Borburata is a small coastal town in Carabobo state,

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 ...

, located on the Caribbean Sea. It was long a destination of

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

, who would gather salt at the sea. It was colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, but suffered so many raids that it was mostly abandoned. Residents moved inland. Today it has facilities associated with the Venezuela oil and gas industry.

History

For thousands of year, indigenous peoples occupied this area. Some came from the interior to gather dried salt. Historically, the Jirajara Indians traveled to Valencia Lake and through the mountains to reach the sea in this area to collect dried salt. During 16th-century Spanish colonization, the explorer Juan de Villegas founded the town in 1548. During the late 16th and 17th centuries, the region suffered many attacks by French and British pirates. These included: * 1555: French pirates attacked Borburata for 6 days. * 1561:

Lope de Aguirre Lope de Aguirre (; 8 November 1510 – 27 October 1561) was a Basque Spanish conquistador who was active in South America. Nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("the Madman"), he styled himself "Wrath of God, Prince of Freedom." Aguirre is best known for his ...

and his maranones attacked Borburata after plundering

Isla Margarita Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. History ...

. * 1564: British pirates led by

John Hawkins John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

and his second cousin Francis Drake forced the Borburata settlers to buy his cargo of African slaves and goods as part of the

Triangular trade Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset ...

. * 1566: Lowe attacked Borburata. * 1567: French pirates led by Nicolas Vallier invaded Borburata, and the residents had to abandon the town. * 1568: John Hawkins attacked Borburata again, forcing residents to buy his cargo. This included some of the 400 Africans he had captured and enslaved in West Africa. The town of Borburata was eventually abandoned for a long period, and settlers moved to

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

and Puerto Cabello. A day's walk from the Caribbean Sea, it was less likely to be raided.

Contemporary

Today Borburata is best known for the

PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA, ) (English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production ...

tank farm, part of the profitable oil and gas industry. The town is also known for its religious festivities. The San Esteban National Park located minutes outside the town contains a great variety of habitats, such as beaches, mangroves, coral reefs, and tropical rainforests, with corresponding diversity of wildlife and plants. Populated places established in 1548 1548 establishments in the Spanish Empire {{Venezuela-geo-stub