Venezuela’s Angel Falls has a total height of 979 metres, including the world’s highest uninterrupted drop of 807 metres.
The waterfall descends from Auyán-tepui, a flat-topped sandstone mountain in Canaima National Park. Water from the Churún River plunges from the plateau and continues through a series of smaller cascades before reaching the valley below.
The falls are named after Jimmy Angel, a United States aviator who landed on Auyán-tepui in 1937. Local Pemón people knew the waterfall as Kerepakupai Merú, a name increasingly used alongside Angel Falls.
The figures are sometimes confused: 979 metres is the full vertical height, while 807 metres describes the uninterrupted plunge. Angel Falls is therefore not simply an 807-metre waterfall overall.