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Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of
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 ...
, and the center of the
Metropolitan Region of Caracas Metropolitan Region of Caracas (MRC) or Greater Caracas (GC) ( es, Región Metropolitana de Caracas; RMC or ''Gran Caracas''; GC) is the urban agglomeration comprising the Metropolitan District of Caracas and the adjacent 11 municipalities over M ...
(or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern part of the country, within the Caracas Valley of the Venezuelan coastal mountain range (Cordillera de la Costa). The valley is close to 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 ...
, separated from the coast by a steep 2,200-meter-high (7,200 ft) mountain range,
Cerro El Ávila Cerro is Spanish for "hill" or "mountain". Toponyms ;Bolivia: * Cerro Rico, the "Rich Mountain" containing silver ore near Potosi, Bolivia ;Brazil: * Cerro Branco, a municipality of Rio Grande do Sul * Cerro Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, a munici ...
; to the south there are more hills and mountains. The Metropolitan Region of Caracas has an estimated population of almost 5 million inhabitants. The center of the city is still ''Catedral'', located near Bolívar Square, though some consider the center to be
Plaza Venezuela Plaza Venezuela (Venezuela Square in Spanish) is a public square located in Los Caobos neighborhood, Caracas, Venezuela. It was inaugurated in 1940 and is situated in the geographic center of Caracas. Its place for many landmarks of Caracas, inc ...
, located in the Los Caobos area. Businesses in the city include service companies, banks, and malls. Caracas has a largely service-based economy, apart from some industrial activity in its metropolitan area. The
Caracas Stock Exchange The Caracas Stock Exchange or Bolsa de Valores de Caracas (BVC) is a stock exchange located in Caracas, Venezuela. Established in 1947, BVC merged with a competitor in 1974. Operational and Legal Structure BVC is a private exchange, providing op ...
and
Petróleos de Venezuela 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 ...
(PDVSA) are headquartered in Caracas.
Empresas Polar Empresas Polar is a Venezuelan corporation that started as a brewery, founded in 1941 by Lorenzo Alejandro Mendoza Fleury, Juan Simon Mendoza, Rafael Lujan and Karl Eggers in Antímano "La Planta de Antimano", Caracas. It is the largest and bes ...
is the largest private company in Venezuela. Caracas is also Venezuela's cultural capital, with many restaurants, theaters, museums, and
shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...
centers. Caracas has some of the tallest skyscrapers in Latin America, such as the Parque Central Towers. The
Museum of Contemporary Art of Caracas Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art () is a museum of modern art located in the Parque Central Complex in Caracas, Venezuela. It was founded on 30 August 1973 by the journalist and art patron Sofía Ímber, also its director from 1973 to her ...
is one of the most important in South America.


History

Before the city was founded in 1567, the valley of Caracas was populated by indigenous peoples.
Francisco Fajardo Francisco Fajardo (Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta, Colonial Venezuela c. 1524 - Cumaná, Sucre, Colonial Venezuela 1564) was a Spanish conquistador active in Venezuela. He was an example of a '' mestizo'' (mixed race) conquistador. Fajardo was ...
, the son of a Spanish
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
and a Guaiqueri ''
cacica Cacica ( pl, Kaczyka, german: Kaczika) is a commune located in Suceava County, in the historical region of Bukovina, northeastern Romania. The commune is located in the central part of the county, from the town of Gura Humorului, from the city ...
'', who came from
Margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of Tequila, triple sec, and lime juice often served with salt on the rim of the glass. The drink is served shaken with ice (on the rocks), blended with ice (frozen margarita), or without ice (straight up). T ...
, began establishing settlements in the area of
La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...
and the Caracas valley between 1555 and 1560. Fajardo attempted to establish a plantation in the valley in 1562 after these unsuccessful coastal towns, but it did not last long: it was destroyed by natives of the region led by Terepaima and
Guaicaipuro Cacique Guaicaipuro was a legendary native (indigenous) Venezuelan chief of both the Teques and Caracas tribes. Though known today as Guaicaipuro, in documents of the time his name was written Guacaipuro.http://www.saber.ula.ve/bitstream/handle/ ...
. Fajardo's 1560 settlement was known as Hato de San Francisco, and another attempt in 1561 by Juan Rodríguez de Suárez was called Villa de San Francisco, and was also destroyed by the same native people. The eventual settlers of Caracas came from Coro, the German capital of their
Klein-Venedig (Little Venice) or Welserland (pronunciation vɛl.zɐ.lant was the most significant territory of the German colonization of the Americas, from 1528 to 1546, in which the Welser banking and patrician family of the Free Imperial Cities of Augs ...
colony around the present-day coastal
Colombia–Venezuela border The Colombia–Venezuela border is an international border of 2219 kilometers (1378 mi) between Colombia and Venezuela, with a total of 603 milestones that demarcate the line. It is the longest border of both Colombia and Venezuela. The bo ...
; from the 1540s, the colony had been ''de facto'' controlled by Spaniards. Moving eastward from Coro, groups of Spanish settlers founded inland towns including
Barquisimeto Barquisimeto (; guc, Watkisimeeta) is a city in Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial and transportation center of the country, recognized as the f ...
and
Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
before reaching the Caracas valley. On 25 July 1567, Captain
Diego de Losada Diego de Losada y Cabeza de Vaca (1511 – 1569) was a Spanish conquistador and the founder of Santiago de León de Caracas, the current capital of Venezuela. Losada was born in Rionegro del Puente, in what is now the province of Zamora. H ...
laid the foundations of the city of ''Santiago de León de Caracas''. De Losada had been commissioned to capture the valley, and was successful by splitting the natives into different groups to work with, then fighting and defeating each of them. The town was the closest to the coast of these new settlements, and the colonists retained a native workforce, which allowed a trade network to develop between Caracas, the interior, and Margarita; the towns further inland produced ample cotton products and beeswax, and Margarita was a rich source of pearls. The Caracas valley had a good environment for both agricultural and arable farming, which contributed to the system of commerce but meant that the town's population was initially sparse, as it was only large enough to support a few farms. In 1577, Caracas became the capital of the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
's
Venezuela Province The Venezuela Province (or Province of Caracas) was a province of the Spanish Empire (from 1527), of Gran Colombia (1824-1830) and later of Venezuela (from 1830), apart from an interlude (1528 - 1546) when it was contracted as a concession by the ...
under the province's new governor,
Juan de Pimentel Juan de Pimentel was an early governor of Venezuela Province, the Venezuela Province being one of the Spanish Empire. Under his governorship (1576 - 1583) the capital of the Province was moved from El Tocuyo to Caracas. He was a Knight of the O ...
(1576–1583). In the 1580s, Caraqueños started selling food to the Spanish soldiers in Cartagena, who often docked in the coastal city when collecting products from the empire in South America. Wheat was growing increasingly expensive in the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
, and the Spanish profited from buying it from Caracas farmers. This cemented the city in the empire's trade circuit. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the coast of Venezuela was frequently raided by pirates. With the coastal mountains of the Central Range as a barrier, Caracas was relatively immune to such attacks, compared to other Caribbean coastal settlements, but in 1595 the
Preston–Somers expedition The Preston–Somers expedition, or the Capture of Caracas, was a series of military actions that took place from late May until the end of July 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish War. The English expedition headed by George Somers and Amyas Preston ...
landed and around 200 English
Privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, including
George Somers Sir George Somers (before 24 April 1554 – 9 November 1610) was an English privateer and naval hero, knighted for his achievements and the Admiral of the Virginia Company of London. He achieved renown as part of an expedition led b ...
and
Amyas Preston Amyas Preston (died 1609) was an English privateer of the Elizabethan period. His career was largely spent in the Caribbean, as were other more famous corsairs of the age such as Francis Drake, John Hawkins and Walter Raleigh. He is principal ...
, crossed the mountains through a little-used pass while the town's defenders were guarding the more frequently used one. Encountering little resistance, the invaders sacked and set fire to the town after a failed ransom negotiation. The city managed to rebuild, using wheat profits and "a lot of sacrifice". In the 1620s, farmers in Caracas discovered that
Cacao bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances ...
s could be sold, first selling them to native people of Mexico and quickly growing across the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
. The city became important in the
Viceroyalty A viceroyalty was an entity headed by a viceroy. It dates back to the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. France *Viceroyalty of New France Portuguese Empire In the scope of the Portuguese Empire, the term "Viceroyalty o ...
of
New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
, as well as moving from largely native slave labor to African slaves, the first of the Spanish colonies to become part of the
slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
. The city was successful and operated on cacao and slave trade until the 1650s, when an ''alhorra'' blight, the
Mexican Inquisition The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition into New Spain. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformat ...
of many of their Portuguese traders, and increased cacao production in
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
greatly affected the market. This and the destructive 1641 earthquake put the city into decline, and they likely began illegally trading with the Dutch Empire, which Caraqueños later proved sympathetic to; by the 1670s, Caracas had a trading route through
Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
. In 1728, the
Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas The Royal Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas (modern spelling variant ''Gipuzkoan'', known also as the ''Guipuzcoana Company'', es, Real Compañia Guipuzcoana de Caracas; eu, Caracasko Gipuzkoar Errege Konpainia) was a Spanish Basque trading compan ...
was founded by the king, and the cacao business grew in importance. Caracas was made one of the three provinces of Nueva Granada, corresponding to Venezuela, in 1739. Over the next three decades the Viceroyalty was variously split, with Caracas province becoming the Venezuela province.
Luis de Unzaga Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga (1717–1793), also known as Louis Unzaga y Amezéga le Conciliateur, Luigi de Unzaga Panizza and Lewis de Onzaga, was governor of Spanish Louisiana from late 1769 to mid-1777, as well as a Captain General of Venezuela ...
created the
Captaincy General of Venezuela The Captaincy General of Venezuela ( es, Capitanía General de Venezuela), also known as the Kingdom of Venezuela (), was an administrative district of colonial Spain, created on September 8, 1777, through the Royal Decree of Graces of 1777, t ...
in the summer of 1777, with Caracas as the capital. Venezuela then attempted to become independent, first with the 1797
Gual and España conspiracy The Gual and España conspiracy (1797) was a pro-independence movement in Colonial Venezuela, led by José María España and Manuel Gual. The Spanish revolutionary, Juan Bautista Mariano Picornell y Gomila, was involved. It is also believed that S ...
, based in Caracas, and then the successful 1811
Venezuelan Declaration of Independence The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence () is a statement adopted by a congress of Venezuelan provinces on July 5, 1811, through which Venezuelans made the decision to separate from the Spanish Crown in order to establish a new nation based o ...
. Caracas then came under worse luck: in 1812, an earthquake destroyed Caracas, a quarter of its population migrated in 1814, and the
Venezuelan War of Independence The Venezuelan War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Venezuela, links=no, 1810–1823) was one of the Spanish American wars of independence of the early nineteenth century, when independence movements in Latin America fought agai ...
continued until 24 June 1821, when
Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
defeated
royalists A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governm ...
in the Battle of Carabobo.Maurice Wiesenthal, ''The History and Geography of a Valley'', 1981. Urban reforms only took place towards the end of the 19th century, under
Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio José Ramón de La Trinidad y María Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for three separate terms, from 1870 until 1 ...
: some landmarks were built, but the city remained distinctly colonial until the 1930s. Caracas grew in size, population, and economic importance during Venezuela's oil boom in the early 20th century. In the 1950s, the metropolitan area of Gran Caracas was developed, and the city began an intensive modernization program, funding public buildings, which continued throughout the 1960s and early 1970s. Cultural landmarks, like the University City of Caracas, designed by modernist architect
Carlos Raúl Villanueva Carlos Raúl Villanueva Astoul (May 30, 1900 – August 16, 1975) was a Venezuelan modernist architect. Villanueva went for the first time to Venezuela when he was 28 years old. He was involved in the development and modernization of Caracas, ...
and declared a World Heritage Site by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in 2000; the Caracas Museum of Contemporary Art; and the
Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex The Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex (''Complejo Cultural Teresa Carreño''), also known as Teresa Carreño Theater (''Teatro Teresa Carreño''), is the most important theatre of Caracas and Venezuela, where performances include symphonic and pop ...
were built, as well as the
Caracas Metro The Caracas Metro ( es, Metro de Caracas) is a mass rapid transit system serving Caracas, Venezuela. It was constructed and is operated by Compañía Anónima Metro de Caracas, a government-owned company that was founded in 1977 by José Gonz ...
and a developed downtown area. Urban development was rapid, leading to the growth of slums on the hillsides surrounding the new city. Much of the city development also fell into disrepair come the end of the 20th century, with the 1980s oil glut and political instability like the
Caracazo The ''Caracazo'' is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting. that started on 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, spreading to Caracas and surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousand ...
, meaning maintenance can not be sustained. The economic and social problems persist throughout the capital and country, characterized as the
Crisis in Venezuela The crisis in Venezuela is an ongoing socioeconomic and political crisis that began in Venezuela during the presidency of Hugo Chávez and has worsened in Nicolás Maduro's presidency. It has been marked by hyperinflation, escalating starvation ...
. By 2017, Caracas was the most violent city in the world.


Coat of arms

The coat of arms was adopted in 1591. Simón de Bolívar, an ancestor of Venezuelan liberator Simón Bolívar, had been named the first procurator general of the Venezuelan province in 1589. He served as the representative of Venezuela to the Spanish Crown, and vice versa. In 1591, de Bolívar introduced a petition to King
Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...
for a coat of arms, which he granted by
Royal Cedula A decree is a law, legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the President (government title), president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of ...
on 4 September that year in San Lorenzo. The coat of arms represents the city's name with the red Santiago (St. James') cross. It originally depicted "a brown bear rampant on a field of silver, holding between its paws a golden shell with the red cross of Santiago; and its seal is a crown with five golden points". In the same act, the king declared Caracas as "The Most Noble and Very Loyal City of Santiago de León de Caracas". The anthem of the city is the ''Marcha a Caracas'', written by the composer Tiero Pezzuti de Matteis with the lyrics by
José Enrique Sarabia José Enrique “Chelique” Sarabia (13 March 1940 – 16 February 2022) was a Venezuelan poet, musician, publicist, and television producer. He wrote more than 1000 songs registered at the Society of Authors and Composers of Venezuela (SACVEN), a ...
and approved in 1984.


Geography

Caracas is contained entirely within a valley of the Venezuelan Central Range, and is separated from the Caribbean coast by a roughly expanse of
El Ávila National Park The Ávila National Park, officially known as Waraira Repano National Park for its name indigenous Cariban name, protects part of the Cordillera de la Costa Central mountain range, in the coastal region of central-northern Venezuela. The area's ...
. The valley is relatively small and quite irregular, and the altitude varies from between
above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...
; the historic center lies at about above sea level. This, along with the rapid population growth, has profoundly influenced the
urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...
of the city. The most elevated point of the Capital District, wherein the city is located, is the ''Pico El Ávila'', which rises to . The main body of water in Caracas is the Guaire River, which flows across the city and empties into the
Tuy River The Tuy River is a river of northern Venezuela, in the Valles del Tuy (Tuy Valleys) of Miranda State. The principal river of Miranda, it flows north from Aragua State through Miranda into the Caribbean Sea. Tributaries include the Guaire River, t ...
, which is also fed by the El Valle and San Pedro rivers, in addition to numerous streams which descend from El Ávila. The La Mariposa and reservoirs provide water to the city. The city is occasionally subject to earthquakes – notably in 1641 and 1967. Geologically, Caracas was formed in the
Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...
period, with much of the rest of the Caribbean, and sits on what is mostly
metamorphic rock Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
. Deformation of the land in this period formed the region.


Climate

Under the
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
, Caracas has a
tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of p ...
(''Aw''), milder due to its altitude. Caracas precipitation varies between (annual), in the city proper to in some parts of the Mountain range. While Caracas is within the tropics, due to its altitude temperatures are generally not nearly as high as other tropical locations at sea level. The annual average temperature is approximately , with the average of the coldest month (January) and the average of the warmest month (June) , which gives a small annual thermal amplitude of . In the months of December and January abundant fog may appear, in addition to a sudden nightly drop in temperature, until reaching . This peculiar weather is known by the natives of Caracas as the ''Pacheco''. In addition, nightly temperatures at any time of the year are much (14 to 20 °C) lower than daytime highs and usually do not remain above , resulting in very pleasant evening temperatures. Hail storms appear in Caracas, although only on rare occasions.
Electrical storm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...
s are much more frequent, especially between June and October, due to the city being in a closed valley and the orographic action of Cerro El Ávila.


Hydrography

The hydrographic network of the city of Caracas is made up of the Guaire river basin which is a sub-basin of the Tuy river. This basin crosses the valley where the city is located from West to East (Las Adjuntas –
Petare Dulce Nombre de Jesus de Petare is a neighborhood in Miranda, Venezuela, and is part of the Metropolitan District of Caracas. It is located in the Sucre Municipality, one of the five divisions of Caracas. The city was founded in 1621 unde ...
). It covers about 655 square kilometers, about 45 km. long and about 15 km. wide, has a rectangular shape. The basin is formed by the Caracas Valley, which is relatively high, narrow and long, surrounded by the high and steep Cordillera de la Costa, which runs parallel to the Litoral. Among the characteristics of the hydrographic network associated with the city of Caracas is the high degree of contamination that the entire network presents in its lower part due to the fact that the courses of rivers and tributaries of the Guaire River have been used as collectors of the water system. sewers and sewers since its creation in 1874 during the government of Antonio Guzmán Blanco until today. The level of contamination is such that it does not allow the maintenance of the life of the species that once populated the basin, and it has become extinct or has been restricted to the highest areas of the basin, mainly within the boundaries of the national park. Avila. Awareness for the recovery of the basin has recently begun, however, much remains to be done before results can be observed. Among the main rivers and streams that make up the basin are in its northern slope: San Pedro River, Macarao River, Quebrada Caroata, Catuche River, Anauco River, Chacaito River, Tocome River, Caurimare River; on its southern slope we find that among the main
tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
are: El Valle river, Quebrada Baruta and Quebrada La Guairita. In the upper part of the basin there are two reservoirs with the purpose of supplying water to the western part of the city; These are the Macarao Dam and the La Mariposa Reservoir.


Urbanism

Caracas shares commonalities with many
Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
cities: densely populated and with limited space because it is surrounded by mountains. Because of this, the city has grown vertically. A very striking aspect is the number of people living in substandard housing built on the mountain slopes surrounding the city. This type of housing is called ranchos, built improvised, without any official planning, with deficiencies and inadequate materials, marking a difference between those who live in the valley proper, 45% of the population in 25% of the urban area lives in these settlements. The city center, developed around a small historic center, represents less than a quarter of the total area of the city, which has spread along the valley and has also been connected in recent years with satellite cities in the states of Miranda and La Guaira, creating a major metropolitan area known as Gran Caracas. The city's rapid population growth has resulted in increasing
traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s. When traffic de ...
. To this end, the subway transportation system (Metro de Caracas) has been progressively expanded and is currently linked to the Los Teques Metro and, in the future, to the Guarenas-Guatire Metro system. The "Ezequiel Zamora" Central Railway System also links the communities of Charallave and Cúa de los Valles del Tuy with the subway transportation of the capital city. Some areas of the city have a grid layout, either inherited from the
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
or developed during the urban projects of the 20th century. Other areas, built on the mountain slopes, do not follow this pattern, but adapt to the irregularities of the terrain. These elevated areas enjoy a temperate temperature throughout the year.


Demographics

According to the population census of 2011 the Caracas proper (Distrito Capital) is over 1.9 million inhabitants, while that of the Metropolitan District of Caracas is estimated at 2.9 million . The majority of the population is
mixed-race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...
, typically with varying degrees of
European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
,
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
,
African African or Africans may refer to: * Anything from or pertaining to the continent of Africa: ** People who are native to Africa, descendants of natives of Africa, or individuals who trace their ancestry to indigenous inhabitants of Africa *** Ethn ...
and occasional
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
ancestry. There is a noteworthy
Afro-Venezuelan Afro-Venezuelans (Spanish: ''Afrovenezolanos'') are Venezuelans of African descent. About 4% of the Venezuelan population self-identify as "black" or "Afro-descendant", although most Venezuelans are mixed with African ancestry. Afro-Venezuelans ...
community. Additionally, the city has a large number of both European Venezuelans and Asian Venezuelans who descend from the massive influx of various immigrants Venezuela received from all across Eurasia during the 20th century; in particular are descendants of Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians,
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
, Chinese, Colombians, Germans, Syrians and Lebanese people.Censo Nacional
Deciembre 2014
In 2020, the poorest 55% of the Caracas population lived on about a third of its land, in poorly-planned slums that are generally dangerous to live in and access. Caracas has exceeded the administrative limits of its perimeter due to accelerated population growth, so that its most suitable demographic study territory is the Metropolitan District or AMC. According to 2011 calculations by the National Institute of Statistics, the metropolitan city had a population for the 2011 census of 2,923,959 inhabitants. The Metropolitan District represents less than 1% of the national territory and is home to one-fifteenth of the total population of the country. In percentage numbers, 9.2% of the nation's total population lives in the five capital municipalities, out of the 335 municipalities that comprise the country. The region is called Greater Caracas or Metropolitan Region of Caracas (RMC) satellite cities or adjacent bedrooms: the Altos Mirandinos, the Central Coast of La Guaira, Guarenas, Guatire and the Valles del Tuy. This agglomeration had an estimated population of 4.3 million inhabitants in 2011. In the 20th century, an exodus of the peasantry to the capital and other cities intensified, motivated by a search for improvements in their quality of life. This led to depopulation of the rural areas of the country and the demographic saturation of the centers. This saturation caused the expansion of marginal areas on the outskirts of the city; however, the lowest unemployment rates in the entire country correspond precisely to the metropolitan area of Caracas. In 1936, the total population of Venezuela had been equal to the estimated population of Greater Caracas for the year 2000: almost 4 million inhabitants. From 1936 to 1990, Caracas multiplied its population, although far less than any other major city in the country, such as Valencia, which in the same period of time multiplied its population almost 25 times. Between the 1940s and 1950s, after the Second World War, a growing wave of European immigrants began, mostly Spanish, Portuguese and Italians and in other magnitudes, communities of Germans (Colonia Tovar), French, English,
Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
and Jews were established. New developments in Caracas were populated mainly by these European immigrants, such as La Florida and
Altamira Altamira may refer to: People *Altamira (surname) Places * Cave of Altamira, a cave in Cantabria, Spain famous for its paintings and carving *Altamira, Pará, a city in the Brazilian state of Pará * Altamira, Huila, a town and municipality in ...
. During the 1960s, President Rómulo Betancourt followed the same policy as the Marcos Pérez Jiménez government: promoting immigration, especially from Latin America and from other parts of the world. These policies were maintained until the late 1980s, with a notable influx of Argentines, Uruguayans, Chileans, Cubans, Peruvians, Ecuadorians, Chinese, and Arabs. Towards the beginning of the 1980s, immigration was marked by a strong exodus of Colombians. The multiethnic, cultural and racial mix has marked the city throughout history. Its ethnic composition is very diverse.


Crime

Venezuela and its capital, Caracas, are reported to both have among the highest per capita murder rates in the world. Caracas is the city with the highest homicide rate in the world outside of a warzone, with a 2019 rate of around 76 murders per 100,000 people. Most murders and other violent crimes go unsolved, with estimates of the number of unresolved crimes as high as 98%. The
U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...
and British
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ministries of fore ...
have issued
travel warning A travel warning, travel alert, or travel advisory is an official warning statement issued by government agencies to provide information about the relative safety of travelling to or visiting one or more specific foreign countries or destinations. ...
s for Venezuela (especially Caracas) due to high rates of crime.


Economy

Businesses that are located in Caracas include service companies, banks, and malls, among others. It has a largely service-based economy, apart from some industrial activity in its metropolitan area. The
Caracas Stock Exchange The Caracas Stock Exchange or Bolsa de Valores de Caracas (BVC) is a stock exchange located in Caracas, Venezuela. Established in 1947, BVC merged with a competitor in 1974. Operational and Legal Structure BVC is a private exchange, providing op ...
and
Petróleos de Venezuela 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 ...
(PDVSA) are headquartered here. PDVSA, a state-run organization, is the largest company in Venezuela, and negotiates all the international agreements for the distribution and export of petroleum. When it existed, the airline
Viasa Venezolana Internacional de Aviación Sociedad Anónima ( en, JSC Venezuelan International Airways), or VIASA for short, was the Venezuelan flag carrier airline between 1960 and 1997. It was headquartered in the Torre Viasa in Caracas. Launche ...
had its headquarters in the Torre Viasa. Several international companies and embassies are located in El Rosal and Las Mercedes, in the Caracas area. The city also serves as a hub for communication and transportation infrastructure between the metropolitan area and the rest of the country. Important industries in Caracas include chemicals, textiles, leather,
food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
, iron, and wood products. There are also rubber and cement factories. Its nominal GDP is US$70 billion and the GDP (PPP) per capita is US$24,000. A 2009 United Nations survey reported that the
cost of living Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time can be operationalized in a cost-of-living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a cer ...
in Caracas was 89% of that of the survey's baseline city, New York. However, this statistic is based upon a fixed currency-exchange-rate of 2003 and might not be completely realistic, due to the elevated inflation rates of the last several years.


Tourism

In 2013, the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
evaluated countries in terms of how successful they were in advertizing campaigns to attract foreign visitors. Out of the 140 countries evaluated, Venezuela came last. A major factor that has contributed to the lack of foreign visitors has been poor transport for tourists. Venezuela has limited railway systems and airlines. High crime rates and the negative attitude of the Venezuelan population towards tourism also contributed to the poor evaluation. In an attempt to attract more foreign visitors, the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism invested in multiple hotel infrastructures. The largest hotel investment has been in the Hotel Alba Caracas. The cost for the general maintenance of the north and south towers of the hotel is approximately 231.5 million Venezuelan bolivars. Although the Venezuelan Ministry of Tourism has taken the initiative to recognize the importance of the tourism industry, the Venezuelan government has not placed the tourism industry as an economic priority. In 2013, the budget for the Ministry of Tourism was only 173.8 million bolivars, while the Ministry of the Youth received approximately 724.6 million bolivars. The tourism industry in Venezuela contributes approximately 3.8 percent of the country GDP. The World Economic Forum predicts Venezuela's GDP to rise to 4.2 percent by 2022.


Government

On 8 March 2000, the year after a new constitution was introduced in Venezuela, it was decreed in ''Gaceta Official'' N° 36,906 that the Metropolitan District of Caracas would be created and that some of the powers of the Libertador, Chacao,
Baruta Baruta (pop. 317,288) is a municipality within the Metropolitan District of Caracas in Venezuela. Geography Baruta is located geographically in the South-East section of the city. Its western limit is the '' Los Chaguaramos'' neighborhood ( ...
,
Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...
, and El Hatillo municipalities would be delegated to the ''Alcaldía Mayor'', physically located in the large Libertador municipality, in the center of the city. The Metropolitan District of Caracas was suppressed on 20 December 2017 by the Constituent National Assembly of Venezuela.


Capital District

In the case of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas, the only member of the Capital District, the
executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...
authority rests with the Head of Government of the Capital District, a position designated by the President of the Republic. According to Article 3 of the Capital District Law, the legislative function is exercised directly by the Republic through the National Assembly of Venezuela. Before the creation of the Metropolitan District, the Federal District (current Capital District) had a governor appointed by the President of the Republic, while the Caracas municipalities of the State of Miranda governed with their respective mayors in isolation, without any coordinating entity. In April 2009, the National Assembly reformed the Capital District Law, legalizing the constitution of a Head of Government or Governor for the Libertador municipality designated by the National Executive. Using as an argument what is established in article 156 of the constitution:


Metropolitan District

The city of Caracas occupies the entirety of the Libertador municipality of the Capital District and part of the state of Miranda, specifically the municipalities of Baruta, Chacao, El Hatillo and Sucre, which until 2011 formed the Metropolitan District of Caracas, which enjoyed legal personality and autonomy within the limits of the Constitution and the law. Until that year, the Metropolitan Mayor was the first civil, political and administrative authority of the city of Caracas, as well as the municipal mayors in each of the municipalities comprising it. The Metropolitan District of Caracas was organized in a system of municipal government at two levels: the metropolitan or district and the municipalities.


Landmarks


Media

*
Correo del Orinoco (2009) ''Correo del Orinoco '' (the ''Orinoco Post'') is a Venezuelan newspaper launched in 2009 with government backing. (Carroll's article can also be accessed aChavez in driver's seat as he silences his critics The New Zealand Herald. 10 March 2010 ...
*
El Nacional (Venezuela) ''El Nacional'' is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its ''El Nacional'' newspaper and website. It, along with ''Últimas Noticias'' and '' El Universal,'' are the most widely read an ...
*
El Universal (Caracas) ''El Universal'' is a major Venezuelan newspaper, headquartered in Caracas.Browning, Mark (2003),Venezuela, ''World Press Encyclopedia'' ''El Universal'' is part of the Latin American Newspaper Association (Spanish, ''Periodicals Associates L ...
* Diario VEA *
Diario 2001 ''2001'' (''Diario 2001'') is a Venezuelan newspaper. It was established by Bloque De Armas in 1973, Bloque De ArmasHistoria launching its first edition on 2 July 1973 under the directorship of Rafael Poleo. Andrés Bello Catholic UniversityDi ...
*
Tal Cual TAL or Tal may refer to: Acronym * Ralph M. Calhoun Memorial Airport (IATA code: TAL), in Tanana, Alaska * TAL – Transportes Aéreos Ltda, the original name of TAC – Transportes Aéreos Catarinense, a Brazilian airline * TAL effector, a fam ...
* Diario Meridiano *
TVes TVES is a Venezuelan public television channel. Its name is short for Televisora Venezolana Social (''Venezuelan Social Television'') and is pronounced ("te ves"), meaning ''you see yourself''. It replaced the signal of Radio Caracas Televisión ...
*
Venevisión Venevisión () is a Venezuelan free-to-air television channel and one of Venezuela's largest television networks, owned by the Cisneros Media division of Grupo Cisneros. History The company's roots date back to June 1, 1953, with the establish ...
*
Vale TV Vale TV ''(Valores Educativos Televisión)'' (formerly a public-owned educational channel in Venezuela called Televisora Nacional) is a television channel run by Asociación Civil, a non-profit association owned by the Roman Catholic Archbishopr ...
*
Venezolana de Televisión Corporación Venezolana de Televisión (Spanish for: ''Venezuelan Television Corporation'') or VTV is a state-run television station based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the capital and surrounding areas on channel 8. Programs ...
*
Televen Televen is a private Venezuelan national television network headquartered on the Caracas neighborhood of Horizonte. For this reason it is also called 'Canal de Horizonte'. Televen was inaugurated as the ''TELEVEN Corporation'' (''Corporación TE ...
* RCTV *
ViVe Vive may refer to: * Vive, Viva, a Romance language expression * ''Vive'' (José José album), 1974 * ''Vive'' (Lucía Méndez album), 2004 *Vive (a cappella group), a cappella group from England, United Kingdom *ViVe Televisión, a state-owned Ve ...
*
Globovisión Globovisión is a 24-hour television news network. It broadcasts over-the-air in Caracas, Aragua, Carabobo and Zulia on UHF channel 33. Globovisión is seen in the rest of Venezuela on cable or satellite (Globovisión has an alliance with Dire ...
*
Avila TV Ávila TV is a public regional television channel based in the city of Caracas. It can be seen in the metropolitan area of Caracas on UHF channel 47 or Inter channel 89, and in the rest of the country on Digital TV channel 25.3 or CANTV TV Sateli ...
* Telesur *
Canal i Canal i is a privately owned 24-news channel based in Caracas, Venezuela which can be seen over-the-air in the cities of Caracas, Maracaibo, and Barquisimeto on channels 57, 53, and 63 respectively. It was officially inaugurated on October 5, ...
*
TV Familia TV Familia is a Caracas based regional familiar, entertainment, religious (Roman Catholic) and cultural television network. It can be seen by those only living in greater Caracas on UHF channel 69. It can also be seen on Directv channel 117, ...
*
Catia TVe Catia TVe (Televisora Comunitaria del Oeste) is a Venezuelan television channel, created and administered by the residents of Catia, a major neighborhood in the capital city of Caracas. Seventy percent of its programming is created by community o ...
*
Meridiano Televisión Meridiano Televisión is a 24-hour sports network in Venezuela. History Meridiano Televisión was created in 1996 as a privately owned television network in Venezuela, exclusively dedicated to national and international sports. Its owned by Bloq ...
*
Asamblea Nacional Televisión Asamblea Nacional Televisión (ANTV) was the television station of the National Assembly of Venezuela. It was created in 2005 to cover the proceedings of Venezuela's National Assembly. Their goal is to increase the participation of Venezuelan cit ...
*
Ve Plus TV VePlus is the updated name of the subscription channel of Cisneros Media. Previously known in some areas as Venevision Continental, Novelisima VePlus TV, V Mas TV (subsidiary of Grupo Cisneros), VePlus has retained much of the programming of Ven ...


Culture

Caracas is Venezuela's
cultural capital In the field of sociology, cultural capital comprises the social assets of a person (education, intellect, style of speech, style of dress, etc.) that promote social mobility in a stratified society. Cultural capital functions as a social relat ...
, with many restaurants, theaters, museums, and
shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...
centers. The city is home to many immigrants from Spain, Italy, Portugal, the Middle East, Germany, China, and other Latin American countries.


Sports

Professional sports teams in the city include the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
clubs
Caracas Fútbol Club Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the "Reds from Áv ...
,
Deportivo Petare Petare Fútbol Club (until summer 2010 called Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club and known as Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club until summer 2015) is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club afte ...
,
Atlético Venezuela Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...
, SD Centro Italo Venezolano,
Estrella Roja FC Estrella Roja Fútbol Club (usually called Estrella Roja) is a professional association football, football club promoted to the Primera División Venezolana, Venezuelan league in 2007, based in Caracas. Squad

{{Primera División ...
and
Deportivo La Guaira Deportivo La Guaira (formerly known as Real Esppor) is a professional football club promoted to the Venezuelan league in 2009, based in La Guaira but playing its home games in Caracas at the Estadio Olímpico de la UCV. History Real Esppor Th ...
. Deportivo Petare has reached the semi-finals of international tournaments, such as the
Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
, while the Caracas Fútbol Club has reached the quarterfinals. Baseball teams
Tiburones de La Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira ( en, La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, they play their home games in Estadio Fórum La Guaira and have won seven national champions ...
and
Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...
play at University Stadium, with a capacity of nearly 26,000 spectators. The football stadiums in the city include the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...
, home to Caracas Fútbol Club and Deportivo La Guaira, with a capacity of 30,000 spectators, and the Brígido Iriarte Stadium, home to Atlético Venezuela, with a capacity of 12,000 spectators. In basketball, the
Cocodrilos de Caracas Cocodrilos de Caracas () is a Venezuelan professional basketball club based in Caracas. Established in 1990, the club competes in the Venezuelan SuperLiga and has won six national championships. The Cocodrilos' home games are played at the Parque ...
play their games in the
Poliedro de Caracas The Poliedro de Caracas ("Caracas Polyhedron Arena") is an indoor sports arena, located on the grounds adjacent to Hipodromo La Rinconada, in Caracas, Venezuela. It was designed by architect Thomas C. Howard of Synergetics, Inc., in Raleigh, NC, ...
in the El Paraíso neighborhood. Caracas is the seat of the National Institute of Sports and of the
Venezuelan Olympic Committee 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 city hosted the 1983 Pan American Games.


Education


Central University of Venezuela

The Central University of Venezuela (''Universidad Central de Venezuela'', UCV) is a public university founded in 1721: it is the oldest university in Venezuela. The
university campus A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a college campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls, student centers or dining halls, and park-like se ...
was designed by architect
Carlos Raúl Villanueva Carlos Raúl Villanueva Astoul (May 30, 1900 – August 16, 1975) was a Venezuelan modernist architect. Villanueva went for the first time to Venezuela when he was 28 years old. He was involved in the development and modernization of Caracas, ...
and declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
in 2000.


Simón Bolívar University

The Simón Bolívar University (''Universidad Simón Bolívar'', USB) is a public institution in Caracas that focuses on science and technology.


Other universities

*
Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela The Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela (in Spanish ''Universidad Militar Bolivariana de Venezuela''. The Military Bolivarian University of Venezuela (UMBV), is a National Experimental University of Venezuela, which operates under the mil ...
(Main Campus) *
Universidad Católica Andrés Bello Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...
* Universidad Nacional Experimental de la Gran Caracas *
Universidad Metropolitana The Metropolitan University ( es, Universidad Metropolitana) (Unimet) is a Venezuelan university founded in 1970 by a group of entrepreneurs led by Eugenio Mendoza Goiticoa in the terrains donated by the businessman Pius Schlageter, father of ...
* (UNEARTE) *
Universidad Monteávila Universidad Monteávila is a private, Roman Catholic - Opus Dei - University in Caracas, Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the ...
* Universidad Nueva Esparta * Universidad Santa Maria * Universidad Alejandro de Humboldt * Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Fuerzas Armadas * Universidad Nacional Experimental Simón Rodríguez * Universidad Bolivariana de Venezuela * Universidad José María Vargas *
Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador Universidad Pedagógica Experimental Libertador (Libertador Experimental Pedagogical University, UPEL) is the main public university institute, dedicated to the formation of teachers and professors in Venezuela. Its main headquarters is on Cara ...
* Universidad Experimental Politécnica Antonio José de Sucre


International schools

* British School of Caracas * Colegio Internacional de Caracas *
Escuela Campo Alegre Escuela Campo Alegre is a K-12 American International school located in Caracas, Venezuela. It was founded in 1937 in the neighborhood of Campo Alegre, but the school grew in such a way that it had to be moved to its present location in Las Me ...
* International Christian School *
Tomchei Tmimim Tomchei Tmimim ( he, תומכי תמימים, "supporters of the complete-wholesome ones") is the central Yeshiva (Talmudical academy) of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Founded in 1897 in the town of Lubavitch by Rabbi Sholom Do ...
* Lycée Français de Caracas – Colegio Francia


Transport

The
Caracas Metro The Caracas Metro ( es, Metro de Caracas) is a mass rapid transit system serving Caracas, Venezuela. It was constructed and is operated by Compañía Anónima Metro de Caracas, a government-owned company that was founded in 1977 by José Gonz ...
has been in operation since 27 March 1983. With 4 lines, 47 stations and about 10 more to be constructed. It covers a great part of the city and also has an integrated ticket system that combines the route of the ''Metro'' with those offered by the ''Metrobús'', a bus service of the Caracas Metro. In 2010, the first segment of a new aerial cable car system opened, Metrocable which feeds into the larger metro system. Buses are the main means of
mass transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
. There are two bus systems: the traditional system and the ''Metrobús''. Other transportation services include the IFE train to and from the Tuy Valley cities of
Charallave Charallave is a city in the state of Miranda, Venezuela, and part of Miranda's Valles del Tuy region. It is the capital of Cristóbal Rojas Municipality. The name derives from the local ''Charavares'' indigenous people found at the time the city ...
and
Cúa Cúa (founded in 1690) is a small city capital of the Urdaneta Municipality, located in the Miranda State (Estado Miranda) in the north of Venezuela with an altitude of 490 m. Cúa is noted for warm and clear weather, with year-round sunshine and ...
; the Simón Bolívar International Airport, the biggest and most important in the country; the metro additional services
Caracas Aerial Tramway Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
and
Los Teques Metro The Los Teques Metro is a suburban mass-transit system in the city of Los Teques, Venezuela with connections to important surrounding cities and communities. It was opened to public service on November 3, 2006. The Los Teques Metro currently oper ...
(connecting Caracas with the suburban city of
Los Teques Los Teques ) is the capital of the state of Miranda and the municipality of Guaicaipuro Municipality. It is located in the capital region of north-central Venezuela. More specifically, southwest of Caracas, 10° 21' 00" N latitude and 67° 02' 3 ...
); and the
Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base , commonly called by its former name of ''La Carlota'', is located in Caracas, Venezuela. The airport is named for Francisco de Miranda, a South American revolutionary. On 27 November 1992, the airport ...
used by military aviation and government airplanes.


Highways and main roads

The largest concentration of road networks in the country is in the Caracas region and its surroundings, with a large network of highways and avenues in the Metropolitan District and urban, suburban and interurban roads. The road network has become a great crossroads between the West, the East and the Center of the country. Not very advantageous role for a city saturated with population and vehicles of all kinds, both from the same city and from its immediate area of influence (La Guaira State, Valles del Tuy, Guarenas-Guatire, Altos Mirandinos) and from other areas of the country. Currently, a link is being built that will connect the Central Regional highway (at km 31) with the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho highway (Kempis sector), in order to serve as a spillway to the city of Caracas and neighboring Guarenas and Guatire, so that vehicles that go from east to west or center, and vice versa, do not have the need to enter Caracas. The route of this highway would be from the vicinity of the Charallave airport, passing through Santa Lucía and going up to the Kempis area (between Guatire and Caucagua). Traffic in the Caracas Region is very congested, since it is the city with the largest number of cars in the country, causing traffic jams at any time in the city and being over-saturated at peak hours, where Caracas residents last up to 3 hours to get out of congestion.


Caracas metro

It is one of the most important means of transportation in the city, since its 47 operating stations transport about 2 million people, according to official figures83 The Caracas Metro system covers the central area of the city from east to west, with lines that connect the southwest and with other surface systems of the Metro system (BusCaracas, MetroCable San Agustín) as well as the southeast (Cabletrén de Petare, Metrocable Mariche), Metrobús feeder routes in most of the stations, in addition to the expansion of lines existing stations (La Rinconada terminal station of line 3 and intermediate stations of the extension; interconnection of the Plaza Venezuela and Capuchinos stations – extension of line 2, better known as line 4, as well as the future interconnection with the Metro Guarenas Guatire system, which began with the Bello Monte station) and an appendix that extends to the city of Los Teques (capital of the Miranda state). The three stations that comprise this last line make up the Los Teques Metro System86. Both systems are operated by the company C. A. Metro de Caracas (Cametro) The system inaugurated in 1983 has 71 km and with five lines, being one of the longest in Latin America and expansions of it are being built towards the towns of Guarenas and Guatire. The expansion plans also include the extension to the Baruta and Hatillo municipalities, as well as other metrocable systems in the city center.


BusCaracas

BusCaracas is a mass transit system that connects some areas of the Libertador municipality of Caracas. It began operations in October 201290, taking as a model other means of transportation such as the Trolemérida, and Transbarca. The work was undertaken by the Government of Venezuela through the Ministry of Public Works and Housing (MOPVI), the company in charge of the construction was VIALPA, until its contract was cancelled and replaced by PILPERCA in 2010, and inaugurated on 3 October 2012. Also known as Line 7 of the Caracas subway has 11 stations with two connections to the subway system at La Hoyada and La bandera, lines 1 and 3 respectively.


Metrocable

The Caracas Metrocable is a cable car system integrated into the Caracas Metro, conceived in such a way that residents of Caracas neighborhoods usually located in mountainous areas can travel faster and safer to the city center. It works like a feeder route in the style of the metrobus. In 2011, a new metrocable system was built in the Parroquia de San Agustín del Sur, where people can freely go and enjoy a view of a large part of Caracas.


Rail system

There is a national railway project, which aims to connect Caracas with the central area of the country. Currently, the Caracas-
Cúa Cúa (founded in 1690) is a small city capital of the Urdaneta Municipality, located in the Miranda State (Estado Miranda) in the north of Venezuela with an altitude of 490 m. Cúa is noted for warm and clear weather, with year-round sunshine and ...
train service is operating, belonging to the Central Railway System of Venezuela "Ezequiel Zamora I". Inaugurated in 2006, it is the only railway section currently operating in Venezuela, according to the Instituto de Ferrocarriles del Estado (IFE). This commuter train line connects the city of Caracas with the towns of the
Valles del Tuy The Valles del Tuy (Tuy Valleys) is a region of Venezuela, covering several municipalities in the north-central Miranda State. It is in the area around the Tuy River The Tuy River is a river of northern Venezuela, in the Valles del Tuy (Tuy Vall ...
(Charallave, Santa Lucía, Ocumare, Santa Teresa, Yare and Cúa) and runs for 41.4 kilometers. The network begins its journey at the Libertador Simón Bolivar station in Caracas, located in La Rinconada and connected to line 3 of the Caracas metro. From the city it communicates with three other stations: Charallave Norte Francisco de Miranda and Charallave Sur Don Simón Rodríguez; both in the town of Charallave and ends at the Cúa General Ezequiel Zamora station (Cúa, Miranda).


Notable people


International relations


Twin towns – sister cities

Caracas is twinned with: *
Adeje Adeje is a town and municipality in the southwestern part of the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. The town Adeje is located 4 km from the coast, 8 km north of the resort town ...
, Spain *
Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...
, Mexico *
Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
, United States *
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Spain *
Melilla Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
, Spain *
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, United States *
Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...
, Panama *
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...
, Argentina *
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Brazil *
Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...
, Spain *
Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...
, Dominican Republic *
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, Iran *
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...
, Spain


Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities

Caracas is part of the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities from 12 October 1982.


See also

*
Greater Caracas Metropolitan Region of Caracas (MRC) or Greater Caracas (GC) ( es, Región Metropolitana de Caracas; RMC or ''Gran Caracas''; GC) is the urban agglomeration comprising the Metropolitan District of Caracas and the adjacent 11 municipalities over ...
*
Large Cities Climate Leadership Group – The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a group of 97 cities around the world that represents one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on fighting climate change a ...
*
La Silsa La Silsa is a neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela. The neighborhood is considered to be a slum with a high crime rate.Padgett, Tim.Hugo Chávez: Man With No Limits?" ''Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), ev ...
*
List of metropolitan areas of Venezuela List of metropolitan areas in Venezuela according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica (2013).Based on the result of the 2011 Census Metropolitan areas References {{DEFAULTSORT:Metropolitan areas in Venezuela Venezuela Metropolita ...
*
Caracazo The ''Caracazo'' is the name given to the wave of protests, riots and looting. that started on 27 February 1989 in Guarenas, spreading to Caracas and surrounding towns. The weeklong clashes resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people, thousand ...
* Venezuela 60-day state of emergency


Notes and references


Further reading


External links

* {{Navboxes , list = {{Caracas {{Authorities of Caracas {{Divisions of Caracas {{Administrative divisions of Venezuela {{Capital cities of Mercosur member states Capitals in South America Populated places established in 1567 Populated places in Venezuela 1567 establishments in the Spanish Empire