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General Information

Founded in 1552 the city is located in the northern part of the country in the Lara province. It has a population of 1,581,121 people. It has a surface area of 19.800 Km², which accounts for 2.15% of the countries territory.

History

Barquisimeto is the capital of the Lara province. It was founded in 1552 by Juan de Villegas, but before it was established in the place it is now it was moved two times.

The city's name comes from an indigenous language. Variquicimeto, which means calm water, was the city's original name, but with time it was known as Barquisimeto. The Lara province gets its name from the patron of Venezuela's independence General Jacinto Lara. The last name is of Basque decent, and it means Cactus.

Before the Spanish arrived, the territory was occupied by diverse indigenous groups. Those groups were the caquetíos, the jirajaras, the gayones, and los achaguas. They city was part of Caracas, and it was not till 1909 that their actual area was established.