Arteries are muscular- and elastic- walled vessels that form a network to carry oxygen-rich ~blood~ from the |heart| to all parts of the body. Smaller branches called |arterioles| extend from the arteries and connect to even smaller branches called metarterioles which deliver the ~blood~ to the |capillaries|. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between ~blood~ and body cells takes place through the thin walls of the |capillaries|.
