Urdaneta is one of the 21

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

(

municipio A ' () or ' () is an administrative division in several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. It is often translated as "municipality." It comes from ''mūnicipium'' (), meaning a township. In English, a municipality often is define ...

s) that makes up 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 ...

n state of Miranda and, according to a 2016 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population of 167,768. The town of

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 ...

is the

municipal seat A municipal seat (Spanish: ; ) is the administrative center and seat of government of a municipality or civil parish, with other villages or towns subordinated. The term is used in Brazil, Colombia,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 ...

History

The first establishments of Cúa dates from the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

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

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 like ''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 Carib or Kariʼnja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 mostly in Brazil, The Guianas, and Venezuela. The language is currently classified as highly endangered, as it is onl ...

that means ''Crab'', meaning that Cúa is the place where the crab abounds. Others affirm that its name is associate with Apacuana, a brave native woman from the region, that fought against the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

. 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.

Demographics

The Urdaneta Municipality, according to a 2016 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, has a population of 167,768 (up from 114,221 in 2000). This amounts to 4.6% of the state's population. The municipality's population density is .

Government

The mayor of the Urdaneta Municipality is Jorge H. Castro, re-elected on October 31, 2004 with 42% of the vote. The municipality is divided into Cúa

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; Cúa and Nueva Cúa.

Transportation

*Buses are the main means of mass transportation, operated by several companies on normal streets and avenues: **bus; large buses. **buseta; medium size buses. **microbus or colectivo; vans or minivans. * IAFE; train services to and from

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (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 northern p ...

and

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 ci ...

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

* José María Carreño * Evencio Castellanos * María Teresa Castillo * Baudilio Díaz * Pancho Prin * Victor Guillermo Ramos Rangel * Cristóbal Rojas *

Ezequiel Zamora Ezequiel Zamora (; 1 February 1817 – 10 January 1860) was a Venezuelan soldier and leader of the Federalists in the Federal War ''(Guerra Federal)'' of 1859–1863. He participated in the 1846 Venezuelan peasant insurrection against the con ...

References

External links

*
urdaneta-miranda.gob.ve
{{in lang, es Municipalities of Miranda (state) Cúa