Carabobo
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Carabobo is one of the 23 states (estados) of Venezuela, located in the north of the country, about 2 hours by car from Caracas. The capital city of this state is Valencia, which is also the country's main industrial center. The state covers a total surface area of 4,650 km² and, in 2007, had an estimated population of 2,227,000. [1]
On June 24, 1821, the Battle of Carabobo was fought here, it was a decisive battle in the war of independence from Spain, which resulted in victory for the independence fighters, led by Simón Bolívar.
Geography
Administrative regions
Carabobo has 14 municipalities:
The municipalities are made up of one or more civic parishes. Carabobo has a total of 38 parishes.
Terrain and soil
Around 75% of the region is covered by mountains that make up part of Venezuela's Cost Mountain Range. The highest peaks are found on the North and West of the state and South of the Valencia Lake.
The Cobalongo or Caobal peak is the highest point of the state, at 1990 metres above sea level.
There is a central low plain around the Valencia Lake and towards the South, where Venezuela's Llanos start.
There is a large amount of anticlinals, synclinals, diaclases, fractures and faults. One of the most important is the one of the Victoria, South of Valencia. This area shows a moderate tectonic activity.
Mountains have very steep slopes. These can be over 80%. On the plains slopes are less than 1%. In the Tocuyito area slopes can reach 5%.
There are a group of small islands off Puerto Cabello. The main ones are Isla Larga, Isla Santo Domingo, Isla Alcatraz and Isla del Rey. Isla Larga is the largest one and it is 1855 metres long. It makes part of the San Esteban National Park.
There are also a couple of islands on the Valencia Lake. Some more have disappeared following the increase in the sea level since the seventies of the XX century. Isla del Burro (Donkey Island) is the largest island of the lake.
Carabobo's soils are very good for the agriculture. Entisoles soilds predominate (above all Fluvents and Orthents). There are also threats of vertisoles with suborders of Usterts.
Fauna and Flora
Fauna
The following are some of the most typical wild animals in Carabobo:
Birds: bengalí (Sporophila bouvronides), chirulí (Carduelis psaltria), different types of humming birds, guacharaca (Ortalis ruficauda), picoplata (Ramphocelus carbo)
Mammals: peccaries, agoutis, deers, rabipelados, pumas (Felis concolor)
Reptiles: green iguanas, mapanares (Bothrops atrox), tigras mariposa (Bothrops venezuelensis), Boas constrictor. There are also coast crocodiles (Crocodylus acutus) under threat.
Flora
Carabobo has a typical tropical vegetation. Among others, there are Prosopis, apamates (Tabebuia rosea), camorucos, mahogany, cedars, guamos, Carabobo palm trees, Samanea saman, among others.
On the coast there mangroves like the red Rhizophora mangle as well as coconut trees (Cocoloba uvifera).
Environment
The Valencia Lake as well as several main rivers show high levels of pollution. A large part of residual water gets poured into them without any processing. The Valencia Lake, still in the middle of the twentieth century a place where people could bathe, is very polluted now. There have been different projects for improving the quality of its waters, but little progress has been done. Sewage regulations are often ignored. There are some processing plants in the area of Los Guayos, but this is far from optimal and does not cover all possible flows into the Valencia Lake.
There are also many unofficial rubbish depots that do not comply with international standards.[2] The rapid demographic growth has lead to the loss of large forest and agricultural areas. Even if many regions around the Valencia Lake have been officially reserved for agricultural purposes, they are often being turned into urbanized zones.
History
Prehistory
First cultures
The cultural centre of what would become Venezuela was located around the Valencia Lake. The native Americans in the region were hunters, gatherers, but also fishers and farmers. Many petroglyphs and ceramic rests remain from this time.
The presence of humans since the fourth millenium has been documented in what is now Valencia. Other regions of Carabobo like Bejuma have shown even older archaeological evidence.
An important human settlement occurred around the Valencia Lake between 200 and 1000 A.D. People were already practicing some kind of agriculture at the time.
Second wave
At the end of the first millenium new populations started to arrive from the Orinoco region, probably via the El Pao River. [3][4] From the eighth century onwards the Orinoco populations started to merge with the older groups. This fusion produced what is known as Valenciode culture .[5] People lived in houses built on artificial mounds in the very fruitful valleys to the East and West of the Valencia Lake. They produced specially anthropomorphic scuptures.
Around the year 1200 the Valencoid culture reached the whole area of the Valencia Lake basin, the centre of Northern Venezuela and several islands in the Caribbean. The Indians would trade see products like the (Strombus gigas), salt (specially from the Paraguana Peninsula), turtles and fish from coral riffs. The trade took place in villages along the coast.
Taramainas, Tacariguas and other tribes inhabited the Valencia Lake region when the Europeans arrived. The different groups spoke mostly Arawac languages, but there were also several Carib groups.
The Indians grew maize, a typical product of Western South American cultures and also Manioc, a typical product of groups from the East. Many 'metates or grinding stones for maize as well as budares for the preparation of cassava remain from those times.
The Jirajara indians from Nirgua (now a region between Yaracuy and Carabobo), would go to the Valencia Lake and from there through the mountains to the Sea at the level of Borburata to get salt.[6]
European Conquest and Colonization
XV and XVI Centuries
Villegas founded the town of Borburata in 1548. He founded Valencia in the central plains of the area in 1555.
In 1577 and 1583 the region of Valencia went through a series of raids by Carib tribes coming from the Low Orinoco. The Spanish troops led by Garci-González repelled and persecuted them.
During the late XV and XVI centuries numerous pirate attacks by the French and the British affect the region. The town of Borburate would eventually be abandoned for a long period of time and the settlers be moved to Valencia, which was less likely to be raided as it was a day walk from the Caribbean.
Some of the attacks that happened in the XVI century were:
- 1555: French pirates attacked Borburata for 6 days
- 1564: British pirates lead by John Hawkins forced the Borburata settlers to trade.
- 1566: Lowell attacked Borburata
- 1567: French piates led by Nicolas Vallier invaded Borburata, which led people to abandon the town
- 1568: John Hawkins attacks again Borburata and forces smuggling.
XVII Century
In 1624 Indians to the Northwest of the Valencia Lake established the settlement of Guacara.
The attacks by English and French pirates continued during a great part of the century. In 1659 the English pirate Myngs plundered Puerto Cabello on a raid that had taken him to Cumaná and later Coro. [7] In 1677 Valencia was plundered by French pirates, who burnt down the Ayuntamiento or City Hall and destroyed most historical documents.
At the beginning of 1694, the governor of Venezuela, Francisco Berroterán, declared the growing Guacara, Los Guayos and San Diego doctrinas or towns of Indians.
XVIII Century
The Guipuzcoana company, a company organized by Basque entrepreneurs, is given the monopoly of trade between Venezuela and the rest of the world. In that context, the company built in 1730 the haven of what would become Puerto Cabello.
In 1800 German scientist Alexander von Humboldt explored the area in his South American trip.
Independence war
On 19 April 1810 Venezuela's independence was declared in the Casa de la Estrella, in Valencia. The Independence act was signed there the next day, on 5 of July.
Several very important battles between Spanish royalist forces and the pro-Independence troops under Bolivar took place in the Carabobo region.
The most important is the Battle of Carabobo, which was fought on 24 June 1821 and is considered as a key battle in the struggle for Venezuelan independence.
After the battle, what was left of the Spanish forces holed up in the San Felipe Castle in Puerto Cabello until 10 November 1823, when they surrendered and left Venezuela.
Post-colonial times and civil war period
On 6 May 1830 the Congress of Valencia takes place. There, Venezuela declared the independence from the Great Colombia and Valencia was declared Venezuela's capital.
On 29 March 1832 the central government created the province of Barquisimeto from a part of Carabobo.
In 1858, during the March Revolution, Valencia became again capital of Venezuela.
On 27 April 1881 the central government reforms the administrative divisions and creates the state of Carabobo, which at that time had a part that later was given to Yaracuy.
XX Century
On 31 of March 1941 the crew of several Italian and one German ship that had taken refuge on the Puerto Cabello bay put fire to their ships in order to prevent US troops from capturing them. A big fire in the haven of Puerto Cabello ensures. Several hundreds of marines are made prisoners. Many of the Italian ones finally would decide to settle down in Venezuela.
The first local elections for governors took place in 1988. Salas Römer became elected governor of Carabobo.
Economy
Industry
Among the most important industries Carabobo has food processing, textiles, galvanizing, chemical, petrochemical, metal-mechanic, car assembling, fuel, liquified gas, ceramics and paper factories. The industrial centres are located in the Southern part of Valencia and in Guacara. The state-own petrochemical and oil industrial complex of PDVSA (Complejo de Refinería El Palito) is located on the Western coast, close to Morón.
A major oil distribution centre is located in Yagua.
Service industry
The region is seat to important shopping and entertainment centres. Tourism, mainly local, plays an important role.
Agriculture
Carabobo has very productive soils for agriculture. There are important areas for farming in the North and South of the Valencia Lake. Unfortunately, high urbanization has led to the loss of very valuable lands that could otherwise be used for cultivations.
There are many farms of pigs and cows, specially to the South of the Valencia Lake and on the Western part of the state.
Tourism
- Valencia's historical centre and parks
- Valencia's Aquarium or Acuario de Valencia, which contains a large amount of endemic fish, as well as pink dolphins,
an insectarium and a small zoo with animals proper to Venezuela.
- Old part of Puerto Cabello
- Spanish fortress of Puerto Cabello (Solano Castle)
- Termal baths and spa centre of Las Trincheras (described by Alexander von Humboldt)
- Indian petroglyphs in Vigirima
- Patanemo beach
- Mountains of Canoabo region in the Western part of the state
- Colonial church of Los Guayos
- Colonial church of San Diego
- Abbey of St. Joseph, in Güigüe
- Campo Carabobo, Southwest of Valencia: a monument to the most important battle of independence
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Colonial church of Los Guayos -
Valencia Lake from the Abbey of Güigüe -
Fortín Solano in Puerto Cabello
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Education
The main university in the region is the University of Carabobo, with around 40000 students. There are also a series of private universities and colleges, like:
- Universidad José Antonio Páez.
- Universidad Tecnológica del Centro.
- Universidad Arturo Michelena
- Colegio Universitario Padre Isaías Ojeda (CUPIO)
- Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica de la Fuerza Armada (Núcleos en Valencia y Puerto Cabello).
- Universidad Nacional Experimental Simón Rodríguez (Decanato Valencia y Nucleo Canoabo)
- Instituto Universitario de Tecnología Valencia
- Universidad Santiago Mariño
- Universidad Alejandro Humboldt
Science and Technology
Among the main research centres Carabobo counts with FUNDACITE (Foundation for the Development of Technology in Carabobo)[8] as well as the University of Carabobo, specially the Faculty for Science and Technology.[9]
Culture
Folklore
Carabobo's folklore shows the influence of Native American, European and African components, as in most of Venezuela. The coastal regions have many traditions heavily influenced by African traditions. The mountain regions have rather European and Native American influences.
Drum-based music is very popular in the towns along the coast, from Morón to the Patanemo area. On the 23rd of June those towns celebrate the cult to San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). The village of Borburata is specially known for its festivities.
The town of Yagua has a Festivity of the Flowers (Fiesta de las Flores) starting with a procession to the nearby mountain, with a parade where the most different flower motives are shown through the village and the usual town celebrations.
Gastronomy
Carabobo's cuisine shares many components with other Venezuelan regions, like Cachapas, Arepas and Hallacas. There are also some specialities:
- Maize chicha
- Fried fish with tostones (fried salty banana) with rice and salad, specially served on the coast
- Orange and lemon cakes
- Panelas de San Joaquín produced in San Joaquín, a kind of bizcochito
Media
Newspapers
The main newspapers of the region are El Carabobeño and Notitarde.
Famous citizens of Carabobos
- Antonio Herrera Toro, painter
- Arturo Michelena, painter.
- Eugenio Montejo, poet (born in Caracas, but studied and lived specially in Valencia]]
- Luis Pérez Carreño, physician, creator of the Clinic for the Poor Children
- Vicente Gerbasi, poet.
See also
References
- ^ [[1] INE]
- ^ [Environmental report of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Carabobo]
- ^ Historia de Valencia
- ^ Historia precolombina en Notitarde
- ^ [[2] Cultura valencioide, Andrzej Antczak und Ma. Magdalena Mackowiak de Antczak]
- ^ [[3] Inter ethnic relationships of Venezuelan Indians (in Spanish)
- ^ [[4] Pirates in Venezuela]
- ^ Fundacite en Carabobo
- ^ [5] Faculty of Science and Technology
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