Maracaibo

Maracaibo sits on the western shore of the strait linking Lake Maracaibo to the Gulf of Venezuela, in northwestern Venezuela. It serves as the capital of Zulia state and is the country’s second-largest city proper, behind only Caracas. The city proper has an estimated population of 1,752,602, while its metropolitan area reached about 2,727,957 in 2019. It is often called "La Tierra del Sol Amada" (The Beloved Land of the Sun). The city is the economic hub of western Venezuela, thanks to the petroleum industry that grew along Lake Maracaibo’s shores. It is sometimes called the "First City of Venezuela" because it was the first in the country to adopt public services like electricity. Maracaibo also has a link to the nation’s name, as it lies near the lake from which "Venezuela" is thought to derive. Early settlements in the area were home to Arawakan-speaking and Kalina peoples. The city’s founding is debated: Captain Ambrosio Ehinger tried and failed in 1529, and Captain Alonso Pacheco tried again in 1569 without success. The permanent foundation came in 1574, when Captain Pedro Maldonado established "Nueva Zamora de la Laguna de Maracaibo." After pirates destroyed the inland settlement of Gibraltar in 1669, Maracaibo became a key transshipment point. Permanent settlement didn’t take hold until the early 1600s. The discovery of oil in 1917 sparked rapid population growth through migration. Maracaibo is served by La Chinita International Airport and connected to the rest of the country by the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge. **Etymology**

The name "Maracaibo" has uncertain origins. One popular legend says it comes from a young indigenous cacique named Mara, who resisted Spanish conquistadors and died in battle. According to the story, his people, the Coquivacoa, shouted "¡Mara cayó!" ("Mara fell!"), which supposedly evolved into Maracaibo. This explanation is considered unlikely, as it assumes indigenous people used Spanish at the time. Another theory traces the name to the indigenous term "Maara-iwo," meaning "place where serpents abound."

**History**

The first indigenous groups in the region were Arawak and Carib peoples. The Añu tribe built rows of stilt houses along the northern shore of Lake Maracaibo. The first Europeans arrived in 1499. Maracaibo was founded three times. The first attempt came during the Klein-Venedig period (1528–1546), when the Welser banking family of Augsburg controlled Venezuela Province under Emperor Charles I of Spain. In August 1529, German explorer Ambrosius Ehinger led an expedition to Lake Maracaibo, met strong resistance from the Coquivacoa, and after battles established a settlement on 8 September 1529, naming it Neu-Nürnberg ("New Nuremberg") and calling the lake after the fallen chieftain Mara. The Spanish later renamed the settlement Maracaibo. Because of little activity, Nikolaus Federmann moved the population to Santa Marta in 1535. A second attempt by Captain Alonso Pacheco in 1569 was abandoned in 1573 due to ongoing indigenous attacks. In 1574, Captain Pedro Maldonado permanently re-founded the city as Nueva Zamora de la Laguna de Maracaibo, honoring Governor Diego de Mazariegos’s hometown of Zamora. The settlement grew, helped by favorable winds and a protected harbor on the lake’s western shore near the narrows connecting to the Gulf of Venezuela. **Pirate Attacks**

European pirates attacked Maracaibo repeatedly in the 1600s. Dutch corsair Henrik de Gerard plundered it in 1614, followed by British pirate William Jackson in 1642. In 1667, French pirate François l’Olonnais led eight ships and 600 men to sack both Maracaibo and nearby Gibraltar, seizing a Spanish treasure ship with cacao, gems, and over 260,000 pieces of eight. In March 1669, Henry Morgan raided Maracaibo and then Gibraltar. Trying to exit the lake, he faced three Spanish warships—the Magdalena, San Luis, and Soledad—and a fortified Spanish position. He destroyed the Magdalena, burned the San Luis with a fireship, forced the Soledad to surrender, and faked a land assault to escape to the Caribbean. In June 1678, French privateer Michel de Grammont attacked with six ships and 700 men, sacking the city and then raiding inland towns including Gibraltar and Trujillo. **Venezuelan Independence**

In 1810, the Province of Maracaibo stayed loyal to the Spanish Crown and did not join the First Republic of Venezuela. The city briefly served as the seat of the Captaincy General of Venezuela. By 1821, pro-independence uprisings reached the region. Royalist forces under Francisco Tomás Morales fought patriot troops led by Rafael Urdaneta at the Battle of Juana de Ávila. Morales reestablished Spanish rule in 1822, but was defeated at the Battle of Lake Maracaibo on 24 July 1823. That victory ended Spanish control in Venezuela. **Isolation Period**

For nearly 380 years, Maracaibo was relatively cut off from the rest of Venezuela. Travel to the city relied on boats and ferries across Lake Maracaibo.