Cúa (founded in 1690) is a small city capital of the Urdaneta Municipality, located in the

Miranda State Miranda State ( es, link=no, Estado Miranda, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela and the second most populous after Zulia State. As of the 2011 census, it had a population of 2,675,165 residents. It also has the greatest Human Development Inde ...

(Estado Miranda) in the north 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 ...

with an altitude of 490 m. Cúa is noted for warm and clear weather, with year-round sunshine and 60 days of rainfall annually, and an average temperature that range from 18 °C to 28 °C, but with relative low humidity. With leafy forest and meadows, Cúa has a population of 123,000 (2004), mainly dedicated to services and industry (plastic pipes, paper rolls) it's a dormitory town. The most important districts of Cúa are: ''Nueva Cúa, Lecumberry, La Fila, Mume, Santa rosa'' and ''Aparay''. The local Sanctuary of the Virgin of Betania has become famous for its attributed

Marian apparitions A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time. In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian ap ...

. Cúa is one of the locations served by the IFE Ezequiel Zamora Mass Transportation System.

Foundation

The first establishments of Cúa dates from the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

period, being the first founders the '' Quiriquires'' natives, has like nickname ''The Tuy Pearl'', because its location at the borders of 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 ...

. After the officially foundation on October 6, 1690 by Fray ''Manuel de Alesson'', under the invocation of

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Rom ...

of Cúa, the first inhabitants came from different regions motivated by the agriculture, due to the fertility and strategic location of the valley. However, this town was founded initially at the site known as ''Marín'' in 1633, this first village was destroyed in its totality by a violent earthquake that affected a great part of the Tuy Valleys. The name of Cúa, according to some historians, has it origin from the '' Cumanagotos'' natives, from the Carib language that means ''Crab'', meaning that Cúa is the place where the crab abounds. Others affirm that its name is associate with

Apacuana Apacuana ()—also transliterated as Apacuane, Apakuama or Apakuana—was a 16th-century woman of the Quiriquires (also known as Kirikires), a branch of the Carib people that inhabited the Valles del Tuy region (then known by the Spanish as Salama ...

, a brave native woman from the region, that fought against the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both in ...

. Others think that that name was giving in honor to the native ''Cue'', ally of the Spaniards, that helped in the foundation and consolidation of the town.

Climate

Law and government

Cúa has one municipality: Urdaneta Municipality. Venezuelan law specifies that municipal governments have four main functions: executive, legislative, comptroller, and planning. The executive function is managed by the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, who is in charge of representing the municipality's administration. The legislative branch is represented by the Municipal Council, composed of seven

councillors A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

, charged with the deliberation of new decrees and local laws. The comptroller tasks are managed by the municipal comptroller's office, which oversees

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "langua ...

. Finally, planning is represented by the Local Public Planning Council, which manages development projects for the municipality. Law and government

Demographics

Cúa has a total area of 273 km² (105.4 mi²), with a population of 123,000 (2004), the city limits by the north with the municipalities Cristóbal Rojas ( Charallave) 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/ ...

(''Paracotos'' parish), by the south with ''San Casimiro'' municipality (

Aragua state Aragua State ( es, Estado Aragua, ) is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It is located in the north-central region of Venezuela. It has plains and jungles and Caribbean beaches. The most popular are Cata and Choroni. It has Venezuela's first n ...

), by the east with ''Tomás lander'' municipality (''Santa Bárbara'' and ''Ocumare del Tuy'' parishes) and by the west again with Guicaipuro municipality (''Tácata'' parish). The main routes of communication are the Charallave-Cúa highway, that communicates this cities with the rest of the Tuy Valleys and Caracas, in addition to the connection with the ''Regional del Centro'' Freeway, and the road to the Venezuelan plains, the highway to ''Ocumare'' and the highway towards ''Tácata''.

Cúa districts

Parishes

*''Cúa'' *''Nueva Cúa''

Transportation

*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 ...

, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues: ** bus; large buses. ** buseta; medium size buses. ** microbus or colectivo; vans or minivans. * IFE; train services to and from Caracas and Charallave.

Main avenues

* Perimetral avenue * Monseñor Pellín avenue * José María Carreño street * El Rosario street * El Carmen street * Lecumberry street * San Rafael street * Juan España street * Zamora street

Notable natives

* Ezequiel Zamora * José María Carreño * Cristóbal Rojas * Jesús María Rangel * Baudilio Díaz * María Teresa Castillo * Victor Guillermo Ramos Rangel * Evencio Castellanos * Pancho Prin * Miguel García Mackle *

Gregor Blanco Gregor Miguel Blanco Pedraza (born December 24, 1983) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball outfielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, the Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, ...

References

External links

FallingRain Map - elevation = 227 (Red dots are railways as at 2000)
(Estado Miranda)
Urdaneta Municipality website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cua Populated places established in 1690 Cities in Miranda (state) 1690 establishments in the Spanish Empire