Boconó is a city in the

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

state of Trujillo. Founded in 1560, this city is the

shire town A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equivalent term, shire town, is used in ...

of the

Boconó Municipality Boconó is one of the 20 municipalities of the state of Trujillo, Venezuela. The municipality occupies an area of 1,365 km2 with a population of 100,240 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. Parishes The municipality consists of the foll ...

and, according to the 2001 Venezuelan

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the municipality has a population of 79,710.Primeros Resultados XIII Censo General de Población y Vivienda

History

Of native origin, the name Boconó comes from the word ''Komboc'', the name of a local river. On October 12, 1548, Diego Ruiz de Vallejo left

El Tocuyo El Tocuyo is a fertile valley and city in west-central Venezuela at elevation. It is located in south-central Lara (state), Lara State about 60 km southwest of Barquisimeto. The town of El Tocuyo was founded by Juan de Carvajal in 1545 on ...

, under orders of Juan Villegas, to conquer the Cuicas Province, a name that was given by the natives that inhabited the area and where the Boconó valley was located, with the objective of taking gold from the mines that were supposedly in the area. In 1558, an argument between Francisco Ruiz, sent by the governor of the province of Venezuela to occupy the sector of los Cuicas, and Juan de Maldonado, representative of the Real Audiencia del Nuevo Reino de Granada, occurred; Juan de Maldonado alleged that his people controlled those lands. Nevertheless, the capable work of Ruiz guaranteed that those lands were under the jurisdiction of Venezuela. In 1786, the Boconó Canton was formed. In 1811, Boconó was declared a city and joined the independence movement. The

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

reacted by imprisoning and exiling Don Miguel Uzcátegui, Mayor of the city. On two occasions (June 26–29, 1813 and March 10, 1821),

Simón Bolívar Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24July 178317December 1830) was a Venezuelan statesman and military officer who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bol ...

visited Boconó, where he installed a base at Boca del Monte. While in Boconó, he stayed at the house of Mayor Jose María Baptista, expressed his admiration of the region, and declared the city "Garden of Venezuela". On July 2, 1813, the Battle Niquitao in the Tirindí savanna took place, an event that occurred during the

Admirable Campaign The Admirable Campaign () was a military action led by Simón Bolívar in which the provinces of Mérida, Barinas, Trujillo and Caracas were conquered by the Patriots.Arana, M., 2013, Bolivar, New York: Simon & Schuster, Its objective was to ...

. Residents, the Mucuchíes tribe, and numerous patriots together with

José Félix Ribas José Félix Ribas (; Caracas, 19 September 1775 – Tucupido, 31 January 1815) was a Venezuelan independence leader and hero of the Venezuelan War of Independence. Early life Ribas was the last of eleven sons, born to a prominent Caracas ...

Vicente Campo Elías Vicente is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Places *São Vicente, Cape Verde, an i ...

, and

Rafael Urdaneta Rafael José Urdaneta y Farías (October 24, 1788 – August 23, 1845) was a Venezuelan General and hero of the Spanish American wars of independence. After overthrowing President Joaquín Mosquera in a 1830 military coup, he served as Pre ...

defeated the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army () is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest Standing army, active armies – dating back to the late 15th century. The Spanish Army has existed ...

commanded by José Martí. In 1864, the Boconó Department was formed. In 1884, the Boconó Department became the Boconó District.Boconó.org - ZAeropuerto de Boconó
In 1955, the Boconó Airport was completed and, on September 3 of that year, the first planes began landing at the new airport. In 1990, the Boconó District became the Boconó Municipality. The municipality was originally divided into 13

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es (Ayacucho, Boconó, Burbusay, Campo Elías, El Carmen, General Ribas, Guaramacal, Monseñor Jáuregui, Mosquey, Rafael Rangel, San José, San Miguel, and Vega de Guaramacal); Campo Elías separated to form its own municipality on January 30, 1995. image:Bocono.jpg

Demographics

The Boconó Municipality, according to the 2001 Venezuelan census, has a population of 79,710 (up from 70,102 in 1990). This amounts to 13.1% of Trujillo's population. The municipality's population density is 151.3 people per square mile (58.40/km²).

Government

Boconó is the

of the Boconó Municipality in Trujillo. The municipality is divided into 12 parishes (Ayacucho, Boconó, Burbusay, El Carmen, General Ribas, Guaramacal, Monseñor Jáuregui, Mosquey, Rafael Rangel, San José, San Miguel, and Vega de Guaramacal). The mayor of the Boconó Municipality is Kevin Justo (formerly President of the Municipal Council) after the death of Mayor Luis Hidalgo as a result of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

The last municipal election was held on December 10, 2017.

References

External links

Boconó.com

bocono-trujillo.gov.ve

Archive of historic photos of Bocono
by Amadeo León, a 20th-century photographer and resident

Tourist information on Boconó
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocono Cities in Trujillo (state) Populated places established in 1560 Boconó