The Paraguaná Peninsula () is a peninsula in

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 ...

, situated in the north of

Falcón State ) , anthem = , image_map = Falcon in Venezuela.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location within Venezuela , pushpin_map = , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_mapsiz ...

, and comprises the municipalities of Carirubana, Los Taques and Falcón. The island of Aruba lies to the north. Bonaire and Curaçao are slightly further away. The Paraguaná Peninsula is connected to the rest of the state by a natural

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 isthmus ...

of Médanos. The Peninsula contains two

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, lique ...

, in the West city of

Punto Fijo Punto Fijo is the capital city of the municipality of Carirubana in northern Falcón State, Venezuela. It is located on the southwestern coast of the Paraguaná Peninsula. Its metropolitan area includes the parishes of Norte, Carirubana, Punta ...

. The output of these refineries is shipped internationally through the ports of

Amuay Amuay () is a fishing town located in the Paraguana Peninsula, in Falcón state, Venezuela. It is a natural bay, also has a fishing port and the bigger part of the Paraguana Refinery Complex ''(one of the largest oil refineries in the world - ...

and Cardón. The Paraguaná Peninsula lies 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 peninsula lies in the Paraguana xeric scrub ecoregion. Because it is almost completely surrounded by water, the peninsula is sometimes called an island, and is sometimes considered as part of the

Leeward Antilles The Leeward Antilles ( nl, Benedenwindse Eilanden) are a chain of islands in the Caribbean – specifically, the southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles (and, in turn, the Antilles and the West Indies) along the southeastern fringe of the C ...

. It was in fact an island earlier in the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

, before a

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island becom ...

formed joining Paraguaná to the mainland. The

Solar eclipse of February 26, 1998 A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon’s descending node of the orbit on Thursday, February 26, 1998. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a vie ...

was visible from the peninsula. The center line of the eclipse crossed the northern part of the peninsula, parallel to its north-west coastline. The skies were completely clear from the peninsula. Bleachers were set up north of

as a designated eclipse viewing spot.

Economy

Paraguana currently contains two large oil refineries, and the third largest oil refinery complex in the world, the

Paraguaná Refinery Complex The Paraguaná Refinery Complex ( es, Centro de Refinación de Paraguaná) is a crude oil refinery complex in Venezuela. It is considered the world's third largest refinery complex, just after Jamnagar Refinery (India) and (South Korea). The Pa ...

. Most of the oil that

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

acquires is processed in this complex. Many engineers that worked in the refineries have moved to the United States to work at Citgo. Paraguana is 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 ...

zone, therefore many international shops, notably Arabian, have opened. While most of the economy is centered on the oil industry, tourism is growing. While most of the tourists come from other parts of Venezuela, many tourists come from surrounding countries such as Colombia, Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, and even a few tourists from the United States. The beaches serve as a large part of tourist attraction. There is a luxury beachfront hotel called Eurobuilding Villa Caribe. Paraguana also takes advantage of the

duty-free shop 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, wh ...

ping for tourism and opened a Paraguana Mall which is used for that. Two shopping malls are in the area. The mall, Las Virtudes, attracts a lot of people, and the mall,

Sambil Paraguana Centro Sambil Caracas, located in Caracas, Venezuela, is the sixth largest shopping mall in South America. It was completed in 1998 and has over 500 stores in approximately 3 million square-feet (250,000 square metres). The mall has five ''levels ...

, attracts many tourists, and has a luxury hotel, Lidotel, in it. Western news sources point to Paraguaná as being an ongoing construction site for launch purposes in connection with Iranian-manufactured and imported ballistic missiles to the Bolivarian Republic under agreement of the late president,

Hugo Chavez Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

. The peninsula is served by

Josefa Camejo International Airport Josefa Camejo International Airport , is an airport serving the Paraguaná Peninsula in Venezuela. The airport is named in honor of Josefa Camejo, a heroine of the Venezuelan War of Independence. On May 22, 2018, Aruba Airlines inaugurated wha ...

in Punto Fijo, among others.

Supermercado La Franco Italiana Supermercado De Candido nice is a chain of supermarkets, located in the Paraguaná Peninsula of Venezuela. The supermarket company was established in 1950, when the Italian Prati Caruso brothers established it as 'Supermercado La Franco Italiana' ...

used to be headquartered in the peninsula, until it was merged with Supermercados De Candido, which maintains branches there.

References

External links

Images of the Paraguana Peninsula

Video of the Paraguana Peninsula

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paraguana Peninsula Peninsulas of Venezuela Geography of Falcón Punto Fijo