Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela

For other places with the same name, see Valencia (disambiguation).

Valencia
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Capital industrial de Venezuela" (English:"Industrial capital of Venezuela)
City of Valencia in Carabobo State
Valencia City of Valencia in Carabobo State
Coordinates: 10°10′51.6″N 68°00′14.4″W
Country	Venezuela
State	Carabobo
Municipality	Valencia
Founded	March 25, 1555
Area
• Total	1,578 km2 (609 sq mi)
Elevation	520 m (1,710 ft)
Population (2010)
• Total	2,227,165
• Density	1,475/km2 (3,820/sq mi)
Demonym	Valenciano(a)
Time zone	VST (UTC-4:30)
• Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC-4:30)
Postal code	2001
Area code(s)	0241
Website	alcaldiadevalencia.gov.ve
^* The area and population figures are for the municipality

Valencia (sometimes uses the name Nueva Valencia del Rey) is the capital city of Carabobo State, and the third largest city of Venezuela.

The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. The population of Nueva Valencia del Rey reached some 1.5 million in the year 2003, and it is expected to grow dramatically in the years to come. Caracas lies some 180 km away to the East.

Valencia, as a city (not to be confused with the homonym municipality Valencia), is integrated by five (5) municipalities of Carabobo State:

• Valencia municipality
• Naguanagua Municipality
• San Diego Municipality
• Los Guayos Municipality
• Libertador Municipality.

History

Guzmán Blanco square, 1877

The area was already inhabited in the fourth millennium BC. The inhabitants were mainly hunters and gatherers who might have already developed some elementary forms of agriculture. Between AD 200 and 1000 an important settlement was formed close to Lake Valencia.

Around the year 1000, waves of migration started to come from the Orinoco river area, probably arriving along the Pao river. The fusion of previous settlements with these new populations gave rise to the Vacencioide culture.

People in the area belonged mostly to Arawak groups. They were hunters and gatherers who also fished and grew maize and cotton. Their houses were built on artificial mounds in valleys that were often flooded by water from Lake Valencia.

Archaeologists have found mostly pottery from that time. Valencia was founded by Captain Alonso Díaz Moreno on March 25, 1555 – as the locals are proud of reminding visitors, eight years before Caracas. It was the first Spanish settlement in central Venezuela and its official name was Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Nueva Valencia del Rey. The encomiendas put the Indians living in the region under the control of the Spanish settlers. They started to displace the native population from the most fertile land, but they also started intermarrying with them.

Spanish conquistador Lope de Aguirre entered the city in 1561. In 1677 it was raided by French pirates, who burnt down its City Hall, thus destroying many very important documents about the early settlement of Venezuela. The German scientist Alexander von Humboldt visited the city on his trip through the Americas. He reported that at the time of his visit the city had around 6000 to 7000 inhabitants. On June 24, 1821 the battle of Carabobo was fought on the outskirts of the city, sealing the independence of Venezuela from imperial Spanish rule. In 1830 Valencia became capital of Venezuela after it separated from the Great Colombia. It stopped being capital soon thereafter and became once more the seat of the national government in 1858 after the Monagas was toppled and the March Revolution took place. On November 15, 1892 the University of Valencia, future University of Carabobo, was founded. When dictator Juan Vicente Gómez died in 1935, Nueva Valencia del Rey was a small city. The oil revenues and industrialization that came along lead to a population explosion. Many immigrants, firstly from Europe and increasingly then from other Latin American countries, chose Nueva Valencia del Rey as the place to live in Venezuela.

The first direct election of local governments (including those of the mayor and of the state's government) took place in 1988.

Valencia was one of the places where Hugo Chávez's proposal for the constitutional reform was rejected with the highest proportion of votes: around 59.21% of the population rejected it.

Geography

Valencia is located in a central valley, surrounded by a mountain range called the Coastal Range (Cordillera de la Costa). On the eastern outskirts of the city lies Lake Valencia, Venezuela's second largest lake. To the West and Northeastern part there are mountains. The South is an extension of the Venezuelan grasslands, the Llanos.

The elevation of the city is 520 meters (1,700 ft).

Climate

Valencia, due to its latitude and closeness to the sea, has relatively warm temperatures. The yearly average is 26 °C (23,3 °C under shade, maximum of 32,6 °C and minium of 18,5 °C). The city is located 479 metres over sea level. The alisian winds refreshen the temperate in the afternoon.

Environment

The Cabriales river has problems with pollution. The most important waste disposal centre of Greater Valencia and Carabobo is located southwest of Valencia proper, in the Municipio Libertador, in La Guásima. There waste is basically burnt without any special equipment.

Demography

Prebo Neighborhood, San José's Parish

Valencia at night

City of Valencia Municipalities

Municipality	Capital	Est. population	Km²	Population Density (hab./km²)	Parishes
Libertador	Tocuyito	182.244	558	320,62	Tocuyito, Independencia
Los Guayos	Los Guayos	166.421	73	2210,15	Los Guayos
Naguanagua	Naguanagua	174.250	188	767,70	Naguanagua
San Diego	San Diego	171.841	106	727,87	San Diego
Valencia	Valencia	1.532.409	623	1348,2	Candelaria, Catedral, El Socorro, Miguel Peña, Rafael Urdaneta, San Blas, San José, Santa Rosa, Negro Primero

Law and government

The City of Valencia is made of five (5) municipalities: Valencia Municipality, Naguanagua Municipality, San Diego Municipality, Los Guayos Municipality and Libertador Municipality.

Venezuelan law specifies that every municipal government have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the mayor of every municipality, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven councillors for each municiplality, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal comptroller's office, which oversees accountancy. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality.

Media

The main newspapers of the region are El Carabobeño and Notitarde, with a circulation going from 75000 to 92000.

The main TV Stations in Valencia are NCtv (channel 36 UHF) and DAT tv(Channel 30 UHF)

The private Digital Newspaper of Carabobo State is ACN - Agencia Carabobeña de Noticias(Carabobo's News Agency)

Education

The main centre of higher education in Nueva Valencia del Rey is the University of Carabobo, one of the most important public universities of Venezuela. The direction of the University and some administratives centres are located in the Valencia Municipality, whereas most of the buildings are currently in the Naguanagua of the same city.

Other institutions of higher education are the Universidad Tecnológica del Centro (UNITEC), Universidad Arturo Michelena (UAM), Universidad José Antonio Páez (UJAP), Universidad Experimental Politécnica de las Fuerzas Armadas (UNEFA) in La Isabelica, the Instituto Nacional de Capacitación y Educación (INCE) in Los Colorados, La Isabelica and La Quizanda.

Sites of interest

Art centers

Atheneum of Valencia

• Valencia Atheneum: a cultural centre where concerts and art exhibitions regularly take place.
• Municipal Theater of Valencia: It is the main theatre of Carabobo. It was finished in 1895 following the architecture of French theatres of the time.
• Theater Dr. Alfredo Celis Perez: It is the main amphitheater of the University of Carabobo. A much larger events fecility called Aula Magna is currently under construction.

Museums

• Páez House: this is a house once owned by one of the first presidents of Venezuela and leader of the independence wars, José Antonio Páez. It is currently a small museum and has a historical library. Some of the paintings with scenes depicting independence wars were made by Pedro Castillo, the grandfather of a well-known Venezuelan painter, Arturo Michelena.
• Celis House: this is a colonial house built in 1765. It is the seat of the Museum of Art and History and the Lisandro Alvarado Foundation.
• Museum of History and Anthropology: this museum contains an important collection of the pre-Columbian and colonial heritage of Venezuela.
• Iturriza Palace or Quinta Isabela: this has the Museum of the city (Museo de la Ciudad).
• 'Museum of Culture:' this museum holds different temporary arts exhibitions.

Parks and points of interest

Children at the Fernando Peñalver Park learn traffic rules

• Negra Hipólita Park and Fernando Peñalver Park: a large park with gardens, concert halls, cultural centres and facilities for children to learn traffic rules and celebrate parties. The park surrounds the stream of the Cabriales River in the Northern part of the city. The whole park is divided: the east side is the Negra Hipólita Park, and the west side is the Fernando Peñalver Park.
• Valencia's Metropolitan Park (Parque Metropolitano): a park on the Central part of the city with horses and large bird cages with a large variety of parrots. The park surrounds the stream of the Cabriales River in the Central part of the city.
• Humboldt Park (Parque Humboldt): a park on the Southern part of the city where the Museum of Culture is located. The park surrounds the stream of the Cabriales River in the Southern part of the city.
• Recreational Southern Park (Parque Recreacional Sur): a park on the Southern part of the city where the Bull Ring is located, but also an area used for many concerts and national and international festivals and exhibitions.
• Valencia's Aquarium (Acuario de Valencia): This is the largest aquarium in Latin America, it contains also a serpentarium, a terrarium and a small zoo with lots of animals endemic to Venezuela. It also has some facilities for children to play.
• Plaza Monumental de Valencia: this is second largest bullring in the world and is located right in Valencia's Recreational Southern Park.
• Cerro Casupo Municipal Park: a natural park on the mountains, some 693 hectares big, to the Northwest of the city.

Libraries

The main public library in Valencia is the Manuel Feo La Cruz Public Library, located in the city centre and open 7 days a week. Other public libraries are the Public Library of the Athenaeum of Valencia and the Morita Carillo Public Library, in the San Blas civic parish.

Manuel Feo La Cruz Public Library

Transportation

The city is well connected with the rest of the country by a network of highways and roads maintained by INVIAL.

• Valencia counts with a modern subway system, Metro de Valencia. The first stage is already functioning, covering seven stations from the Southern part of the city to the downtown area. More stations are under construction and more lines are in planning stage.
• Buses are the main means of mass transportation. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the VALBUS. The traditional system runs a variety of bus types, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues:

• bus; large buses.
• buseta; medium size buses.
• microbus or colectivo; vans or minivans.

• The airport, Arturo Michelena International Airport (VLN), is the nation's third busiest. It is served by all major Venezuelan airlines.

Metro de Valencia

Notable natives

• Alvaro Espinoza
• Arturo Michelena
• Braulio Salazar
• Felix Hernandez
• Francisco Cervelli
• Francisco González Guinán
• Guillermo Tell Villegas
• Henderson Alvarez
• Renny Ottolina
• Roger Cedeno

Twinning

Valencia is twinned with:

City	Country	State / Region
Naples	Italy	Campania
Valencia	Spain	Valencian Community
Sibiu	Romania	Sibiu County
Plovdiv	Bulgaria	Plovdiv Province

External links

• Valencia at Venezuelatuya.com
• Turistic Guide of Valencia
• The Tramways of Valencia
• Carabobo's News Agency