CARACAS

city, capital of Venezuela, and one of the principal cities of South America. It is by far Venezuela's largest urban agglomeration and the nation's primary centre of industry, commerce, education, and culture. Founded in 1567 as Santiago de Len de Caracas, the city grew slowly until the 1940s, after which it expanded by monumental proportions and its influence came to extend to even the remotest parts of the country. In addition to its role as the national capital, Caracas serves as the seat of government for the Federal District, comprising an area of 745 square miles (1,930 square kilometres). The city itself, however, spreads across the Federal District boundary, a considerable part of its area lying in the state of Miranda, which borders the district on the east and the south. The physical setting of Caracas is impressive. Steep mountains of the Venezuelan coastal range rise abruptly from the Caribbean Sea, affording little level land for urban development. About 7 miles (11 kilometres) southward, beyond this mountainous wall, the city spreads out in a valley. Its elevation at the centre of Caracas is 3,025 feet (922 metres), and the valley extends about 15 miles in an eastwest direction. Almost all of its inhabitable area is occupied by the city, and this once green and peaceful valley is now crisscrossed by streets and highways. city and capital of Venezuela. One of the most developed and cosmopolitan of Latin-American cities, it lies 3,025 feet (922 m) above sea level in a high rift valley surrounded by two mountain groups of Venezuela's central highlands, the Cordillera del Litoral and the Serrana del Interior. The Caribbean Sea is 7 miles (11 km) to the north. Caracas' metropolitan area includes the municipal area (city), the four surrounding parishes, and five towns in the state of Miranda; it extends more than 7 miles (11 km) from north to south and more than 15 miles (24 km) from east to west. Almost all of the valley's inhabitable area has been blanketed by urban development, most of it occurring after 1950. Caracas' principal river is the Guaire, once large and important but now reduced to a small volume. The climate is mild, with a summer dry season and a winter rainy season. The city's industries include wood processing and the production of sugar, processed foods, tobacco, and clothing. The construction industry has created expansion in auxiliary industries such as the production of cement and construction materials. Caracas is the country's centre of both domestic and foreign commerce, the principal centre of petroleum-related activities, and the seat of the major banking houses. Construction and urban development reached a peak beginning in the mid-20th century, and the change in the appearance of the city has been abrupt and overwhelming. Large-scale building of cooperative apartment houses, public housing developments, and commercial structures has accommodated the city's burgeoning population. One of the most imposing structures in the downtown area is the massive Simn Bolvar Center, with its adjoining network of shops, restaurants, and passageways; its twin towers are flanked by Santa Teresa Church and a seven-block commercial and residential area that replaced extensive slums. The colonial city has been preserved around the Plaza Bolvar. On its perimeter are located the old cathedral, the archbishop's residence, municipal buildings, and the ministry of foreign affairs. Caracas' most important centre of higher education is the Central University of Venezuela (also known as the University of Caracas, 1721). Other universities are Simn Bolvar (1970), Andrs Bello Catholic (1953), and Santa Mara (1953). Art galleries augment the city's older museums and libraries. Within the city a great number of buses, private automobiles, taxis, and jitneys contribute to increasing traffic congestion. Caracas has a subway and several large expressways, and it is linked by highway to the coast and to other Venezuelan towns. Maiqueta Airport, located on the coast 10 miles (16 km) away, provides domestic air service, while Simn Bolvar Airport, adjacent to Maiqueta Airport, serves international flights. Two aerial cable cars go to Avila Hill (Cerro el Avila). Most consumer merchandise and much of Venezuela's capital goods are imported through Caracas' ports, La Guaira and Puerto Cabello. Area city, 30 square miles (78 square km); metropolitan area, 139 square miles (361 square km). Pop. (1990 prelim.) city, 1,824,892; metropolitan area, 2,784,042. Additional reading Graziano Gasparini and Juan Pablo Posani, Caracas: A travs de su arquitectura, 2nd ed. (1984), an extensive volume focussed on architectural aspects of the city; Jos Manuel Guevara Daz, Geografa de las regiones central y capital (1983), one of 15 volumes in a new series on the geography of Venezuela; Soledad Mendoza (ed.), As es Caracas (1980), a photographic and textual description of modern Caracas; Carlos Eduardo Misle, Sabor de Caracas, 2nd ed. (1981), a historical survey; Oficina Metropolitana De Planeamiento Urbano, Caracas 2000: Plan general urbano (1981), a planning document to guide the urban development of Caracas; Claudio Perna, Evolucon de la geografa urbana de Caracas (1981), a historical geography of the city; Universidad Central De Venezuela, El estudio de Caracas, 8 vol. (196780), a comprehensive analysis of ecological, economic, agricultural, technological, and other aspects of the city; John V. Lombardi, Venezuela: The Search for Order, the Dream of Progress (1982), a historical geography that emphasizes the national dominance of Caracas. Jos Ramn Medina C.W. Minkel History The settlement of Caracas occurred more than 40 years after that of Cuman (1523), in the east, and Coro (1527), to the west. A ranch was established in the valley in 1557 by Francisco Fajardo, the son of a Spanish captain and an Indian chief's daughter, and in 1561 Juan Rodrguez Surez founded a town on the site of the ranch; but the town was soon destroyed by Indian attacks. The conquest and resettlement of the region began in 1566, and Diego de Losada is credited with the actual founding of the city in 1567. He named it Santiago de Len de Caracas in honour of the apostle James, who is the patron saint of Spain; of Don Pedro Ponce de Len, who was the provincial governor; and of the Caracas Indians, who inhabited the region. In 1578 the city was a quadrilateral formed of 24 squares centred on a plaza. The streets were straight and cobbled, and rivulets of water from the hills ran along their margins. Three houses were made of brick, each of two floors, with straw roofs; most houses had walls of bajareque (cane and earth), packed earth, or adobe and roofs of straw or tile. During this era, the average house of the upper class was large, with tree-filled patios and arcades and with separate slave quarters and stable. Initial growth was along the road to the north and then to the south. Later, development advanced to the west and east. The cabildo, or town council, of Caracas increasingly exercised authority over the entire central portion of Venezuela, and an elite group emerged to manage the political and economic affairs of the city. In 1577 Caracas acquired its status as a provincial capital. The city was sacked by English buccaneers in 1595, and its buildings were almost totally destroyed by two earthquakes in 1755 and 1812. During the 17th and 18th centuries, however, Caracas gradually emerged as the predominant urban centre of Venezuela. The Indian resistance to settlement was quickly overcome, in part due to an epidemic of smallpox that decimated the native population. The valley was relatively free from pirate attacks, although centrally located near the north coast of the country. The valley itself and adjacent valleys produced some gold and then became important for exportation of cacao, the source of chocolate. In addition, Caracas offered a healthful, comfortable climate and an abundance of fresh water. Simn Bolvar, the greatest of South American heroes, was born in Caracas on July 24, 1783, into a family long prominent in Venezuelan affairs. From his tutors, he gained the zeal to achieve independence for Spanish America. With a small military force recruited in Colombia, he invaded Venezuela and captured Caracas in August 1813, at which time the city conferred on him the title El Libertador (The Liberator). A year later the patriotic forces were in full retreat, but when Venezuela was finally established as an independent nation, in 1830, Caracas was its capital. In 1870, the urban transformation of Caracas began under Pres. Antonio Guzmn Blanco. When not actually residing in Paris, and ruling Venezuela through a puppet president, Guzmn Blanco was busily trying to make Caracas a replica of the French capital. The French architectural taste of this period replaced the Spanish colonial style. Avenues were built, and some streets were widened to encourage the city's growth. The Caracas and La Guaira Railway was inaugurated, with pomp and ceremony, in 1883. This railroad climbed the steep coastal range and connected the nation's capital with its Caribbean seaport. In the early 20th century, the first urban real estate development, designed for the upper class, was built in suburban El Paraso. A short time later, a development for the middle class was begun in Catia, to the west. Beginning in 1936, after the death of Gen. Juan Vicente Gmez, who had been dictator for 27 years, the country experienced a new era of prosperity based on petroleum. Caracas grew in population, and construction was extended as far as geographically possible. In the downtown area of the city, El Silencio district was transformed into a huge middle-income residential-commercial building complex. This development, programmed in 1939 together with a Regulating Plan for Caracas, was the first work of such magnitude in the country; it marked the beginning of the city's modern architectural trend. From 1951 to 1957 Venezuela came under the rule of another military dictator, Marcos Prez Jimnez, who devoted primary attention to the modernization of Caracas. Slums were cleared and replaced by colourful high-rise apartments, and superhighways were built to connect Caracas with the coast and with the interior. The change in the appearance of Caracas was abrupt and overwhelming. The old city began to disappear. Numerous suburbs sprang up overnight on the hillsides, and commercial and government buildings were erected at a feverish pace in the valley. As early as 1956, a plan was formulated for the decentralization of Caracas and the development of secondary urban-industrial centres. Caracas has continued to grow and develop despite its geographic limitations, and it has come to completely dominate the urban structure of the Venezuelan nation.