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VALENCIA

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 846 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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VALENCIA , a See also:

city of See also:Venezuela and See also:capital of the See also:state of See also:Carabobo, IiI m. by See also:rail W.S.W. of See also:Caracas, and 24 M. See also:direct (334 M. by rail) S. by E. of Puerto Cabello. Pop. (1894) 38,654. There is railway connexion with Caracas by the See also:Great Venezuela See also:line (See also:German) and with Puerto Cabello by the Puerto Cabello and Valencia line (See also:English), which crosses the N. range of the Maritime See also:Andes. There is also a steamboat service on See also:Lake Valencia. The city is situated on the N.W. border of a lacustrine See also:plain occupied in great See also:part by Lake Tacarigua, or Valencia,' and nearly 2 M. from its western margin. It is beautifully situated in a large fertile valley between parallel ranges of the Maritime Andes, about 1625 ft. above See also:sea-level, and in the midst of See also:rich plantations and luxuriant tropical vegetation. The See also:climate is mild and pleasant, the temperature ranging from 66° to 87° F. i Lake Valencia occupies one of the so-called See also:Aragua valleys, enclosed between the parallel ranges of the Maritime Andes. It is 1348 ft. above the sea, is about 3o m. See also:long, has an See also:area of 216 sq. m., and a catchment See also:basin of 1782 sq. m., and lies partly in the state of Aragua. It includes a number of small islands, some inhabited, and receives the See also:waters of a See also:score of small streams from the surrounding mountains.with an See also:annual mean of 76°, and the rainfall being about the same as that of Caracas, or 23 to 30 in. Near Valencia on the Puerto Cabello railway are the See also:Las Trincheras thermal springs.

Among Valencia's public edifices and institutions are some See also:

good churches, the See also:government See also:palace, a university, a See also:national See also:college for See also:women, a normal school for men and a public library. Valencia was founded in 1555 and is older than Caracas. It was occupied for a See also:time in 1561 by Aguirre and his See also:band of out-See also:laws. At the beginning of the See also:War of See also:Independence it was made the capital of Venezuela, and the patriot See also:congress was in session there in 1812 when Caracas was destroyed by an See also:earthquake. It changed masters several times during the war, its most famous events being two successful defences in 1814 against See also:Spanish besieging forces. The See also:town suffered much in the war and from subsequent revolutions, but the remarkable productiveness of the surrounding districts and its advantageous commercial position ensured a prompt recovery from all reverses.

End of Article: VALENCIA

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