfalls/total-height/ |title=World's tallest waterfalls by total overall height| publisher=World Waterfall Database |accessdate=20 February 2013}}</ref>

==History==
===Etymology===
The waterfall has been known as Angel Falls since the mid-20th century; they are named after [[Jimmie Angel]], a U.S aviator, who was the first person to fly over the falls.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wigDAAAAMBAJ&q=%22plane+pilot+sights+highest+waterfall+in+world%22&pg=PA37 |title=Plane Pilot Sights Highest Waterfall in World |journal=Popular Science |date=April 1938 |page=37}}</ref> Angel's ashes were scattered over the falls on 2 July 1960.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jimmieangel.org/History.html |title=The History of Jimmie Angel |website=Jimmie Angel Historical Project |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100316040209/http://www.jimmieangel.org/history.html |archive-date=16 March 2010 }}</ref>

The common Spanish name ''Salto Ángel'' derives from his surname. In 2009, President [[Hugo Chávez]] announced his intention to change the name to the purported original indigenous [[Pemon]] term ("''Kerepakupai-Merú''", meaning "waterfall of the deepest place"), on the grounds that the nation's most famous landmark should bear an [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] name.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/21/chavez-renames-angel-falls-waterfall |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Hugo Chávez renames Angel Falls |first=Rory |last=Carroll |date=21 December 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref> Explaining the name change, Chávez reportedly said, "This is ours, long before Angel ever arrived there... this is indigenous land."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20125231.htm |title=Venezuela Chavez renames world's tallest waterfall |work=Thomson Reuters Foundation |date=17 September 2011 |archive-date=14 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114233959/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20125231.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=24 August 2016}}</ref> However he later said that he would not decree the change of name, but was only defending the use of Kerepakupai Vená.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/132168/chavez-dice-que-no-decreto-el-cambio-de-nombre-del-salto-angel/ |title=Chávez dice que no decretó el cambio de nombre del Salto del Ángel |work=Noticias24 |access-date=22 May 2015 |language=es |archive-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420063839/http://www.noticias24.com/actualidad/noticia/132168/chavez-dice-que-no-decreto-el-cambio-de-nombre-del-salto-angel/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Exploration===
During [[Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition|his expedition]] to find the fabled city of [[El Dorado]], [[Walter Raleigh]] described what was possibly a ''[[tepui]]'' (table top mountain), and he is said to have been the first European to view Angel Falls, although these claims are considered far-fetched.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thelostworld.org/characters/Character.htm |title=Walter Raleigh – Delusions of Guiana |website=The Lost World: The Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park and Angel Falls – Venezuela |archive-date=14 October 2002 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021014132320/http://thelostworld.org/characters/Character.htm |access-date=24 August 2016}}</ref> Some historians say that the first European to visit the waterfall was [[:es:Fernando de Berrío|Fernando de Berrío]], a Spanish explorer and governor from the 16th and 17th centuries.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Valeriano Sánchez Ramos |title=Farua: revista del Centro Virgitano de Estudios Históricos |journal=Farua: Revista del Centro Virgitano de Estudios Históricos |issn=1138-4263 |number=8 |year=2005 |pages=105–42 |url=http://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=2191980}}</ref> Other sources claim that the first [[Western world|Westerner]] to see the waterfall was the Spanish explorer [[Fèlix Cardona i Puig|Fèlix Cardona]] in 1927.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=La conquista del Orinoco.|last=Casanova_y_Solanas|first=Eugenio|year=2013}}</ref> 

They were not known to the outside world until American aviator [[Jimmie Angel]], following directions given by Cardona, flew over them on 16 November 1933 on a flight while he was searching for a valuable ore bed.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Jimmie Angel ... An Explorer |date=25 December 2008 |url=http://www.venezuelaexpats.net/people/foreigners-in-vzla/jimmie-angel.html |access-date=22 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005002457/http://www.venezuelaexpats.net/people/foreigners-in-vzla/jimmie-angel.html |archive-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{self-published inline|date=August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Angel |first=Karen |title=The Truth About Jimmie Angel & Angel Falls |year=2001 |url=http://www.venezuelanodyssey.blogspot.com/2007/11/jimmie-angel-and-angel-falls-truth.html |access-date=14 November 2009}}{{self-published inline|date=August 2023}}</ref>

Returning on 9 October 1937, Angel tried to land his [[Metal Aircraft Corporation Flamingo|Flamingo monoplane]] ''El Río Caroní'' atop [[Auyán-tepui]], but the plane was damaged when the wheels sank into the marshy ground. Angel and his three companions, including his wife Marie, were forced to descend the tepui on foot. It took them 11 days to make their way back to civilization by the gradually sloping back side, but news of their adventure spread and the waterfall was named Angel Falls in his honor. The name of the waterfall—"Salto del Ángel"—was first published on a Venezuelan government map in December 1939.<ref name="Karen">{{cite journal |last1=Angel |first1=Karen |title=Why the World's Tallest Waterfall is Named Angel Falls |journal=Terrae Incognitae |date=April 2012 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=16–42 |doi=10.1179/0082288412Z.0000000003 |s2cid=129635707 }}</ref>

Angel's plane remained on top of the tepui for 33 years before being lifted out by helicopter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cronicasangostureas.blogspot.com/2013/07/rescate-de-la-avioneta-de-jimmy-angel.html |title=Rescate de la avioneta de Jimmy Ángel |date=11 July 2013 |language=es}}{{self-published inline|date=August 2023}}</ref> It was restored at the Aviation Museum in [[Maracay|Maracay, Venezuela]] and now sits outdoors on the front of the [[Tomás de Heres Airport|airport at Ciudad Bolívar]] in Venezuela.

The first recorded European to reach the base of the falls was the [[Latvians|Latvian]] explorer [[Aleksandrs Laime]], also known as Alejandro Laime to the native Pemon tribe. He reached the falls alone in 1946. He was the first to reach the upper side of the falls in the late 1950s, by climbing up the back side, where the slope is not vertical.<ref name="Stavro">{{cite book |last=Stavro |first=Andris |year=1999 |title=Aleksandrs Laime un viņa zelta upe |edition=1st |isbn=9984071847}}{{pn|date=August 2023}}</ref> He also reached Angel's plane 18 years after the crash landing. On 18 November 1955, [[1991 Latvian independence and democracy referendum|Latvian independence day]], he announced to the Venezuelan newspaper ''[[El Nacional (Caracas)|El Nacional]]'' that this stream without any known local name should be named after a Latvian river, [[Gauja River|Gauja]]. In the same year, this name was registered in the National Cartographic Institution of Venezuela<!--(Dirección de Cartografía Nacional)-->. There is no convincing proof that the indigenous Pemon people had named the local streams, as Auyán-tepui was considered to be a dangerous place and was not visited by the indigenous people.<ref name="Stavro" /> However, lately{{when|date=February 2025}} the Pemon name Kerep is used as well. Laime was also the first to clear a trail that leads from the [[Churún River]] to the base of the falls. On the way is a viewpoint commonly used to capture the falls in photographs. It is named Mirador Laime ("Laime's Viewpoint" in [[Spanish language|Spanish]]) in his honor. This trail is used now mostly for tourists, to lead them from the [[Isla Ratón]] camp to the small clearing.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The official height of the falls was determined by a survey carried out by an expedition organized and financed by [[Americans|American]] journalist [[Ruth Robertson]] on 13 May 1949.<ref name=Karen/><ref name="Robertson">{{cite book |title=Worlds to Explore |last=Robertson |first=Ruth |publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] |isbn=978-1-4262-0044-1 |chapter=Jungle Journey to the World's Highest Waterfall |date=April 2007 |editor=Jenkins, Mark |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780792254874 }}{{pn|date=August 2023}}</ref> Robertson's expedition, which began on 23 April 1949, was also the first to reach the foot of the falls.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Polk |first1=Milbry |last2=Tiegreen |first2=Mary |title=Women of Discovery: A Celebration of Intrepid Women who Explored the World |date=2001 |publisher=Scriptum Editions |isbn=978-1-902686-17-2 |page=189 }}</ref> The first known attempt to climb the face of the cliff was made in 1968 during the wet season. It failed because of slippery rock. In 1969, a second attempt was made during the dry season. This attempt was thwarted by lack of water and an overhang {{convert|400|ft|m|order=flip}} from the top. The first climb to the top of the cliff was completed on 13 January 1971. The climbers, a four-man team led by American mountaineer George Bogel, an electrical engineer from [[Pittsburgh]], required nine and a half days to ascend and one and a half days to rappel down.<ref>David Nott, ''Angels Four'', Prentice-Hall Inc. 1972 chronicles the first successful climb up the face of Auyantepui to the top of the falls.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=J. |first1=Hellman |last2=R. |first2=Slone |last3=J. |first3=Unkovic |title=GEORGE BOGEL 1944-1977 |journal=American Alpine Journal |date=1978 |volume=21 |issue=2 |page=674 |url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197867401/George-Bogel-1944-1977}}</ref>

==Tourism==
[[File:Lacascadamasbelladelmunto.jpg|thumb]]

Angel Falls is one of Venezuela's top tourist attractions, though a trip to the falls is a complicated affair. The falls are located in an isolated jungle. A flight from Maiquetia Airport, [[Puerto Ordaz and San Felix|Puerto Ordaz]], or [[Ciudad Bolívar]] is required to reach Canaima camp, the starting point for river trips to the base of the falls. River trips generally take place from June to December, when the rivers are deep enough for use by the [[Pemon]] guides. During the dry season (December to March), the volume of water is less than in other months.[[File:Angel falls panoramic 20080314.jpg|thumb|center|upright=3.5|Partly clouded view of Auyán-tepui and Angel Falls (centre) from Isla Raton camp, the photograph was taken at the end of the dry season]]

== Media ==
=== Cinema ===
Angel Falls was the main inspiration for the fictional Paradise Falls in [[Pixar]]'s 2009  [[Animation|animated]] film, ''[[Up (2009 film)|Up]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-05-27 |title=10 Things You May Have Missed About Disney And Pixar's Up |url=https://www.disney.my/article-10-things-you-may-have-missed-about-disney-and-pixars-up |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Disney Malaysia |language=en-MY}}</ref>

The American [[fantasy]]-[[romance film]] ''[[What Dreams May Come (film)|What Dreams May Come]]'' (1998), starring [[Robin Williams]], [[Cuba Gooding Jr.|Cuba Gooding Jr]], and [[Annabella Sciorra]], is set in [[Venezuela]] and shows Angel Falls.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Filming Location Matching "Angel Falls, Canaima National Park, Estado Bolívar, Venezuela" (Sorted by Popularity Ascending) |url=http://www.imdb.com/search/title/?locations=Angel+Falls,+Canaima+National+Park,+Estado+Bol%C3%ADvar,+Venezuela |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=IMDb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mukhopadhyay |first=Arka |date=2021-07-04 |title=Where Was What Dreams May Come Filmed? |url=https://thecinemaholic.com/where-was-what-dreams-may-come-filmed/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=The Cinemaholic |language=en-US}}</ref>

Angel Falls was used as a setting for a scene in the [[action film]] remake ''[[Point Break (2015 film)|Point Break]]'' (2015). Actors [[Édgar Ramírez|Edgar Ramirez]] and [[Luke Bracey]] are shown free-climbing the sheer rock face adjacent to the falls, then diving from the top; neither of these feats has ever been accomplished in real life.<ref>{{Citation |title=Rock Climbing Angel Falls |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2CkYBk0IM |access-date=2023-08-01 |language=en |archive-date=1 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801203333/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH2CkYBk0IM |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |id={{ProQuest|1738048725}} |title=From Caracas With Love |magazine=Vogue |volume=205 |issue=12 |date=December 2015 }}</ref>

In the film narrated by [[Lowell Thomas]], ''Seven Wonders of the World'' (1956), Angel Falls was included as one of the seven wonders.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seven Wonders of the World |url=https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/seven-wonders-of-the-world }}{{rs|date=August 2023}}</ref>

The 1990 film ''[[Arachnophobia (film)|Arachnophobia]]'' was partly set at Angel Falls.<ref>{{Citation |last=Marshall |first=Frank |title=Arachnophobia |date=1990-07-18 |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099052/?ref_=adv_li_tt |type=Comedy, Horror, Thriller |access-date=2023-08-03 |others=Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman |publisher=Hollywood Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Interscope Communications}}</ref>

===Books===
In 1997, [[Folco Quilici]] wrote ''Cielo verde'' a novel – long present in the bestseller list in Italy. Spanish writer [[Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa]] covered Jimmie Angel's adventures in his 1998 novel ''Ícaro''— {{ISBN|9788408025023}}, later translated into several foreign languages.  Another book that details how Angel Falls got its name is ''Truth or Dare: The Jimmie Angel Story'', written by Jan-Willem de Vries {{ISBN|9781419673665}}. ''Angel Falls'' by [[Kathryn Casey]] (2023) is a historical fiction story inspired by the life of the photographer [[Ruth Robertson]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wgntv.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/655259826/bestselling-author-kathryn-casey-publishes-19th-book-angel-falls/|title=Bestselling Author Kathryn Casey Publishes 19th Book, Angel Falls|work=WGN-TV |date=September 12, 2023}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of waterfalls]]
*[[List of waterfalls by height]]

==References==
{{Reflist|35em}}

==External links==
{{commons and category-inline|Kerepakupai merú|Salto Angel}}
* [http://salto-angel.com/es Salto-angel.com]

{{Tepuis |Venezuela}}
{{World Heritage Sites in Venezuela|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Geography of Bolívar (state)]]
[[Category:Orinoco basin]]
[[Category:Rivers of Venezuela]]
[[Category:Waterfalls of Venezuela]]
[[Category:Plunge waterfalls]]
[[Category:Canaima National Park]]