Falcón

For other uses, see Falcón (disambiguation).

Cayo Sombrero, Morrocoy National Park, Falcón state.

Médanos de Coro, Falcón state.

Falcón State (Template:Lang-es, IPA: [esˈtaðo falˈkon]) is one of the 23 states (estados) that constitute Venezuela. The state capital is Coro.

Demographics and geography

Falcón State covers a total surface area of 24,800 km² and, in 2011 had a census population of 902,847. The Paraguaná Peninsula is connected to the rest of the state by the Médanos Isthmus. It borders with the ABC islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire on the north, Zulia state on the west, and both Lara state and Yaracuy state on the south. The island of Aruba is 27 km off the northern coast of Paraguaná Peninsula. The other two ABC Islands (Bonaire and Curaçao) are a little further off the coast of the state.

National parks

There are four national parks in the state: the Médanos de Coro National Park, the Cueva de la Quebrada del Toro, Morrocoy, and Juan Crisóstomo Falcón National Park.

History

The area was first explored in 1499 by Juan de la Cosa and Amerigo Vespucci, as part of an expedition overseen by Alonso de Ojeda. The State is named after President Juan Crisóstomo Falcón.

Infrastructure

The region is mostly coastal lowlands and the northern Andean mountain hills, and is mostly dry with limited agriculture production. Farming mostly occurs in river valleys and mountainous areas, and includes maize, coconut, sesame, coffee and sugar cane.

Coro, the state capitol and the Paraguaná Peninsula have had significant amounts of industrialization and growth. Large oil refineries such as the Paraguana Refinery Complex in the city of Punto Fijo are located on the southwestern shore of the Paraguaná Peninsula, and approximately two-thirds of Venezuela’s total oil production occurs in this area, much of which is exported via tanker ships that ship internationally through the port of Amuay.

Municipalities and municipal seats

Falcon State is subdivided into 25 municipalities (municipios), listed below with their administrative capitals, areas and populations.

Municipality	Administrative Capital	Area (km2)	Population Census 2011	Estimate 30 June 2016
Acosta	San Juan de los Cayos	757	19,045	21,272
Bolívar	San Luis	295	8,539	9,420
Buchivacoa	Capatárida	2,657	22,897	25,470
Cacique Manaure	Yaracal	190	10,874	12,149
Carirubana	Punto Fijo	684	239,444	276,251
Colina	La Vela de Coro	582	41,510	46,631
Dabajuro	Dabajuro	1,144	23,388	26,364
Democracia	Pedregal	2,602	9,944	11,293
Falcón	Pueblo Nuevo	1,577	46,215	55,196
Federación	Churuguara	1,084	29,251	33,138
Jacura	Jacura	1,842	11,232	12,492
Los Taques	Santa Cruz de Los Taques	231	41,579	45,681
Mauroa	Mene de Mauroa	1,904	24,920	27,488
Miranda	Santa Ana de Coro	1,805	211,537	239,961
Monseñor Iturriza	Chichiriviche	907	19,300	21,927
Palmasola	Palmasola	194	7,077	8,306
Petit	Cabure	1,025	13,725	15,316
Píritu	Píritu	1,168	10,628	11,685
San Francisco	Mirimire	346	11,030	12,219
Silva	Tucacas	537	32,193	41,826
Sucre	La Cruz de Taratara	840	5,781	6,379
Tocópero	Tocópero	83	5,519	6,010
Unión	Santa Cruz de Bucaral	975	15,660	17,441
Urumaco	Urumaco	752	8,349	9,044
Zamora	Puerto Cumarebo	619	33,210	37,868
Estado Falcón	Coro	24,800	902,847	1,030,827

The Paraguaná Peninsula comprises the municipalities of Carirubana, Los Taques and Falcón.

Population

Race and ethnicity

According to the 2011 Census, the estimated racial composition of the population was:

Racial composition	Est. Pop.	%
Mestizo	513,000	55.7
White	358,000	38.9
Black	44,000	4.8
Other race	6,000	0.6

See also

• States of Venezuela

External links

• "Falcón" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905.