Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital, the center of the Greater Caracas Area, and the largest city of Venezuela. Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range (Cordillera de la Costa). Terrain suitable for building lies between  above sea level. The valley is close to the Caribbean Sea, separated from the coast by a steep high mountain range, Cerro El Ávila; to the south there are more hills and mountains.