Valencia (Venezuela)

Valencia is the capital city of Carabobo State, and the third largest city of Venezuela.The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. The population of Valencia and the nearby metropolitan area reached 1,827,165 in 2010, and it is expected to grow dramatically in the years to come. Caracas lies some 172km away to the east.HistoryThe area was already inhabited in the fourth millennium BC. The inhabitants were mainly hunters and gatherers who might have already developed some elementary forms of agriculture. Between AD 200 and 1000 an important settlement was formed close to Lake Valencia.Around the year 1000, waves of migration started to come from the Orinoco river area, probably arriving along the Pao river. The fusion of previous settlements with these new populations gave rise to the Vacencioide culture.People in the area belonged mostly to Arawak groups. They were hunters and gatherers who also fished and grew maize and cotton. Their houses were built on artificial mounds in valleys that were often flooded by water from Lake Valencia.Archaeologists have found mostly pottery from that time. Valencia was founded by Captain Alonso Díaz Moreno on March 25, 1555as the locals are proud of reminding visitors, eight years before Caracas. It was the first Spanish settlement in central Venezuela and its official name was Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Nueva Valencia del Rey. It was named after Valencia de Don Juan, Province of León, Spain. The encomiendas put the Indians living in the region under the control of the Spanish settlers. They started to displace the native population from the most fertile land, but they also started intermarrying with them.