Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the
Venezuelan state of
Nueva Esparta
The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ), is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.
The state has the smallest area, and is located off the northe ...
, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in 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 ...
. The capital city of Nueva Esparta,
La Asunción
La Asunción () is a city in Venezuela. The capital of Nueva Esparta state (made up of three islands), it lies on Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, off the South American mainland. It is inland from Porlamar and is in a genuine colonial setti ...
, is located on the island.
History
Age of Exploration
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
was the first European to arrive on Margarita Island in
1498
Year 1498 (Roman numerals, MCDXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1498th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 498th year of the 2nd mill ...
. The local natives were the
Guaiqueries people. The coast of the island was abundant in pearls, which represented almost a third of all New World tribute to the Spanish Crown. Margarita Island was fortified against the increasing threat of pirate attacks, and some fortifications remain today. It was the center of Spanish colonial
Margarita Province
Margarita Province (1525 - 1864) was one of the provinces of the Spanish Empire, then one of the provinces of Gran Colombia, and later one of the Provinces of Venezuela. In Gran Colombia it belonged to the Orinoco Department which was created in 1 ...
, established in
1525
__NOTOC__
Year 1525 (Roman numerals, MDXXV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 21 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Con ...
.
In
1561
Year 1561 ( MDLXI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–June
* January 31 – The Edict of Orleans suspends the persecution of the Huguenots in ...
, the island was seized by
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 fi ...
, a notoriously violent and rebellious
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
. Around
1675
Events
January–March
* January 5 – Franco-Dutch War – Battle of Turckheim: The French defeat Austria and Brandenburg.
* January 29 – John Sassamon, an English-educated Native Americans in the United States, Nati ...
, the island was captured again, this time by
Red Legs Greaves, a pirate known for his humanity and morality. He captured a fleet of Spanish ships off port, before turning the guns on the forts which he stormed and claimed a large booty of
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s and
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
.
The story of Greaves' capture of the island does not appear in historical Spanish records and may be fictional.
Construction of the
Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle was ordered by the governor,
Juan Muñoz de Gadea, after the French buccaneer
Marquis de Maintenon attacked the island in early 1676.
Independence era
The island gained independence from the Spanish in 1814, after the collapse of the
First Republic of Venezuela
The First Republic of Venezuela ( es, Primera República de Venezuela) was the first independent government of Venezuela, lasting from 5 July 1811, to 25 July 1812. The period of the First Republic began with the overthrow of the Spanish colonial ...
. It became the first permanently free territory in Venezuela. In the same year,
Luisa Cáceres de Arismendi
MarÃa Luisa Cáceres DÃaz de Arismendi (September 25, 1799 – June 2, 1866) was a heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence.
The beginning of the war
Luisa was born in Caracas, Venezuela, to José Domingo Cáceres and Carmen DÃaz, prospe ...
was detained in a dungeon of the Fortress of Santa Rosa on the island in an attempt to put pressure on her husband
Juan Bautista Arismendi
Juan Bautista Arismendi (March 15, 1775 – June 22, 1841) was a Venezuelan patriot and general of the Venezuelan War of Independence. He is buried in the National Pantheon of Venezuela.
Arismendi was born in La Asuncion, Isla Margarita in 1775 ...
, who was fighting for independence. Her detention lasted for over three years.
Simón BolÃvar
Simón José Antonio de la SantÃsima Trinidad BolÃvar 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 ...
was confirmed as
Commander-in-Chief of the
Second Republic of Venezuela
The Second Republic of Venezuela ( es, Segunda República de Venezuela) is the name used to refer to the reestablished Venezuelan Republic declared by Simón BolÃvar on 7 August 1813. This declaration followed the defeat of Domingo Monteverde ...
on the island in 1816. From there, he started a
nine-year campaign to free
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 ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
,
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
,
Peru
, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol = Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal
, national_motto = "Fi ...
, and
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
from the
Spanish Crown
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
.
Contemporary history
In modern times, Margarita Island has been primarily a tourist destination.
The island's status as a
duty-free
A duty-free shop (or store) is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, w ...
port was established in 1974 to promote commercial and tourism industries, with lower-priced imports driving increased visitors and the development of hotels.
The island was the host venue for the
Caribbean Series
The Caribbean Series (''Spanish'': ''Serie del Caribe''), also called Caribbean World Series, is the highest tournament for professional baseball teams in Latin America. The tournament location is rotated annually among the countries and is norma ...
in 2010 and 2014.
Geography
![Nueva Esparta Map English](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Nueva_Esparta_Map_English.svg)
Located in the Caribbean Sea between latitudes 10°52'N and 11°11'N and longitudes 63°48'W and 64°23'W, the island, along with the islands of
Coche and
Cubagua
Cubagua Island or Isla de Cubagua () is the smallest and least populated of the three islands constituting the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, after Margarita Island and Coche Island. It is located north of the Araya Peninsula, the closest ...
, comprises the state of
Nueva Esparta
The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ), is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.
The state has the smallest area, and is located off the northe ...
. The island is split into two
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 ...
s joined by an long
isthmus
An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmu ...
and covers an area of . It is long and measures roughly at its widest. The climate is sunny and dry, with average temperatures ranging from to .
Most of the island's 420,000 residents live in the more developed eastern part of the island, which includes the large cities of
Porlamar
)
Pueblo de La Mar ( en, Village by the Sea)
, image_skyline =
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, image_seal =
, pushpin_map =Venezuela
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, subdivis ...
and
Pampatar
Pampatar is a city on Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela. It is located in the Maneiro Municipality.
Pampatar lies 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Porlamar.
A coastal town which was founded 1552. Its strategic importance become ...
, along with the state capital of
La Asunción
La Asunción () is a city in Venezuela. The capital of Nueva Esparta state (made up of three islands), it lies on Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, off the South American mainland. It is inland from Porlamar and is in a genuine colonial setti ...
. The island can be reached by direct flights from
Caracas
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 ...
or ferries from
Puerto la Cruz,
Cumaná
Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...
, and
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 ...
. There are no international flights to the island at present.
![Monumento natural tetas de marÃa guevara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Monumento_natural_tetas_de_mar%C3%ADa_guevara.jpg)
The
Macanao peninsula
The Macanao Peninsula is a geographic peninsula landform, that forms the western end of the Isla Margarita in the Caribbean Sea, in northern Venezuela.
It is also a Venezuelan municipality, the Municipality of Macanao Peninsula (''Municipio Penà ...
to the west has a central
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in the east–west direction. The highest altitude is at
Pico de Macanao. Several smaller ranges derive from this axis following a north–south orientation with deep valleys between them. The most notable of these valleys is San Francisco in the north-central part of the peninsula. The Paraguachoa peninsula to the East is formed by a mountain range in the north–south direction from Porlamar to Cabo Negro. The highest peaks are San Juan or Cerro Grande at and El Copey . The peninsulas are connected by the La Restinga isthmus, on which the
La Restinga lagoon is located. There are also two
breast-shaped hills known as
Tetas de Maria Guevara on the isthmus.
Beaches
![Playa Puerto Cruz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Playa_Puerto_Cruz.JPG)
There are at least 70 beaches on the island, which has a coastline. Popular beaches include
Playa El Yaque,
Playa Parguito,
Playa Caribe,
Playa Punta Arenas
Playa Punta Arenas is the most western tip of Margarita Island. It is a fine white sand beach and home for many of the local fishermen. The fishermen's huts extend along a beach which leads to a sandy point which gives its name to both the villag ...
,
Playa El Agua
Playa El Agua is the most famous tourist development on Margarita Island in Venezuela.
El Agua is 2.5 miles (4 km) long, 30m wide, gold sand lined with huge palm trees
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region ...
and
Playa Puerto Cruz.
Terrain
Macanao peninsula
The Macanao Peninsula is a geographic peninsula landform, that forms the western end of the Isla Margarita in the Caribbean Sea, in northern Venezuela.
It is also a Venezuelan municipality, the Municipality of Macanao Peninsula (''Municipio Penà ...
consists of mountainous spine of the central west–east, with several culminations, including Macanao Peak, which is the highest, with an altitude of 760 meters above sea level stands. This axial region several side brackets oriented north–south off, including deep valleys are dissected; the most important is San Francisco in the north central of Margarita. The central massif is surrounded by foothills forming a more or less continuous, narrow strip, which reaches almost to the coast north and south of the peninsula.
[Physical Characteristics of Isla Margarita](_blank)
(spanish)
Mountains
Isla Margarita eastern is formed by a mountain range which runs roughly north–south, from northern
Porlamar
)
Pueblo de La Mar ( en, Village by the Sea)
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to ''Cabo Negro''; north from the town of ''El Espinal'', the massif rises steeply to the culminations of San Juan and Copey hills, at heights of 920 and 890 m, respectively. The hills are Matasite and Guayamurà ''Los Andes'' foothills. To the north stands the Tragaplata hill.
![San Juan Valley](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/San_Juan_Valley.jpg)
Among the higher elevations found on the island, are cited:
The highest portion of the SerranÃa de Macanao forms a wide arc as a semicircle or amphitheater open to the northwest, surrounding a protected valley, extremely picturesque, where the town of S. Francisco is settled.
From the highest hill, Los Cedars, which occupy a central position, and Towards the northwest, the SerranÃa loses altitude gradually into a continuum in which alternating downward and small slopes climbs to the Guarataro hill, which from the east it stands out as a small pyramidal stone projection but from the north is projected as an isolated hill whose profile of steep and long slopes offers
one of the most striking perspectives of the silhouette of the entire SerranÃa.
Following the Guarataro and going north, there is a wide valley with rounded hills, crossed or separated by ravines or ravines.
Partial view of the SerranÃa. On the right the hill "Guarataro".
![Child cast net in Laguna de Raya](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Child_cast_net_in_Laguna_de_Raya.jpg)
The road ascends and runs through this wide It is a valley with numerous curves, crossing the mountain through some trenches that have been artificially dug to avoid too steep a slope. To the north, on the right of the road
when you go to San Francisco the ground rises again forming a kind of mini mountain range with three or four elongated hills separated from each other by valleys that together form a continuous ridge in a northeasterly direction that occupies the geomorphological overhang
that breaks the uniformity of the rectangular perimeter of the peninsula, which, in this area projects as a rocky promontory that falls abruptly to the sea, forming cliffs Slope hills northwest of the SerranÃa, "the miniserranÃa", which fall to the sea in the area of "The Maguey". In the foreground, view of the desolate plain to the northwest of it.
Of very steep slopes and in some places practically vertical. From the northwest, This small mountain range stands out clearly as two elongated hills of similar height, separated by a well-defined watercourse. On the eastern slope, the main mountain range loses height sharply, however, until almost Boca del RÃo it extends in a sequence of rounded hills of little height that in their majority are of reddish sandstones and sparse, xerophilic, or absent, vegetation of aspect, but that at sunset acquires tonalities of surprising serenity and singular beauty. All of them are crossed by more or less deep ravines. To the north, the valley formed by the amphitheater of the high hills opens up to sea, but its lateral slopes also descend in hills of reddish sandstone until Partial view of the slope western part of the SerranÃa.
The coast leaving between the road and the sea a wide strip of coastline in which cliffs and coves. These last ones, because they are protected from the direct action of the dominant winds, allow the sands to be deposited forming beaches like those of Tunar, La Wall or The Mule. In some cases, already over the sea, there are isolated hills that stand out of the rest of the landscape as in La Pared and La Mula. The main mountain range has a relief of steep slopes and sharp peaks, forming a cut profile of steep slopes extremely characteristic and unmistakable, with a strong personality. From west to east, the names of some of these hills, of evocative and sonorous indigenous names, are: Cerro de Narciso, La Soledad, Risco Blanco, The Congo, Los Cedros (the highest), followed by Sacamanteca on the south side, Although according to the farmers their real name and without a doubt the original is Guainamal, others call it Macanao.
Mamantón, Cerro de L'aguá, Tapacular and Campanario. Between Manglillo and Guayacancito,
Near the edge of the road are the hills of Sabio and Pendejo which are of lesser height. La Soledad or Guainamal is the real Cerro Macanao. On the northern sides The hills of Gavilán and Guarataro stand out.
Macanao Peninsula
![Stenocereus heptagonus from Macanao Peninsula](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Stenocereus_heptagonus_from_Macanao_Peninsula.jpg)
With an extension of 330 km
2 and a rectangular contour of 23 km in length and 14 km in width, the Peninsula of Macanao, western portion
of Margarita Island, is linked to the eastern portion of the island by a sandy cord or restinga which separates the so-called Restinga beach from the lagoon de Arapano, the indigenous name of the body of water, better known today as Laguna de La Restinga, reserving Arapano's for the eastern portion, which is mostly devoid of mangroves.
![Macanao hill from La Restinga Lagoon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Macanao_hill_from_La_Restinga_Lagoon.jpg)
The sandy cord or beach is about 22 km long and the lagoon has an extension of 23 km
2. Its western end, which borders the Macanao Peninsula, receives the denomination of El Saco, zone that was habitually visited by the
flamingo
Flamingos or flamingoes are a type of Wader, wading bird in the Family (biology), family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas ...
s or tococos that formed a pink stain visible from afar; then, when they lift up their flight they offer a show of incomparable color quality, especially when the sun's rays from the dusk, already oblique, they make stand out, with variety of soft shades, the pink color of the birds and their "jet" plane morphology with the neck stretched out and the wings placed in the center of the fuselage, long and slender.
From the geomorphological and landscape point of view, the Peninsula is characterized by presence of a mountain range (whose highest hill reaches 745 m) that occupies the entire portion of the peninsula, leaving free only, to the south, a coastal strip more or less wide that forms cliffs on the sea, terraces of filling, mouth of ravines or extensive salinetas that were ancient lagoons formed as a result of the interaction between sea currents and the contributions of the rivers whose joint action created a restinga or bar.
Later, the sedimentary contribution dragged by the torrents that descend from the hills filled them, leaving only the sandy elevation of the restinga, which separates them from the sea above the level of the clay substrate of the salineta, for that reason, in the season of big rains they fill up again with water and become slippery plains of clay or mud, impassable. In this coastal strip, which is between the road and the sea,
There is an abundance of debris: fragments of metamorphic rocks, stones and earth that have been the hills; and on which grows a poor xerophilic vegetation more or less dense. Among the cliffs there are beaches on which the fishermen's ranches settled around
which the towns were formed.
Climate
The average temperature is with minimum ranging between and and maximum that can easily exceed . Rainfall is common in the winter months and rainy season that begins July–October (although the rain is usually quite rare). Being located in 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 ...
near the
Earth's equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...
, solar rays fall perpendicularly on the island and therefore it is advisable to always use some sort of sunscreen when visiting its beaches.
Municipalities
Cities
La Asunción
La Asunción () is a city in Venezuela. The capital of Nueva Esparta state (made up of three islands), it lies on Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, off the South American mainland. It is inland from Porlamar and is in a genuine colonial setti ...
is the capital of the Federal State of
Nueva Esparta
The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ), is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua.
The state has the smallest area, and is located off the northe ...
with a population of around 28,500. It is the seat of the regional government. The city is overlooked by the
Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle.
The urban area of
Pampatar
Pampatar is a city on Isla Margarita, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela. It is located in the Maneiro Municipality.
Pampatar lies 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Porlamar.
A coastal town which was founded 1552. Its strategic importance become ...
has a population of around 50,000. A number of the island's larger shopping malls are located in the city, namely Sambil Margarita, Rattan Depot, Centro Comercial La Vela, Centro Comercial Costa Azul, Centro Comercial AB (Avenida Bolivar) and La Redoma. The
San Carlos de Borromeo Fortress, constructed in the late 17th century, is located in Pampatar. The city also has several beaches.
The largest city on Margarita Island is
Porlamar
)
Pueblo de La Mar ( en, Village by the Sea)
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, image_caption = Panoramic
, image_flag = Bandera santiagomarino.jpg
, image_seal =
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, subdivis ...
. The population can reach 125,000 in the high season, while in the low season, the population is about 85,000. Two beaches are located within the city. The island's major airport,
Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport
Santiago Mariño Caribbean International Airport ( es, Aeropuerto Internacional del Caribe "Santiago Mariño", ) is an airport west-southwest of Porlamar, the largest city on Isla Margarita, an island in the state of Nueva Esparta in Venezuela.
...
, is located near Porlamar.
Juan Griego
Juan Griego is a city on the northern side of Isla Margarita, and is the most northern port in Venezuela. It has a population of 28,256 inhabitants (as per census of 2001) and is capital of the Marcano municipality of the Nueva Esparta state.
H ...
is a city on the northern side of Isla Margarita, and is the most northern port in Venezuela. It has a population of 28,256 inhabitants (as per census of 2001) and is the capital of the Marcano municipality of the Nueva Esparta state. Its Gothic-style church, constructed in 1850 by Fray Nicholas de Igualdad, is still, along with the lovely bay, the symbol of the city. The La Galera fortress, where in the early 1820s a fierce battle for independence was fought, is located near the city centre. In 1973, the island become a free port and the city once again become the second city of commercial importance after Porlamar.
Population
![Islamargaritanoche](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Islamargaritanoche.jpg)
The demonym for islanders is ''Margariteños/as'' and ''Neoespartanos/as''. Ethnic minority populations of some significance include descendants of West Africa enslaved by the Spaniards, Lebanese, Syrian,
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, German, French, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, Argentine, Chilean, Uruguayan, Colombian, and Chinese. Immigrants from mainland Venezuela are colloquially called ''navegaos'' by islanders.
A little less than 25% of the Neoespartanian population live in Porlamar. Margarita's population is just under 440,000, although this tends to fluctuate during holiday periods and the festive season.
Religion
![La Asuncion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/La_Asuncion.jpg)
The predominant religion is
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. Other Christian denominations are also present. Of the churches that present in the Neospartan entity, among the most important are:
Basilica of Our Lady of El Valle (in the Valley of the EspÃritu Santo),
La Asunción Cathedral, Iglesia San Juan Evangelista (Juangriego), Iglesia parroquial de San Juan (San Juan Bautista), Iglesia de San Nicolás de Bari (Porlamar), of the San José de Paraguachi and other churches and chapels minor located in populations of Santa Ana, Punta de Piedras, Porlamar, Pampatar and virtually all the towns of the island. There are also small populations of Jews and Muslims.
Evangelical Christian churches have had a significant growth in recent years demonstrating their presence and impact in the population of the island. One of the fastest-growing is the Centro Cristiano Casa de Alabanza (CCCA), present in Porlamar, Juan Griego, La Asunción and Tubores Municipality.
The patron saint of eastern Venezuela is the
Virgen del Valle and in the population
El Valle del EspÃritu Santo
El Valle del EspÃritu Santo is a village near Porlamar, in the Nueva Esparta state of Venezuela. Founded as the capital of the island in 1529, El Valle del EspÃritu Santo is just north of Porlamar. It is the birth town of Santiago Mariño and his ...
is the BasÃlica Menor de Nuestra Señora del Valle, which approaching Margarita, Coche and Cubagua Islanders visit to honor her on her feast day.
Natural heritage
Las Tetas de MarÃa Guevara
The ''
Tetas de Maria Guevara'' ("Maria Guevara's breasts"), located in a coastal plain in the south of the 1,670 hectare
Laguna de La Restinga National Park, are two small twin hills with a height of . The
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...
around the hills is
desert
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...
, with cacti, prickly pears, yaks, guamaches. The fauna is diverse, including desert lizards, rabbits, rattlesnakes and coral.
The
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
told by the inhabitants of the island goes that the name MarÃa Guevara comes from a white young girl who was heavily involved in the
War of Independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
and that upon her death, the hills rose on her grave. Another Margaritan myth says the source of the name also comes from the same woman, but that she was from
Cumaná
Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...
and came to the island to lead a group of men in fishing activities. As she had small breasts, by way of derision whenever they sighted the hills said, "there are the lady's tits" and the name was created. The area was declared a national park on February 27, 1974.
Crime
Since the beginning of 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 ...
, the primary industry of tourism has declined 90% between 2010 and 2020.
The island is currently affected by
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
and is recognized as an international hub for the
illegal drug trade
The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...
.
Drug trafficking
Multiple international intelligence organizations have focused their investigations on Isla Margarita as being a major center of organized crime.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Margarita Island is the location of significant narcotics-related money-laundering activity.
Violent crime
Since 2010, there have been numerous instances of tourist murders. On 27 August 2010, an Italian tourist, Emiliano Astore, was murdered on his boat anchored off Margarita Island in an apparent robbery. Two police officers and a civilian were arrested. A third officer was implicated in the "exploitation of objects" from the crime. On 18 July 2011, 28-year-old Briton Tom Ossel was killed resisting seven armed robbers who had tricked their way into the Posada Casa Rosa backpackers' hotel in Playa El Agua before they took the guests hostage and raiding rooms for valuables. On 29 March 2011, French tourist Yves Le Bras was murdered in a robbery at the Laguna Mar hotel, while he and his wife dined at the Guacuco restaurant.
In March 2011, Belgian tourist Philippe Bonne was murdered while eating in a fast food outlet in Playa El Agua, Margarita.
On 20 January 2012, about 30 or 35 Brazilian tourists were robbed in their hotel in Antolin del Campo, Margarita, by a gang of between 13 and 15 armed robbers.
On 3 September 2013, a Dutch sailor was killed on his yacht while resisting armed robbers attempting to board his boat. On 7 February 2014, a few hours after arriving on the island, German cruise ship passenger Horst Kurt Fritz was killed by two gunmen on a motorcycle at a shop near the Sambil shopping center.
See also
*
Cariaco Basin
The Cariaco Basin lies off the north central coast of Venezuela and forms the Gulf of Cariaco. It is bounded on the east by Margarita Island, Cubagua Island, and the Araya Peninsula; on the north by Tortuga Island and the Tortuga Banks; on the w ...
References
External links
Nuevaesparta.gob.ve: Official Isla de Margarita government website
{{Authority control
Colonial Venezuela
Geography of Nueva Esparta
Venezuelan islands of the Leeward Antilles