The Araya Peninsula is a

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on all ...

on the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, located in

Sucre State The Sucre State ( es, Estado Sucre, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Cumaná city. Sucre State covers a total surface area of and, as of the 2011 census, had a population of 896,921. The most important river in ...

, northern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The peninsula is part of the eastern Serranía del Litoral mountain range, in the

Venezuelan Coastal Range The Venezuelan Coastal Range ( es, Cordillera de la Costa or ), also known as Venezuelan Caribbean Mountain System ( es, Sistema Montañoso Caribe) is a mountain range system and one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela, that runs along the c ...

s System of the northern

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. It extends eastward from the coastline. The town of Araya is located on its westernmost extremity. The western tip of the Araya Peninsula is known for its large, purple-colored natural salt pans, which became a major site of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

mining during the colonial era. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the region was regularly mined for salt by Dutch smugglers, who reportedly numbered one hundred ships annually. The smuggling industry in the region was temporarily stymied by a Spanish punitive expedition sent in 1605, although it soon recovered. Eventually, in 1618, Spanish forces began constructing the fortress El Castillo de Santiago de Araya to guard the peninsula. When it was completed in 1665, the fortress permanently put an end to Dutch incursions. The salt mines of the Araya Peninsula were the setting of the award-winning 1959

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

'' Araya'' by filmmaker

Margot Benacerraf Margot Benacerraf (born August 14, 1926) is a Venezuelan director of Moroccan Jewish descent. Benacerraf was one of the first Latin American filmmakers to study at IDHEC (''Institut des hautes études cinématographiques'') in Paris. Work Benace ...

References

External links

Images of the Araya Peninsula
Peninsulas of Venezuela Geography of Sucre (state) Venezuelan Coastal Range {{Venezuela-geo-stub

See also

References

External links