Falcón

For other uses, see Falcón (disambiguation).
Falcón
State of Venezuela

Flag
Motto: Dios y Federación
(English: God and Federation)

Location within Venezuela
Country Venezuela
Created 1864[c]
Capital Coro
Government
  Governor Stella Lugo (20122016)
Area
  Total 24,800 km2 (9,600 sq mi)
Area rank 10th
  2.71% of Venezuela
Population (2011 census)
  Total 902,847
  Rank 11th
  3.45% of Venezuela
Time zone UTC-04:30
ISO 3166 code VE-I
Emblematic tree Cují yaque (Prosopis juliflora)
Website www.falcon.gob.ve
^[c] As Coro State; in 1874, it was renamed as Falcón State.
Cayo Sombrero, Morrocoy National Park, Falcón state.
Médanos de Coro, Falcón state.

Falcón State (Spanish: Estado Falcón, 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.[1] 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.[1] Farming mostly occurs in river valleys and mountainous areas, and includes maize, coconut, sesame, coffee and sugar cane.[1]

Coro, the state capitol and the Paraguaná Peninsula have had significant amounts of industrialization and growth.[1] 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[1] 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.[2]

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:[3]

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Falcón". Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed May 2010.
  2. Instituto Nacional de Estadistica, Caracas.
  3. "Resultado Básico del XIV Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2011 (Mayo 2014)" (PDF). Ine.gov.ve. p. 29. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
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Coordinates: 10°03′N 60°48′W / 10.05°N 60.8°W / 10.05; -60.8

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.