The Guiana Shield is a 1.7 billion-year-old Precambrian geological formation in northeast South America that forms a portion of the northern coast. The Guiana Shield underlies Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana as well as parts of Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil. The higher elevations on the shield are called the Guiana Highlands, which is where the table-like mountains called tepuis are found. Tepui in the words of the local indigenous people means House of the Gods, and these mountains have also become a subject of faith for the natives. The Guiana Highlands are also the source of some of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls such as Angel Falls, Kaieteur Falls and Kuquenan Falls.