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MARACAIBO (sometimes MARACAYBO)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 667 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MARACAIBO (sometimes MARACAYBO) , a See also:city and seaport of See also:Venezuela and See also:capital of the See also:state of Zulia (formerly Maracaibo), on the See also:west See also:shore of the broad channel or See also:neck which connects See also:Lake Maracaibo with the Gulf of Venezuela, or Maracaibo, about 25 M. from the mouth of the channel opening into the latter. Pop. (1889), 34,284; (1905), 49,817; there is a considerable See also:German See also:element in the vicinity. The best residential suburb, Haticos, extends along the lake shore toward the See also:south. The city is provided with tramways, See also:telephone service and electric See also:lighting, but the See also:water See also:supply and drainage are inferior. The most important buildings are the executive's See also:residence. the legislative See also:chambers, the municipal See also:hall, the Baralt See also:theatre, the See also:prison, the See also:market, a See also:hospital and six churches. The city also has a school of arts, a public library, and a public See also:garden. In colonial times Maracaibo had a famous See also:Jesuits' See also:college (now gone) and was one of the educational centres of See also:Spanish See also:America; the city now has a See also:national college and a nautical school. The See also:industries include See also:shipbuilding, and the manufacture of See also:saddlery and other See also:leather products, bricks and See also:tile, See also:rum, See also:beer, See also:chocolate and coco-See also:nut oil. Maracaibo is chiefly known, however, as one of the See also:principal commercial centres and See also:shipping ports on the See also:northern See also:coast of South America. The See also:bar at the entrance to Maracaibo channel does not admit vessels See also:drawing more than 12 ft., but there is a See also:depth of 30 ft. inside and near the city. See also:Steam communication is maintained on the Catatumbo and Zulia See also:rivers to Villamizar, and on the Escalante to See also:Santa Cruz.

The principal exports from Maracaibo are See also:

coffee, hides and skins, See also:cabinet and dye-See also:woods, See also:cocoa, and See also:mangrove bark, to which may be added See also:dividivi, See also:sugar, See also:copaiba, gamela and See also:hemp See also:straw for See also:paper-making, and fruits. In 1906, 26% of the coffee exports was of Colombian origin. Maracaibo was founded in 1571 by Alonso See also:Pacheco, who gave it the name Nueva See also:Zamora. Up to 1668 the entrepbt for the inland settlements was a station named See also:Gibraltar at the See also:head of the lake, but the destruction of that station by pirates in that See also:year transferred this valuable See also:trade to Maracaibo. The city did not figure actively in the See also:War of See also:Independence until 1821 (See also:Jan. 28), when the See also:province declared its independence and sought an See also:alliance with See also:Colombia. This brought to an end the See also:armistice between See also:Bolivar and Morillo, and thenceforward the city experienced all the changing fortunes of war until its final See also:capture by the revolutionists in 1823.

End of Article: MARACAIBO (sometimes MARACAYBO)

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