Yaracuy
Yaracuy is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. Yaracuy is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is bordered by Falcón in the north, in the west by Lara, in the south by Portuguesa and Cojedes and in the east by Cojedes and Carabobo.
The geography of state is mountainous, the Andes range ends there, and the Coastal Range begins. It is split by two mountainous systems, the Sierra de Aroa on the North and the Sierra de Nirgua. In between lies the agricultural land drained by the Yaracuy River. Most cities and towns are in this valley, including the capital city.
The Cerro María Lionza Natural Monument is located in Chivacoa. Yaracuy is known as the Louisiana of Venezuela, due to the practices of witchcraft, occultism and the practice of religions such as voodoo, very similar to Louisiana Voodoo.
The economy of Yaracuy is mostly agricultural. Some manufacturing can be found in Yaritagua area and Chivacoa, usually in agribusiness.
History
The written history of Yaracuy begins in the year 1530, with the passage of the German Nicolás Federman, Lieutenant of Governor Welser of Augsburg. In his travel report through the Belzaresque jurisdiction, he qualifies it as Valle de las Damas.During the colony, it was integrated into the Province of Caracas. The Constitution of 1811 linked it to Barquisimeto; in the constitution sanctioned on June 23, 1824, it was awarded to the Province of Carabobo; by that of May 29, 1832, it again passed to the Province of Barquisimeto; On March 15, 1855, for the first time it was given its own status as the Province of Yaracuy, made up of the cantons of San Felipe, Yaritagua and Nírgua, with the capital San Felipe; It was the second national entity that was designated with the name of state with the advent of the Federal War and this occurred in 1859, but it was only made official with the triumph of the 1864 revolution.
Until the beginning of the 20th century it was a section of the Great Lara State. In 1909 it acquired the current territorial autonomy.
First settlers
The tribes of the Jirajaras, the coyones, the guayones, the chipas, the noaras, the ayamanes and the caquetíos, constituted the primitive inhabitants of the area; The jirajaras, the guayones and the caquetíos distinguished themselves from these tribes, due to their expansion and dominance.With certainty, there is little data about the way of life that the indigenous people who populated the Yaracuy regions led. The information we have is based on the references given by people who passed through those sites during colonization and on the persistent remains at that time.
The Indians who inhabited the lands of the Yaracuy were almost entirely nomads, led a slightly sedentary life and lived in constant confrontation with their neighbors. They essentially relied on hunting and fishing, since they did not apply much to agriculture, something in which the jirajaras differed from the rest of the tribes, as they characterized themselves as great farmers.
These primitive inhabitants dedicated temples and offered sacrifices to the divinity, they also had combat techniques and some ate human flesh. Their villages were sometimes up to half a mile in length, and the tribes were organized into obedient confederations, each with a chief chieftain. The women were slender and beautiful, which is why the valley was called by the Spanish "Valley of the Ladies".
Spanish colonization
The territory of the Yaracuy State belonged to the province of Venezuela created in 1527, then to the Province of Caracas and later the Province of Carabobo. By the Law of Territorial Political Division of the Republic of 1824, the lands of the Yaracuy State were included in the Province of Carabobo, to which the cantons of San Felipe, Yaritagua and Nirgua belonged.Republican stage
Later in 1832 the Province of Barquisimeto was created to which the cantons of San Felipe and Yaritagua belonged, while that of Carabobo retained its jurisdiction over the canton of Nirgua, the latter being separated from the Yaracuyana community. Then in 1855, under the presidency of José Tadeo Monagas, a new province was created made up of the cantons San Felipe and Yaritagua of the Province of Barquisimeto and Nirgua, of that of Carabobo, with San Felipe as the capital. In this way, the Province of Yaracuy became one of the 21 territorial units that made up the country.In 1864, under the Federalist Constitution it was renamed Yaracuy State and in subsequent years it was subject to several modifications until 1899, when the 20 federal states were established according to the 1864 constitution, among them Yaracuy, which since then has been maintained as a federal entity.
Geography
Yaracuy State is located in the central-western region of Venezuela, between the coordinates 9º50' and 10º46' latitude North, and 68º14' y 69º14' of longitude West. It is bordered to the north by the state of Falcon, on a 105 km borderline; to the east by the state of Carabobo, on a 75 km borderline; to the south by the state of Cojedes, on an 80 km borderline; and to the east by the state of Lara, on a 205 km borderline. Although it cannot be considered as a coastal state, it has contact with the Caribbean Sea through its main river, the Yaracuy, which flows into the Boca de Yaracuy, which represents a high potential for the growth of commercial activity in the area, both inland and abroad.Currently, we are managing areas of overlap with the boundaries of two states: Falcón, with which 215,12 km² are under discussion, corresponding to the municipalities of Manuel Monge, Veroes and San Felipe, and with which 93,4 km² are under discussion, corresponding to the municipalities of Peñ and Nirgua, for a total of 308.5 km² in claim, which represents 4.35% of the state's surface area. The territory officially covers an area of 7,100 km², with a length of 102 km north–south and 109 km east–west. It covers 0.77% of the country's territory and is the sixth smallest entity in Venezuela, in the central-western region, with a 10.6% surface area.
Climate
Average annual temperatures and rainfall are high with variations depending on the altitude: the climate is temperate at the top of its mountains, the subtropical climate in the high valleys of the Sierra de Nirgua; and in most of the state the tropical climate prevails, with average annual temperatures of 22°C and annual rainfall of 1900 mm.In the valleys of Aroa and Yaracuy, the average temperature is 26 °C and rainfall exceeds 1000 mm per year. Humidity conditions are optimal for cocoa cultivation in the northern sector; in San Felipe 1374 mm of rain is registered, descending to 1332 mm in Chivacoa and 1098 mm in Urachiche. In the highlands of the Sierra de Aroa and part of the Nirgua massif, rainfall is recorded during most of the year, exceeding 1400 mm per year, thus enabling the formation of its most representative vegetation, the evergreen forest.
Hydrography
The most important rivers belong to the Caribbean basin and are the Yaracuy and Aroa, both of which are over 130 km long. The Yaracuy River crosses Yaracuy and Carabobo, where it forms the Urachiche Gorge, and has the characteristics of a plain river. In the rainy season, its waters tend to go out of the way producing floods. It receives numerous fluvial currents, like Quebrada Grande, Guama, Yurubí, Agua Blanca and Taría, among others.The Aroa River has its source at 1200 m altitude, on the northern slope of Palo Negro Hill, north of the entity. Its basin covers an area of 2402 km², located between the basins of the Tocuyo River, to the north and west, and the Yaracuy River, to the south and east. Important tributaries are the Yumare, Tupe, Zamuro, Guarataro and Tesorero rivers, as well as the Guacamaya, Carapita, Guaicayare and Galapago streams. It flows through the Golfo Triste into the Caribbean Sea, after a journey of approximately 150 km. Other rivers such as the Turbio and Buria are shorter and flow into the Orinoco basin through the Portuguesa and Cojedes Rivers, respectively. The Cabuy, San Pablo, Yurubí, Guama, Tamboral, Yumare and Crucito Rivers are also located here.
In general, the rivers of the Yaracuy state are characterized by being irregular, that is, the rest of the rivers, outside of the main ones, do not maintain their fixed flow throughout the year; This fact is not due to evaporation, nor to deforestation at the headwaters of the rivers, nor to the rainy regime of the area. The cause of this irregularity is the
nature and sandy constitution of the basin where the rivers flow.
Yaracuy offers throughout its geography a number of rivers such as: the Yaracuy, Yurubí, Aroa, Guama, Los Ureros, Carabobo, etc., and three reservoirs, Cumaripa, Guaremal and Cabuy. The rivers of the Yaracuy State are part of the Caribbean slope and the Atlantic slope. The Yaracuy and Aroa river basins correspond to the side of the Caribbean Sea, and the Cabuy, Turbio, Buria, and Nirgua rivers fall into the Atlantic basins, which form the hydrographic system of the Cojedes and San Carlos rivers.
Water plays a preponderant role in the development of agricultural and industrial activity. In this sense, the Yaracuy state does not present restrictions, given the abundance of water resources it possesses, due to the magnitude of the rainfall that in its territory determines high annual runoff yields in its different hydrographic basins.
Regarding groundwater, the entity has a high potential, which represents positive perspectives for the development of agriculture under irrigation.