Táchira


Táchira State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal.
Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19th century, Táchira State was where oil was discovered in Venezuela. Currently, its main economic revenues come from the production of coffee and pineapple. The cattle and agricultural activities play an important role in Táchira's economy. There is also a strong industrial sector which focuses on the processing of potato, sugar, milk, and cheese and the production of textiles.
Táchira State is one of the three Venezuelan Andean states. This state borders Zulia State to the north, Barinas and Mérida States to the east, Apure and Barinas States to the south, and Colombia to the west.

Etymology

Possible origins have been identified for the word Táchira, so one hypothesis states that the word is an indigenous word - based on Chibcha dialects - composed of three particles: ta, "farm", chi, "ours, which belongs to us" and the suffix rá, "element that expresses place, moment or position " with respect to the future. Thus, it would mean approximately a term like: "The land that will be our inheritance" or "The land of our inheritance".
On the other hand, it is believed that Táchira comes from a Chibcha word that comes from the term "tachure", which identifies a purple dye plant that has medicinal uses, known as tun-túa or sibidigua.

History

Spanish colonization

Populated mainly by groups of Timote, Cuica and Chibcha origin and as the Machirí, Umuquena and Táriba, the territory was extensively colonized in the sixteenth century.
With the foundation of San Cristóbal in 1561 by Captain Juan Maldonado Ordoñez y Villaquirán and La Grita in 1576 by Francisco de Cáceres, the agricultural exploitation of the area began, giving rise to the creation of new settlements. Since its foundation in 1576, La Grita was the capital of the province of La Grita, so the importance of this city was primitive in the region until the arrival of European trading companies to the state, which settled mainly in the more accessible and better communicated San Cristóbal.
In 1781 Juan Jose Garcia de Hevia led the Insurrection of the Communards of Los Andes, an anti-colonial revolutionary movement that sought to liberate Venezuela from the colonialism of the Spanish Empire, under the search for tax relief.
During the Venezuelan War of Independence, Simon Bolivar invaded the country through the Táchira in his Admirable Campaign.

18th and 19th centuries

Despite the progressive population growth of the region, its importance as Venezuela's main coffee producer for over two hundred years and the arrival of important European trading houses in the 19th century, the state remained relatively isolated from the rest of the country, with greater cultural influence received from Colombia for many years.
In a country that now depends on an economy based on oil income, the Táchira was privileged to have the first oil wells in Venezuela. At the end of the 19th century the national oil industry was born in the place now called La Petrolia.
On March 11, 1856, by decree of the Sovereign Congress of the Republic, the province of Táchira was created, formed with the cantons of San Cristóbal, San Antonio, Lobatera and La Grita. It was decided that the capital of the Province would be San Cristóbal and there the headquarters of all the organs of the Provincial Government were established, with a general population of 42,731 inhabitants.
The decree of the congress with date 11 of March was sanctioned by the National Executive day 14. General Jose Tadeo Monagas governed in the Country, who named to exercise the position of the Province, to the citizen Pascual Casanova, assuming the position of Governor of the State Táchira, this civil employee was named May 9 being sworn in its position the 1 of July 1856.
In 1881, during the second presidency of General Antonio Guzmán Blanco, the National Constitution was reformed, establishing that the Republic is composed of nine great States; one of them was the great State of the Andes, with the sections Trujillo, Mérida and Táchira, each section being divided into districts. The executive power of the Táchira section was exercised by General Rosendo Medina, who was replaced by General Francisco Alvarado, who was short-lived because President Guzmán Blanco imposed his delegate in the Táchira, General Marcos Rodríguez. The arrival of General Ignacio Andrade to the presidency of the Republic favored the State, since the first National Magistrate to weaken the political-administrative structures of former President Joaquín Crespo, influenced the Congress to achieve a new territorial division.
In 1895, the Gran Ferrocarril del Táchira was inaugurated, its construction began in 1893 with an extension of 105 kilometers between La Fría and Encontrados to mobilize the great crops of Tachira coffee.
In 1899, Cipriano Castro began the invasion of Venezuela from the State of Táchira with an armed group that confronted the regime of Ignacio Andrade. The successive presidents of Venezuela of Tachira origin initiate a process of greater integration of the state to the country with the construction of better communication routes and the implementation of control measures on the agricultural trade of the state that was almost totally exported.
Táchira State plays an important role in the early parts of Venezuelan history. This state produced more presidents than any other state during the 20th century: Cipriano Castro, Juan Vicente Gómez, Marcos Pérez Jiménez, Isaías Medina Angarita, Eleazar López Contreras, Carlos Andrés Pérez, and Ramón José Velásquez.
At the end of the 19th century, the people of Táchira State were tired of being left out of the main country's decisions. Consequently, a group of men decided to start a revolution called the "Revolución Restauradora". The idea was to take power and enhance the importance of the Andean Region in the country. It was led by Cipriano Castro and was successful.
Until the start of the 20th century, it was highly difficult traveling between Táchira State and others and even within the state itself. This condition led to cultural differences between the people of Táchira and those from the rest of Venezuela. The former were more influenced by Colombian culture, a more accessible region through Norte de Santander province.

Territorial History

  • In 1856 it was part of the province of Táchira within the territories of La Grita, Lobatera, San Antonio and San Cristóbal.
  • In 1863 it acquired the category of State, a fact that was ratified in 1864 when it became part, as an independent state, of the United States of Venezuela.
  • Between 1867 and 1868 it was part of the State of Zulia.
  • In 1881, when the country was divided into 9 states, it became part, together with Guzmán and Trujillo, of the Great State of Los Andes.
  • In 1899, the State of Los Andes was dissolved and Táchira recovered its status as an independent State, which it maintains to this day.
  • It has remained a state since 1899, although like other states in Venezuela it did not achieve full autonomy until the early 1990s.

    Geography

Táchira State is located in the Andes. Its highest point is La Montaña el Pulpito, which about 3995 meters above the sea level. Táchira's population is mainly located in San Cristóbal, the most important and prosperous city of this state. Tariba, Rubio, Colon, and La Grita are also other important urban centers in this state.
It has international borders with Colombia in the west and south with Norte de Santander Department. Zulia and Mérida States lie to the north, and Barinas and Apure States lie to the east.
The main peaks are:
  • The Pulpit: 3,912 m
  • Moor Battalion: 3,507 m
  • The Tama: 3,450 m
  • Moor La Negra: 3,450 m
  • Moor The Zumbador: 2,850 m
Crossed by the extension of the Andes mountain range from south to northwest, it divides the state into three different regions with a particular climate:
  • Mountain circuit; in this region are the main urban settlements in the state, the climate is temperate at high altitude8 in most of the region and high moorland at elevations above 3000 meters above sea level, with slight variations throughout the year, has a clear rainy season from May to October. The orography is uneven and influenced by the course of numerous rivers and streams that form valleys at the base of the mountains, as an example the capital city is settled on the valley of the river Torbes, this area represents most of the surface of the state. The main cities located in this area are San Cristóbal, Táriba, Michelena, Rubio and La Grita.
  • Pan-American circuit: this zone is located mainly in the north of the state, it shares the climatic characteristics of the southern region of the lake, with a tropical jungle climate, high rainfall and high temperatures. This region is one of the main centers of livestock production in Venezuela. It is on the border of the states of Zulia and Mérida. The main populations of this region are: La Fría, La Tendida and Coloncito.
  • Llanos region: a small part of the Venezuelan plains are briefly located southeast of the state of Táchira, on the border with the states of Apure and Barinas, the climate is tropical savannah, with less humidity than in the Pan-American zone, it is also a region of high livestock production. Its main populations are: La Pedrera, El Piñal and Abejales.

    Relief

Its territory has an area of 11,100 km2, where the Andean physiographic character predominates, with heights above 2,000 m. The mountainous relief is the southern continuation of the Mérida mountain range, which penetrates from the north in a southwesterly direction, exceeding 4,000 m in the La Negra moor.
In the extreme southwest, the Táchira depression was formed, which includes the tectonic trench through which the river of the same name runs and the entire relatively low area located between this trench and the valleys of the Lobaterita, the Torbes Medio and the Quinimarí Medio. The depression of the Torbes River separates the main range of the Mérida Range from the Tamá Range. During the Tertiary period, the uplifts of failed blocks formed deep valleys like those of the Uribante and Torbes rivers, with very steep slopes. In addition, there are relatively open basins with gently sloping terrain. The northern slopes come into contact with the lowlands located south of Lake Maracaibo, with large marshy areas, while the southeastern sector, from the eastern slope of the Uribante branch, is a transition zone between the piedmont and the western high plains.